Japanese Sim Racer Yusuke Tomibayashi Joins Reiji Hiraki at Team Mach

Tetsuji Tamanaka, owner and manager of Team Mach, announced his team’s drivers for the 2022 Autobacs Super GT Series on Tuesday. 25-year-old rookie Yusuke Tomibayashi will become the first Japanese sim racer to compete in the real world of Super GT, joining returning second-year driver Reiji Hiraki in a new lineup.

Succeeding the likes of Lucas Ordoñez, Wolfgang Reip, and Jann Mardenborough, all of whom raced in Super GT after winning the Nissan GT Academy, Tomibayashi came to prominence as a sim racer by winning the 2016 FIA Gran Turismo Championships Manufacturer Fan Cup in London. Tomibayashi competed in the Virtual Le Mans Series with D’station Racing this winter, and has been active in the Autobacs JeGT Grand Prix league.

In 2018, Tomibayashi attained a racing license to begin his real-world racing journey. He won the 2019 Roadster Party Race East Japan Series title in his first year. From 2020, he stepped up to the ST-3 class of the Super Taikyu Series, and has won two consecutive series championships driving a Lexus RC 350 for Tracy Sports with Delta.

Tomibayashi has already completed two full pre-season testing programmes at Okayama International Circuit and Fuji Speedway – the latter of which was a solo test, which saw him log over 600 kilometres at the wheel of the #5 Mach Syaken Air Buster MC86 Mach.

“I am very happy to finally compete in Super GT this year. Thank you for your continued support,” Tomibayashi said.

One of the sponsors that has helped Tomibayashi achieve this goal is Sanyu Syoji Co. Ltd., manufacturer of the Air Buster line of ozone air generators for home and commercial use. Air Buster will join Team Mach as a sponsor of their MC86 (2N6) by Dome, which is in its eighth year of GT300 service.

His co-driver, 24-year-old Reiji Hiraki, returns for his second season in GT300 with Team Mach. He enjoyed a breakthrough race at Suzuka Circuit, leading several laps on used tyres, before going on to finish a season-best fifth place.

Hiraki, the 2020 FIA F4 Japanese Championship runner-up, will also be racing alongside his older brother Yuya in the Super Taikyu Series with their HELM Motor Sports team. The Hiraki brothers are also preparing to enter Super Formula Lights this season, and Reiji recently set the second-fastest time during the most recent test at Fuji Speedway.

Rookies Masaya Kono and Kazuya Oshima (24 years old, from Osaka Prefecture) auditioned for Team Mach’s race seats during the first official pre-season test at Okayama. While neither were selected for the seat, both drivers passed their GTA Rookie Test and will be certified to race this season if called upon by any team.