Langbahn Team – Weltmeisterschaft

Servus Japan

Servus Japan Co, Ltd.
Founded2007
BaseTokyo
Current series
Former seriesSuper GT GT500
Current drivers
Teams'
Championships
2023 Formula Regional Japanese
2020 Formula Regional Japanese
2019 Super GT - GT300
Drivers'
Championships
2020 Formula Regional Japanese
2019 Super GT
Websitewww.servusjapan.com

Servus Japan Co, Ltd. is a Japanese racing team that competes in Super Formula, Super GT GT300, and Formula Regional Japanese Championship. The company runs TGM Grand Prix in Super Formula, Studie, Team UpGarage in Super GT, and Team Sutekina in Formula Regional Japan.

History

Super GT

Servus Japan has run in Super GT alongside Autobacs Racing Team Aguri or ARTA in both GT 500 & GT300, where they have been working since 2007. Servus Japan also started to run Team UpGarage in 2019. Both ARTA & Team UpGarage ran Honda NSX GT3 Evo.[1] Team Goh returned to Super GT, as the team ran under the name McLaren Customer Racing Japan. Seiji Ara, and Alex Palou were the drivers.[2][3][4] Shinichi Takagi & Nirei Fukuzumi won the GT300 title in 2019. BMW Team Studie entered the GT300 class for the first time since 2017 under the name "BMW Team Studie x CSL", using the current BMW M6 GT3. Kazumichi Goh, the owner of Team Goh, was appointed as the Representative Director of the team. BMW Team Studie x CSL welcomed 2004 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Seiji Ara back to the team, alongside rookie gentleman driver Tomohide Yamaguchi. BMW Works driver Augusto Farfus was announced as a third driver, but did not appear due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. In 2023, Mugen (M-TEC) and ARTA formed a strategic alliance, competing with two ARTA Mugen-branded cars under the ARTA entrant name.[5] which ended a long standing collaboration. Yogibo Racing returned to Super GT as an independent team, having previously competed in a collaboration with Drago Corse in the 2021 season. The team entered a Honda NSX GT3 and received technical support from Servus, who previously supported ARTA's GT300 programme. F4 Japanese Championship graduates Reimei Ito and Yugo Iwasawa were the full-time drivers, making their series debuts.[6] Yogibo Racing withdrew its entry for the 2024 season, citing a change in corporate strategy from the Yogibo brand.[7] Which left Servus only running Team UpGarage and Studie.

Super Formula

Servus Japan's first involvement with Super Formula is running Drago Corse team which is owned by Ryo Michigami since 2014. The team participated in the final two races of the 2014 Super Formula season with Takuya Izawa as the driver, achieving a best finish of 14th.[8] For 2015, the team raced with Takashi Kogure for two seasons, finishing 15th in 2015 and 13th in 2016.[9][10] At the end of 2016, Drago Corse discontinued their operation in Super Formula and Super GT GT500 as Michigami competed for the JAS Motorsport-run Honda team in the 2017 World Touring Car Championship.[11]

In 2021, Team Goh returned to the series, and linked up with Mugen Motorsports as The team was named Red Bull Mugen Team Goh. Hiroki Otsu got a full time seat after an appearance in the last round in 2020, as he raced with Red Bull Mugen Team Goh.[12] The team grabbed first win in Motegi towards the end of the year. For 2022 Team Goh ran independently, and they filled two car with Red Bull Junior driver Ren Sato, and Atsushi Miyake.[13][14] Both drivers got a podium that season. Red Bull left Team Goh and moved its sponsorship efforts to Liam Lawson's Team Mugen entry. The loss of this sponsorship left Team Goh in doubts whether they would be able to continue their participation in the championship for 2023.[15] the organization later announced that the team would relaunch as TGM Grand Prix and confirmed that they would run two cars in 2023.[16] Toshiki Oyu, and Turkish driver Cem Bolukbasi confirmed as the drivers for the team.[17]

Formula Regional Japanese

Servus also run in the Formula Regional Japanese Championship with Sutekina Racing Team from 2020. The team and Sena Sakaguchi won the series title in the series debut, with Sakaguchi winning all eleven races that he competed in, taking the championship by just over 50 points despite missing the Sugo round.[18]

References

  1. ^ "Honda Announces 2019 Super GT Teams and Drivers". dailysportscar.com. 11 January 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  2. ^ "McLaren set to join Super GT grid with 720S". motorsport.com. 31 December 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  3. ^ Watkins, Gary. "McLaren confirms Super GT return with Team Goh". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  4. ^ Kilshaw, Jake (30 January 2019). "Team Goh Confirms McLaren GT3 for Super GT, Suzuka 10H". sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  5. ^ "Honda Announces 2023 SUPER GT Driver & Team Structures | dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2023-02-13.
  6. ^ "Yogibo Racing Makes Its Return to SUPER GT GT300 Class With Honda". dailysportscar.com. 15 February 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  7. ^ Klein, Jamie (8 February 2024). "Honda GT300 Team Yogibo Racing Announces Withdrawal". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media.
  8. ^ "道上龍が新チーム結成。ドライバーに伊沢拓也選手を起用". superformula.net. 29 August 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  9. ^ "Honda 2015 Motorsports Program Overview". Honda. 13 February 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  10. ^ "Honda 2016 Motorsports Program Overview". Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. 12 February 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
  11. ^ "Drago Modulo racing to cease activities". Honda. November 8, 2016. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  12. ^ "Otsu completes Mugen Super Formula line-up". Motorsport.com. 18 February 2021.
  13. ^ "Team Goh gets Red Bull backing for first Super Formula season". motorsport.com. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
  14. ^ "Super Formula: Team Goh hands second seat to Atsushi Miyake". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 2022-02-07.
  15. ^ "Team Goh announces split with Red Bull Junior Team". www.motorsport.com. 31 October 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  16. ^ "Reborn TGM Super Formula team announces two-car 2023 entry". motorsport.com. 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  17. ^ "Oyu, Bolukbasi fill final spots on 2023 Super Formula grid". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
  18. ^ "Sakaguchi wins inaugural Formula Regional Japan title at Autopolis". formulascout.com. 12 December 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2021.