Autobacs Racing Team Aguri - Super GT - GT300

GT300

The team made its debut in 2001 with the Toyota MR-S, and became series champion in 2002 with drivers Morio Nitta and Shinichi Takagi.

In 2003, ARTA participated with the ASL Garaiya, which had been developed by Autobacs. The machine showed good cornering, but the Nissan SR engine lacked power, resulting in a poor finish. In 2004, the team switched over to the Nissan VQ engine, and won two consecutive races. However, they failed to win the competition by a margin of 1 point. In 2005, the team was leading in points at the 7th race, (Autopolis) but lost in the final race to place 3rd in the final standings. The team director had announced during the season that the team would be dissolved if they failed to become champion, leading ARTA to end its participation in the series.

However, in 2007, Aguri Suzuki announced that he would like to race the Garaiya to commemorate the ten-year anniversary of the start of ARTA, and the team renewed its participation in the series with the same lineup as 2005. The Garaiya won the 3rd race, (Fuji Speedway) but crashed in all of the proceeding races and was forced to retire from the competition.

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