It seems Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has a new passion: he’s just set up a motor-racing team.
Prestige’s March cover personality, the Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, is probably best known for his online retail businesses, art collecting and philanthropic activities and, most recently, a passion for space: two years ago, he shot to global fame by rocketing some 400km above Earth on a visit to the International Space Station. Now, he’s taken on a new challenge by setting up a motor-racing team.
Called, not surprisingly, Maezawa Racing, the Japan-based operation is setting the bar relatively low for its debut season, by entering only the four Japanese rounds of the 2023 Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS series (perhaps better known by the name of its former sponsor, Blancpain), the first two of which are held on the weekend of June 16-18 at Fuji International Raceway.
With driver teams usually comprising one professional and one amateur, the race series is open to GT3-specification cars (plus a handful of GT4s) from a wide range of manufacturers, including Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Honda, Lamborghini, Lexus, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG, Nissan and Porsche’s. Maezawa Racing’s entry comes in the form of a Ferrari 488 GT3 EVO, co-driven by Japanese veteran Naoki Yokomizo, a former Super GT300 champion who also serves as team manager, and the Thai gentleman pilot Piti Bhirombhakdi, who combines his motorsport passions by working at the family company Boon Rawd Brewery, which brews Thailand’s famous Singha lager.
Although ineligible for points in this year’s GT World Challenge Asia drivers’ championship, Maezawa Racing’s toe-in-the-water entry will nonetheless be able to compete for outright honours in the series, with six subsequent Japanese rounds scheduled at Suzuka International Circuit (July 14-16), Motegi Mobility Resort (July 21-23) and Okayama International Circuit (August 18-20). Who knows, next year Le Mans?