As previously reported by Motorsport.com, NISMO will run two of the four new Zs that will be on the GT500 grid this season, with B-Max Racing dropping out of the Nissan stable after four seasons of running the #3 car.
However, the NDDP Racing branding remains in place, and the two entries will be run at least nominally independently.
Ronnie Quintarelli and Tsugio Matsuda continue as teammates in the primary #23 entry, while Katsumasa Chiyo is joined by a new partner in the #3 car in the form of Mitsunori Takaboshi.
Kohei Hirate, Chiyo’s teammate from the previous two seasons at NDDP/B-Max, replaces Takaboshi as Daiki Sasaki’s partner at Kondo Racing in a surprise reshuffle.
Baguette meanwhile takes the seat vacated by Matsushita at the Impul squad, joining Kazuki Hiramine in the team’s sixth line-up change in as many years.
After losing his Real Racing Honda seat to Matsushita, Baguette tested the old GT-R as part of Nissan’s ‘audition’ test in December alongside Kiyoto Fujinami and Atsushi Miyake.
It’s anticipated that Fujinami will again partner Joao Paulo de Oliveira aboard Kondo Racing’s solo GT-R NISMO GT3 in the GT300 class after missing out on a GT500 promotion for a second year running.
Replacing the late Yutaka Suzuki as NISMO team principal is Takeshi Nakajima, who steps up from his role at crew chief, while ex-Impul engineer Jiro Shimada will perform a similar role at NDDP.
Gainer reveals GT300 driver line-up
While Kondo has yet to confirm its GT300 line-up, fellow Nissan GT-R squad Gainer has revealed a pair of refreshed line-ups following the departures of Kazuki Hoshino and Katsuyuki Hiranaka.
Hironobu Yasuda remains the lead driver of the #11 machine, and replacing Hiranaka as his teammate is Keishi Ishikawa, who moves across from the sister #10 Gainer car.
Leading the line-up for the #10 machine will be Ryuichiro Tomita, who returns to SUPER GT full-time after two seasons largely focusing on GT World Challenge Europe and previously drove for Gainer in 2015-17.
Joining Tomita will be rookie Riki Okusa, a race winner in the Formula Regional Japanese series, while Yusuke Shiotsu was named as third driver.
Dunlop will again supply tyres for both Gainer Nissans for a second season in succession.
