Racing Project Bandoh Ltd. is a Japanese racing team competing in the Super GT series.

Racing history

Created in 1990 by Masaaki Bando, Racing Project Bandoh raced in the All Japan Touring Car Championship from 1987 (as an earlier organization created by Bando until 1990) to 1997 and entered the Japanese Grand Touring Championship in 1997, competing with a Nissan Silvia S14 in the GT300 class winning five consecutive podiums. In the team's first year of competition, drivers Hideo Fukuyama and Manabu Orido won the GT300 class championship. The next year Bandoh switched to a Toyota Celica, but could not recreate the success of the previous year, taking no podiums with driver Manabu Orido placing second in the drivers' championship. Racing Project Bandoh won the first race of the season at the Suzuka GT 300, and ended the season with drivers Takahiko Hara and Manabu Orido taking third in the drivers championship. Three points behind the winner, Morio Nitta. Bandoh would win one race in 2000 at Sportsland SUGO, and one race in 2001 at Twin Ring Motegi.

2003 brought more success for the team after changing to a new Toyota Celica mid-way through the season, taking wins at Mt. Fuji and Suzuka and drivers Takayuki Aoki and Minoru Tanaka finishing fourth in the championship. Bandoh won one race at Sportsland SUGO in 2004.

It was not until 2007 that Racing Project Bandoh would achieve victory again, winning the fifth round of the season at Sportsland SUGO. In 2008 the team won the seventh round of the season at Motegi. The same year Masaaki Bando's son Masataka Bando took over operations of the team after Masaaki Bando was appointed as the chairman of the Super GT series. The following year in 2009 drivers Manabu Orido and Tatsuya Kataoka in a Lexus IS350 took five podiums including one win. As a result, Racing Project Bandoh won both the team and drivers championship by 3 points over Nobuteru Taniguchi and Ryo Orime in the GT300 class.

In 2011 Racing Project Bandoh moved to the GT500 class competing in a Lexus SC430 under the name LEXUS TEAM WedsSport BANDOH.

In 2015 and 2016 the team fielded both a Lexus RC F in the GT500 class and a Toyota 86 in the GT300 class in conjunction with UP GARAGE.

Racing Project Bandoh has long been associated with the team's main sponsor WedsSport, a Japanese aftermarket wheel manufacturer.

Results

Complete JGTC Results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year CarTyresClassNo.Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pos Pts 1997Nissan Silvia S14GT30019 Manabu Orido Hideo FukuyamaSUZFUJSENFUJMINSUG1st90 1998Toyota CelicaGT30019 Manabu Orido Max Angelelli Katsumi YamamotoSUZFUJSENFUJMOTMINSUG2nd46 1999Toyota CelicaGT30019 Manabu Orido Takahiko HaraSUZFUJSUGMINFUJOKAMOT3rd70 2000Toyota CelicaGT30019 Shigekazu Wakisaka Takahiko HaraMOTFUJSUGFUJOKAMINSUZ 5th 44 2001Toyota MR-SGT30019 Minoru Tanaka Satoshi GotoOKAFUJSUGFUJMOTSUZMIN9th33 2002Toyota MR-SGT30019 Minoru Tanaka Satoshi GotoOKAFUJSUGSEPFUJMOTMINSUZ10th31 2003Toyota MR-SGT30019 Takayuki Aoki Minoru TanakaOKAFUJ4th63Toyota CelicaGT30019SUGFUJFUJMOTAUTSUZ 2004Toyota CelicaGT30019 Takayuki Aoki Nobuteru TaniguchiOKASUGSEPTOKMOTAUTSUZ6th48

Complete Super GT Results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year CarTyres Class No. Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Pos Points 2005 Toyota Celica GT300 19 Hiroki Kato Nobuteru Taniguchi OKA FUJ SEP SUG MOT FUJ AUT SUZ 7th 54 2006 Toyota Celica GT300 19 Koji Matsuda Shigekazu Wakisaka SUZ OKA FUJ SEP SUG SUZ MOT AUT FUJ10th35 2007 Toyota Celica GT300 19 Akira Iida Yuhi Sekiguchi SUZ OKA FUJ SEP SUG SUZ MOT AUT FUJ 9th 46 2008 Toyota Celica GT300 19 Manabu Orido Tsubasa AbeSUZOKA11th48Lexus IS350GT30019 Manabu Orido Tsubasa Abe Yuhi SekiguchiFUJSEPSUGSUZMOTAUTFUJ 2009 Lexus IS350 GT300 19 Manabu Orido Tatsuya KataokaOKASUZFUJSEPSUGSUZFUJAUTMOT1st112 2010 Lexus IS350 GT300 19 Manabu Orido Tatsuya KataokaSUZOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZFUJMOT8th49 2011 Lexus SC430 GT500 19 Tatsuya Kataoka Seiji AraOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZFUJAUTMOT13th37 2012 Lexus SC430 GT500 19 Seiji Ara André CoutoOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZFUJAUTMOT9th55 2013 Lexus SC430 GT500 19 Seiji Ara André CoutoOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZFUJAUTMOT14th25 2014 Lexus RC F GT500 19 Yuhi Sekiguchi Juichi WakisakaOKAFUJAUTSUGFUJSUZBURMOT 13th 322015Toyota 86GT30018 20 Yuhki Nakayama Yuji Ide Marko Asmer Nick Cassidy Kota Sasaki OKA FUJ CHA FUJ SUZ SUG AUT MOT28th2 Lexus RC F GT500 19 Yuhi Sekiguchi Juichi Wakisaka OKA FUJ CHA FUJ SUZ SUG AUT MOT10th472016Toyota 86GT30018 Yuhki Nakayama Shinnosuke Yamada OKA FUJ SUG FUJ SUZ CHA MOT MOT12th46 Lexus RC F GT500 19 Yuji Kunimoto Yuhi Sekiguchi OKA FUJ SUG FUJ SUZ CHA MOT MOT 4th 79 2017 Toyota 86 GT300 18 Yuhki Nakayama Shintaro Kawabata OKA FUJ AUT SUG FUJ SUZ CHA MOT 18th 23Lexus LC500 GT500GT50019 Yuhi Sekiguchi Yuji Kunimoto Kenta Yamashita Kamui Kobayashi OKA FUJ AUT SUG FUJ SUZ CHA MOT12th41 2018 Lexus LC500 GT500 GT500 19 Yuji Kunimoto Kenta Yamashita OKA FUJ SUZ CHA FUJ SUG AUT MOT11th50 2019 Lexus LC500 GT500 GT500 19 Yuji Kunimoto Sho Tsuboi OKA FUJ SUZ BUR FUJ AUT SUG MOT 11th 46.5 2020 Toyota GR Supra GT500 GT500 19 Yuji Kunimoto Ritomo Miyata FUJ FUJ SUZ MOT FUJ SUZ MOT FUJ14th27 2021 Toyota GR Supra GT500 GT500 19 Yuji Kunimoto Ritomo Miyata OKA FUJ MOT SUZ SUG AUT MOT FUJ11th53 2022 Toyota GR Supra GT500 GT500 19 Yuji Kunimoto Sena Sakaguchi OKA FUJ SUZ FUJ SUZ SUG AUT MOT11th442023Toyota GR Supra GT500GT50019 Yuji Kunimoto Sena Sakaguchi OKA FUJ SUZ FUJ SUZ SUG AUT MOT 11th 492024Toyota GR Supra GT500GT50019 Yuji Kunimoto Sena SakaguchiOKAFUJSUZFUJSUGAUTMOTSUZ15th212025Toyota GR Supra GT500GT50019 Yuji Kunimoto Sena Sakaguchi Kazuto KotakaOKAFUJSEPFS1FS2SUZSUGAUTMOT14th36.5 ‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed. * Season still in progress.

References