 Tsuchiya Engineering | |
| Founded: | 1971 |
| Base: | Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan |
| Principal: | Takeshi Tsuchiya |
| Founder: | Haruo Tsuchiya |
| Current Series: | Super GT |
| Former Series: | Japanese Formula 3 Championship Japan Formula 4 Super Taikyu |
| Current Drivers: | |
| Website: | http://tsuchiya25.com |
| Driver Titles: | JGTC
Keiichi Suzuki & Shingo Tachi |
| Team Titles: | JGTC |
Tsuchiya Engineering is a team located in Fujisawa, Kanagawa, founded by Haruo Tsuchiya, and now ran by his son, Takeshi.[1]
Haruo Tsuchiya used to work at TOMEI Automotive, before leaving in 1971 to create his own shop and team.
The team initially competed in local touring car races, before entering JTC, where it won the Division-3 title twice, in 1989 and 1990.
Tsuchiya later entered JGTC, and not long after, in 1998, they set a record-breaking season. A partnership with Team Taisan and with drivers Shingo Tachi and Keiichi Suzuki earned them 5 wins out of 6 races.
In 1999, they partnered with A'PEX and had 3 drivers throughout the season, one of which, Morio Nitta (who had entered in all the races) won the title, giving Tsuchiya back to back titles in GT300.
They entered in GT500 in 2000, but they couldn't build on their massive success in GT300, only achieving a win, in the season opener of 2005.
The team folded in 2008 due to the economic recession.
Haruo's son Takeshi, founded team SAMURAI in 2010, with his father as manager.
In 2015, Tsuchiya Engineering made their official return to GT300, where they won the championship in 2016 with Takeshi Tsuchiya and Takamitsu Matsui at the wheel.
The team continued their strong form of results after 2016, but in 2020 the team switched to the Porsche 911[2] [3] and began to struggle with results, leading them to ditch the Porsche after 2 disappointing seasons, switching to a self-built Toyota GR Supra.[4] [5]
Despite the car change, the struggles didn't stop as the team failed to score points in the first 3 races of the season and pulled out of the 4th round at Fuji following a testing crash at Suzuka.[6]
In 2023, at the 4th round of the season at Fuji, both Tsuchiya-ran cars caught fire, leading to both cars withdrawing from the following event and the rest of the season.[7]
As of November 2023, Takeshi was still hoping to return to GT300, having started a fundraiser known as the "Hopico Revival Project" in order to help the small team return to racing.[8]
The team is set to return to GT300 competition for the 2024 season with 2016 champion Takamitsu Matsui and Togo Suganami, with a rebuilt version of "Hopico".[9]
Before the 2020 Super GT season it was announced that Tsuchiya Engineering would support newcomers Max Racing, by servicing their car.[10] The partnership lasted until the Fuji GT 450km Race in 2023, where both cars caught fire and Max Racing ceased operations.[11]
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Car | Tyres | Class | No. | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Pos | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Toyota MR2 | GT300 | 25 | Takeshi Tsuchiya Masaoki Nagashima | SUZ | FUJ | SEN | FUJ | MIN | SUG | 3rd | 52 | ||||
| 1998 | Toyota MR2 | GT300 | 25 | Keiichi Suzuki Shingo Tachi | SUZ | FUJ | SEN | FUJ | MOT | MIN | SUG | 1st | 106 | |||
| 1999 | Toyota MR2 | GT300 | 25 | Morio Nitta Yasushi Kikuchi Shinichi Takagi | SUZ | FUJ | SUG | MIN | FUJ | OKA | MOT | 1st | 73 | |||
| 2000 | Toyota Supra | GT500 | 25 | Manabu Orido Mitsuhiro Kinoshita | MOT | FUJ | SUG | FUJ | OKA | MIN | SUZ | 13th | 11 | |||
| 2001 | Toyota Supra | GT500 | 25 | Manabu Orido Seiji Ara | OKA | FUJ | SUG | FUJ | MOT | SUZ | MIN | 12th | 11 | |||
| 2002 | Toyota Supra | GT500 | 25 | Shinichi Yamaji Seiji Ara Geoff Lees | OKA | FUJ | SUG | SEP | FUJ | MOT | MIN | SUZ | 10th | 32 | ||
| 2003 | Toyota Supra | GT500 | 25 |  Jérémie Dufour Seiji Ara Hideki Noda | OKA | FUJ | SUG | FUJ | FUJ | MOT | AUT | SUZ | 10th | 26 | ||
| 2004 | Toyota Supra | GT500 | 25 | Manabu Orido Dominik Schwager | OKA | SUG | SEP | TOK | MOT | AUT | SUZ | 10th | 31 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)