Tomonobu Fujii

Tomonobu Fujii is a Japanese racing driver who achieved the most in GT races. He was among the front-runners in the Super GT Series for many years, finishing as a vice-champion in GT300 class in 2012.

In other competitions, he was a champion three times in the Super Taikyu Series and two times in the Japanese Le Mans Challenge.

Tomonobu Fujii

Early career in formula racing, Super GT debut in 2005

Born in December 1980 in Gifu, Tomonobu started his racing career at the age of 13 in karting competitions. In 2000, he made a successful debut in the Formula Junior 1600, finishing third in a race at Fuji Speedway. Then, in 2002, he scored two wins in the Formula 4 East Series. In 2003 and 2004, Fujii competed in the Formula Dream, finishing fourth in the points in 2004.

In 2005, Fujii made a step up to the Super GT Series, joining Mola to drive the #47 Nissan Fairlady Z for the full season in GT300 class. His teammate was Go Shimizu.

Two seasons with Endless Sports' Nissan

In 2006, Fujii continued to drive a Nissan Fairlady Z in the Super GT Series but moved to Endless Sports team to share a car with Masami Kageyama. They were on a podium three times, finishing fourth in the GT300 standings. Next year, Fujii scored his first Super GT victory in the season-opening race at Suzuka. At the end of the season, he was fifth in the points.

At the wheel of Nissan Fairlady Z, Fujii gained two great results Tokachi 24 Hours, finishing second in ST-1 class in 2006 and then winning the race in 2007.

Tomonobu Fujii in 2007

Three championship titles in two seasons

Besides racing with Nissan in the Super GT Series, Fuji was a regular in the in the Japanese Le Mans Challenge, winning two championship titles. In 2006, he was driving Dallara GC21 LMP2 prototype for MYZ team, scoring two wins and taking the championship title. Next year, he was driving a Ferrari 550 Maranello GT1 car for Hitotsuyama Racing, scoring four wins on a way to the championship title.

In 2007, Fujii also won the championship title in the Super Taikyu series, winning the ST-1 class in a Nissan Fairlady Z.

Two seasons, three wins with Team Daishin

Fujii joined Team Daishin for the 2008 Super GT season, driving the #81 Nissan Fairlady Z. His teammate was Takayuki Aoki. They won a race at Autopolis and finished fifth in the GT300 standings. In 2009, Fujii stayed with the same team but they switched from Nissan to Ferrari F430 GTC. Fujii and Aoki were the race winners two times and finished fourth in the points.

Parallel to his Super GT commitments, Fujii continued to race in the Super Taikyu series with Nissan, finishing third in the points in 2008 and fourth in 2009. In 2009, he also made two starts with Daishin's Ferarri in the Asian Le Mans Series.

Tomonobu Fujii in 2012

Successful Super GT years in a Porsche

In 2010, Fujii recorded just two starts in the Super GT Series, driving a Hankook KTR Porsche in one race and A Speed Aston Martin Vantage in another race. In 2011, he joined KTR as a full-time driver of the #33 Porsche 997 GT3 R, sharing a car with Masami Kageyama. They won a race at Fuji, added two more podiums and finished third in the points of GT300 class.

Next year, Fujii and Kageyama were the race winners two times, at Sepang and Fuji, finishing second in the championship points. Tomonobu spent one more year with KTR, scoring no wins or podiums in 2013.

Tomonobu Fujii in 2011

Super Taikyu champion with Audi in 2011

While racing with Porsche in the Super GT Series, Fujii was pretty successful in other competitions. In 2011, he was Super Taikyu champion in an Audi R8 LMS.  Next year, he drove Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3, scoring one victory to finish fourth in the final standings.

In 2012, Fujii scored a victory at Aston Martin Le Mans Festival, sharing an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 with Frank Yu. At the wheel of an Aston Martin, he was also successful at Dubai 24 Hours in 2013, finishing in the third place.

Tomonobu Fujii as Audi driver

Three Super GT seasons with Audi

For the 2014 Super GT season, Fujii joined Audi Team Hitotsuyama to drive the #21 Audi R8 LMS in the GT 300 class. His co-driver for most of the season was Richard Lyons. After scoring just one podium, Fujii was 14th in the points. The results were similar in 2015 when Fujii scored one podium in the #21 Audi to finish 13th in the points.

In 2016, he improved a lot and won a race at Motegi, sharing the #21 Audi with Richard Lyons. At the end of the season, they were third in GT300 classification.

Tomonobu Fujii in 2016

Super Taikyu champion again in 2016

Parallel to his commitments with Audi, Fujii continued to race successfully in the Super Taikyu Series with Kondo Racing's Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3. He was third in the points in 2014 and then again in 2015.

In 2016, he won four races and clinched his second Super Taikyu championship title in the GT3 class. In 2017, two victories at the wheel of Nissan were good enough for the second place in the championship.

Tomonobu Fujii joined D'Station Racing in 2017

Back to a cockpit of Porsche in 2017

In 2017, Fujii returned to a cockpit of Porsche in the Super GT Series. He joined D'Station Racing to drive the #33 Porsche 911 GT3 R. He had three different co-drivers during the season (Sven Muller, Andre Couto and Yuya Motojima), scoring two podiums to finish seventh in the points.

In 2018, Fujii and Muller were teammates in all eight races, scoring one podium to finish ninth in the GT300 standings. They also participated in the inaugural Suzuka 10 Hours, not finishing the race. In 2019, Fujii stayed with D'Station Racing when the team switched to Aston Martin Vantage.

Photos: Tomonobu Fujii,