| Kondo Racing | |
| Base: | Gotemba, Shizuoka |
| Founded: | 2000 |
| Principal: | Masahiko Kondo |
| Founder: | Masahiko Kondo |
| Current Series: | |
| Former Series: | |
| Current Drivers: |
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Kondo Racing is an automobile racing team founded, owned and directed by Masahiko Kondo. The operating body is MK Company Co., Ltd. MK is an abbreviation for Masahiko Kondo. The team competes in Super Formula as well as in Super GT in both the GT500 and GT300 classes.
Kondo Racing was founded in 2000 by Japanese pop star Masahiko Kondo, also known as "Matchy". Kondo himself had raced for many years since the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s.[1] In 1998 Kondo launched "Masahiko Kondo Racing Project" together with Teams TMS, a team with which he raced at the time, to compete in the Japanese Formula 3 Championship in 1998 and 1999. While working to develop young drivers, Kondo himself learned how of run a racing team as a team manager. Based on that experience, in 2000 he established the "Kondo Racing Team" and began participating in Formula Nippon.
In 2000, Kondo Racing began competing in Formula Nippon, the premier Japanese open-wheel series, and the team has continued racing in the series ever since, with the series having rebranded as Super Formula in 2013. Since 2006, Kondo Racing has raced with Toyota engines. The team has not won a drivers' championship title, but came second overall with Nick Cassidy[2] [3] [4] in 2018 and with Sacha Fenestraz in 2022.[5] [6] Kenta Yamashita has been one of the long standing driver for Kondo's Super Formula, as he has competed since 2017 with one win to his name, along with couple of podiums. For 2024 Yamashita, paired once again with last season's driver Kazuto Kotaka.[7]
Kondo Racing entered Super GT in the top GT500 class with Nissan in 2006. From the first year, Yokohama Tire joined Kondo till now. Also with the introduction of a strong lineup of former F1 driver Eric Comas and Nissan's own driver Masataka Yanagida. Since there was no data available, the first priority was to develop tires. Comas temporarily withdrew due to back pain and was replaced by Seiji Ara. Although Comas returned for the sixth race, he was unable to regain his form and was forced to stay out for the rest of the season, leaving Ara to team up with Yanagida until the final race. In the final race, he fought for 2nd place with some help from his machine, and then finished in 3rd place, earning his long-awaited first podium. Throughout the years the team has won several races, but has never been a serious championship contender.[8]
Since 2012, it has been participating in the Super Taikyu together with five Nissan Automobile College schools (Tochigi, Yokohama, Aichi, Kyoto, and Ehime). Kondo Racing also participated in the Nürburgring 24 endurance race with a Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3, marking the team’s first overseas competition. Kondo’s Nurburgring 24 driver lineup was Tsugio Matsuda, Mitsunori Takaboshi, Tomonobu Fujii and Tom Coronel.[9]
In 2019, Kondo Racing entered the GT300 class of Super GT with Kazuki Hiramine and Sacha Fenestraz as their drivers in the class in the second-generation Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3.[10] The pair came close to winning the fourth round in Buriram, battling for the win until the final lap, but ultimately finished second.[11]
In 2020, Kondo Racing won its first titles in the category with the driver pairing of Kiyoto Fujinami & João Paulo de Oliveira.[12] [13] [14] After being in title contention again in 2021,[15] the team returned to the top of the standings in 2022, clinching the titles after their main rivals lost a decisive position on the final lap of the last race.[16] For 2023, de Oliveira stayed with the team, while Fujinami was replaced by Teppei Natori after he was reportedly involved in a physical altercation with another driver in the smaller Vita Pro series.[17] [18]
