It follows Impul’s choice to signal Toyota younger driver Hibiki Taira to drive the #19 SF23 that was initially speculated to be campaigned by reigning Method 2 champion Theo Pourchaire for the complete yr.
Pourchaire was the one ‘gaijin’ to be entered for the 2024 Tremendous Method season, however he left the class after simply the opening spherical at Suzuka when a chance opened up at Arrow McLaren within the IndyCar Sequence.
Impul initially substituted Pourchaire with manufacturing facility Lexus driver Ben Barnicoat for Autopolis, guaranteeing there was nonetheless some worldwide presence on the grid in spherical two.
However Barnicoat was at all times going to stand-in for Pourchaire for less than a single occasion, because the Tremendous Method calendar options a lot of clashes together with his main marketing campaign within the IMSA SportsCar Championship’s GTD Professional class.
Impul has now elected to advertise Taira, who completed runner-up in each Tremendous Method Lights and SUPER GT’s GT300 class final yr, that means your entire discipline of 21 vehicles will comprise completely of Japanese driver.
The final time there was no worldwide illustration on the grid in Japan’s high formulation was in 1978, in what was then referred to as the All-Japan Method Two Championship.
Hibiki Taira, #2 muta Racing GR86 GT
Photograph by: Masahide Kamio
As issues stands, Taira is just dedicated to the Sugo occasion on 22-23 June, with Impul but to disclose who will accomplice Yuji Kunimoto on the Toyota-powered squad within the remaining 5 races of the yr. This retains open the opportunity of worldwide drivers rejoining the grid later within the season.
Impul is but to attain some extent within the 2024 Tremendous Method season, with the crew’s greatest consequence up to now being a thirteenth place end achieved by Barnicoat throughout his one-off look in Autopolis.
Yuji Kunimoto, who moved from KCMG to Impul to drive the #20 SF24, retired from the season-opener at Suzuka earlier than taking nineteenth at Autopolis.
Pourchaire, in the meantime, had a tough Tremendous Method debut firstly of the yr in 18th place, earlier than his untimely departure from the championship.
