SUPER GT veteran Hiranaka departs Gainer after 13 seasons
SUPER GT veteran Katsuyuki Hiranaka has departed the Gainer Nissan GT300 squad after a 13-year association with the team.
Hiranaka, 40, first joined what was then known as Jim Gainer back in 2009 off the back of a three-year stint in SUPER GT's top GT500 class driving for Toyota and then Honda.
In that time he has picked up 10 wins, and finished second in the GT300 standings on three occasions - with a Ferrari 458 GTE in 2011 (with Tetsuya Tanaka) and then a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 in both 2013 and '14 (with Bjorn Wirdheim).
He has driven the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 since Gainer became an official NISMO customer team in 2018, marking the start of his current partnership with Hironobu Yasuda. The duo scored four wins together and finished third in the championship in 2019.
Hiranaka and Yasuda finished seventh in this year's standings with a best finish of second at Motegi in the #11 Nissan. They finished eighth in last weekend's Fuji Speedway season finale, two places ahead of the sister #10 Gainer car shared by Kazuki Hoshino and Keishi Ishikawa.
#11 GAINER TANAX GT-R
Photo by: Masahide Kamio
Hoshino had already announced his intention to retire from SUPER GT earlier in the season, with Hiranaka's departure meaning Gainer now has two vacant spots to fill in its roster next season. The team has stated that it plans to continue running two cars in 2022.
It's unclear whether Hiranaka will continue his SUPER GT career with another team. Outside of the series, he also spent five seasons in Formula Nippon (now Super Formula), the last of which came in 2010.
Baguette announces exit from Honda SUPER GT fold
Toyota considers abandoning Supra low-downforce concept
Rolex 24, Hour 1: MSR Acura leads, BMW in trouble early
Tom Blomqvist led the opening hour of the Rolex 24 at Daytona aboard the Meyer Shank Racing Acura, as BMW became the first of the GTP manufacturers to hit trouble.
Diriyah E-Prix: Wehrlein defeats Dennis to complete double win
Pascal Wehrlein completed a Diriyah E-Prix clean sweep, sharing a 1-2 with Jake Dennis once again to take the Formula E championship lead.
Johnson on Button running NASCAR Cup races: "I think I can talk him into it"
2009 Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button will get his first taste of NASCAR with the Garage 56 entry at Le Mans, but it may not be his last.
Jenson Button joins NASCAR Garage 56 Le Mans 24 driver lineup
Jenson Button has been revealed as part of the driver lineup for the Garage 56 entry that brings NASCAR back to the Le Mans 24 Hours for its centenary race in June.
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.