# R&D Sport

R&D Sport is a Japanese racing team currently competing in the Super GT series.

## Racing history

R&D Sport was created in 1991 as a race car management, maintenance, and manufacturing company and expanded to JGTC, racing under the company's own name in 2002.

### Super Formula

The team first competed in Japanese Formula 3000 in 1992 as AD Racing with Finnish driver Mika Salo. The team changed to Navi Connection Racing in 1995 with driver Masahiko Kageyama taking third place at Suzuka in 1995 and third place at Fuji in 1996. Masami Kageyama, younger brother of Masahiko Kageyama, followed his sibling to third place at Fuji in 1997. A third-place finish at Fuji in 2000 from driver Shinsuke Shibahara would be R&D Sports' last podium in Formula Nippon.

### Super GT

In 2001 R&D Sport moved to the JGTC in a Porsche 911 GT3 R driven by Shinsuke Shibahara and Shogo Mitsuyama. 2002 would be the first successful year of JGTC competition, changing to a new Vemac RD320R, Shibahara and Mitsuyama would win three rounds of the season, taking victory at Fuji, Twin Ring Motegi, and Mine Circuit and finishing second in the drivers' championship.
R&D moved to GT500 with a Vemac RD350R in 2003, but they would not have the success of the last season, being unable to properly compete with the factory teams of GT500. As a result, the team dedicated 2004 to further developing their new Vemac RD408R competing in only one race of the season.
2005 would see the team move back to the GT300 class, as an accident with the team's RD408R ruined the planned GT500 effort. Instead R&D Sport was forced to use their Vemac RD350R from the 2003 season in the GT300 class, as it was no longer competitive in GT500. The team ran two cars in 2006 with Shogo Mitsuyama and Nobuteru Taniguchi winning at Okayama and taking third in the drivers' championship. Drivers Shinsuke Shibahara and Hiroyuki Yagi won the next round at Fuji and finished sixth in the drivers championship.
Shinsuke Shibahara and Haruki Kurosawa achieved victory at Autopolis in 2007, finishing third in the drivers' championship.
R&D Sport began a partnership with Subaru in 2009 using an AWD Subaru Legacy B4 that debuted at the sixth round of the season at Suzuka. However the car developed problems with its front differential and was retired from the race.
2010 was a shift from the disappointing performance of the Legacy in 2009, by changing the car from an AWD setup to FR, Kota Sasaki and Tetsuya Yamano won at Suzuka. 2011 was an even better performance, with Sasaki and Yamano winning at both Suzuka and Autopolis, finishing fourth overall in the drivers' championship.
STI and R&D Sport began a joint partnership in 2012 with STI general director Eiji Tatsumi taking over as team principal and a new Subaru BRZ for the 2012 season.
In 2013 the team achieved victory at the fifth round of the season at Suzuka, with drivers Kota Sasaki and Tetsuya Yamano finishing fourth in the drivers' championship. At the eighth round of the series Tetsuya Yamano announced his retirement after the end of the 2013 season.
Yamano's replacement, Takuto Iguchi and Kota Sasaki win at Fuji and finish 5th in the drivers' championship in 2014.
The 2015 season is less successful than the previous year with the year's best finish being a third place podium at Suzuka. Drivers Takuto Iguchi and Hideki Yamauchi finished the season twelfth overall in the driver's championship.
The 2016 season is more successful than the previous year with the year's best finish being a win at Suzuka, third place podium at Sportland Sugo and Fuji. Drivers Takuto Iguchi and Hideki Yamauchi finished the season sixth overall in the driver's championship.
The 2017 season is less successful than the previous year with the year's best finish being a second place podium at Autopolis. Drivers Takuto Iguchi and Hideki Yamauchi finished the season ninth overall in the driver's championship.
The 2018 season is more successful than the previous year with the year's best finish being a third place podium at Suzuka and win at Sportland Sugo. Drivers Takuto Iguchi and Hideki Yamauchi finished the season eighth overall in the driver's championship.
The 2019 season is very worst successful than the previous year with the year's best finish being a third place podium at Suzuka. Drivers Takuto Iguchi and Hideki Yamauchi finished the season eighteenth overall in the driver's championship.
The 2020 season is very more successful than the previous year with the year's best finish being a second place podium at Fuji and third place podium at Twin Ring Motegi. Drivers Takuto Iguchi and Hideki Yamauchi finished the season fifth overall in the driver's championship.
The 2021 season is The 1st Champion than the previous year with the year's best finish being win at SUGO, a second place podium at Fuji and third place podium at Fuji and Autopolis. Drivers Takuto Iguchi and Hideki Yamauchi finished the season first overall in the driver's championship.

## Results
### Complete JGTC Results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Car | Tyres | Class | No. | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Pos | Pts |
| 2001 | Porsche 911 GT3-R | D | GT300 | 62 | Shinsuke Shibahara Yasuhisa Fujiwara Shogo Mitsuyama | OKA 7 | FUJ Ret | SUG 9 | NC1 10 | FUJ 11 | MOT 5 | SUZ 6 | MIN 4 | | 7th | 39 |
| 2001 | Porsche 911 GT3-R | D | GT300 | 63 | "OSAMU" Takamasa Nakagawa | OKA 9 | FUJ 8 | SUG 6 | NC1 | FUJ 17 | MOT 17 | SUZ 5 | MIN 7 | | 7th | 39 |
| 2002 | Porsche 911 GT3-R | D | GT300 | 61 | Yasuo Miyagawa Hiroaki Suga Tsubasa Kurosawa Atsushi Katsumasa | OKA 20 | FUJ 10 | SUG DNA | SEP 17 | FUJ 21 | MOT | MIN | SUZ | | 17th | 1 |
| 2002 | Porsche 911 GT3-R | D | GT300 | 62 | Shinsuke Shibahara Shogo Mitsuyama | OKA Ret | | | | | | | | | 2nd | 85 |
| 2002 | Vemac RD320R | D | GT300 | 62 | Shinsuke Shibahara Shogo Mitsuyama | | FUJ 1 | SUG 15 | SEP Ret | FUJ 13 | MOT 1 | MIN 1 | SUZ 7 | | 2nd | 85 |
| 2002 | Porsche 911 GT3-R | D | GT300 | 63 | "OSAMU" Takamasa Nakagawa | OKA 17 | FUJ Ret | SUG 3 | SEP 15 | FUJ 17 | MOT 13 | MIN 10 | SUZ DNS | | 2nd | 85 |
| 2003 | Porsche 911 GT3-R | D | GT300 | 61 | Atsushi Katsumata Takeyuki Kishi Keiko Ihara | OKA | FUJ Ret | SUG DNP | FUJ | FUJ 16 | MOT 12 | AUT | SUZ | | NC | 0 |
| 2003 | Vemac RD350R | D | GT500 | 62 | Shinsuke Shibahara Shogo Mitsuyama | OKA | FUJ 11 | SUG 15 | FUJ 9 | FUJ Ret | MOT Ret | AUT | SUZ 16 | | 14th | 2 |
| 2004 | Vemac RD408R | D | GT500 | 62 | Shinsuke Shibahara Shogo Mitsuyama | OKA | SUG | SEP | TOK | MOT | AUT | SUZ 13 | NC1 | NC2 | NC | 0 |

### Complete Super GT Results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Car | Tyres | Class | No. | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pos | Points |
| 2005 | Vemac RD350R | Y | GT300 | 62 | Shinsuke Shibahara Tadao Uematsu Hiroyuki Yagi | OKA Ret | FUJ 8 | SEP 11 | SUG Ret | MOT 10 | FUJ DSQ | AUT 16 | SUZ 22 | | | 13th | 6 |
| 2006 | Vemac RD320R | Y | GT300 | 61 | Shogo Mitsuyama Nobuteru Taniguchi | SUZ | OKA | FUJ | SEP | SUG | SUZ | MOT 6 | AUT 20 | FUJ 13 | | 22nd | 5 |
| 2006 | Vemac RD408R | Y | GT300 | 62 | Shinsuke Shibahara Hiroyuki Yagi Haruki Kurosawa | SUZ 18 | OKA 7 | FUJ 1 | SEP 13 | SUG Ret | SUZ 7 | MOT 3 | AUT 6 | FUJ 14 | | 5th | 49 |
| 2007 | Vemac RD408R | Y | GT300 | 62 | Shinsuke Shibahara Haruki Kurosawa | SUZ 5 | OKA 8 | FUJ Ret | SEP 14 | SUG 5 | SUZ 3 | MOT 2 | AUT 1 | FUJ 4 | | 3rd | 91 |
| 2008 | Vemac RD408R | Y | GT300 | 62 | Shinsuke Shibahara Haruki Kurosawa Shogo Mitsuyama | SUZ DNS | OKA 5 | FUJ 6 | SEP 8 | SUG 11 | SUZ 4 | MOT 12 | AUT 14 | FUJ 2 | | 9th | 56 |
| 2009 | Subaru Legacy B4 | Y | GT300 | 62 | Shogo Mitsuyama Tetsuya Yamano | OKA | SUZ | FUJ | SEP | SUG | SUZ DNS | FUJ 18 | AUT | MOT Ret | | 25th | 1 |
| 2010 | Subaru Legacy B4 | Y | GT300 | 62 | Kota Sasaki Tetsuya Yamano | SUZ 13 | OKA 12 | FUJ Ret | SEP | SUG 13 | SUZ 1 | FUJ C | MOT 10 | NC1 17 | NC2 15 | 11th | 30 |
| 2011 | Subaru Legacy B4 | Y | GT300 | 62 | Kota Sasaki Tetsuya Yamano | OKA 18 | FUJ 8 | SEP 8 | SUG Ret | SUZ 1 | FUJ 6 | AUT 1 | MOT 6 | NC1 14 | NC2 5 | 4th | 75 |
| 2012 | Subaru BRZ | Y | GT300 | 61 | Kota Sasaki Tetsuya Yamano | OKA Ret | FUJ 9 | SEP 8 | SUG 10 | SUZ Ret | FUJ 6 | AUT 4 | MOT 15 | NC1 19 | NC2 16 | 12th | 33 |
| 2013 | Subaru BRZ | M | GT300 | 61 | Kota Sasaki Tetsuya Yamano Takuto Iguchi | OKA 5 | FUJ Ret | SEP 4 | SUG 6 | SUZ 1 | FUJ 9 | AUT 7 | MOT 3 | NC1 Ret | NC2 22 | 4th | 87 |
| 2014 | Subaru BRZ | M | GT300 | 61 | Kota Sasaki Takuto Iguchi | OKA 21 | FUJ 12 | AUT 2 | SUG 14 | FUJ 1 | SUZ 9 | BUR 5 | MOT 17 | | | 6th | 60 |
| 2015 | Subaru BRZ | D | GT300 | 61 | Takuto Iguchi Hideki Yamauchi | OKA 17 | FUJ 8 | CHA 6 | FUJ 8 | SUZ 3 | SUG 5 | AUT Ret | MOT 11 | | | 10th | 49 |
| 2016 | Subaru BRZ | D | GT300 | 61 | Takuto Iguchi Hideki Yamauchi | OKA 23 | FUJ 11 | SUG 3 | FUJ 3 | SUZ 1 | CHA Ret | MOT 23 | MOT 13 | | | 6th | 62 |
| 2017 | Subaru BRZ | D | GT300 | 61 | Takuto Iguchi Hideki Yamauchi | OKA Ret | FUJ 13 | AUT 2 | SUG 9 | FUJ 4 | SUZ 7 | CHA Ret | MOT Ret | | | 9th | 45 |
| 2018 | Subaru BRZ | D | GT300 | 61 | Takuto Iguchi Hideki Yamauchi | OKA 18 | FUJ Ret | SUZ 3 | CHA Ret | FUJ Ret | SUG 1 | AUT 15 | MOT 6 | | | 11th | 49 |
| 2019 | Subaru BRZ | D | GT300 | 61 | Takuto Iguchi Hideki Yamauchi | OKA 4 | FUJ 28 | SUZ 3 | BUR 11 | FUJ 10 | AUT Ret | SUG 28 | MOT 12 | NC1 | NC2 | 13th | 34 |
| 2020 | Subaru BRZ | D | GT300 | 61 | Takuto Iguchi Hideki Yamauchi | FUJ Ret | FUJ 2 | SUZ 4 | MOT 3 | FUJ 16 | SUZ 12 | MOT 5 | FUJ 8 | | | 6th | 64 |
| 2021 | Subaru BRZ | D | GT300 | 61 | Takuto Iguchi Hideki Yamauchi | OKA 15 | FUJ 2 | MOT 11 | SUZ 10 | SUG 1 | AUT 3 | MOT 6 | FUJ 3 | | | 1st | 87 |
| 2022 | Subaru BRZ | D | GT300 | 61 | Takuto Iguchi Hideki Yamauchi | OKA 9 | FUJ 3 | SUZ 12 | FUJ 1 | SUZ 18 | SUG 8 | AUT 2 | MOT 20 | | | 3rd | 68 |
| 2023 | Subaru BRZ | D | GT300 | 61 | Takuto Iguchi Hideki Yamauchi | OKA 22 | FUJ 11 | SUZ 6 | FUJ 6 | SUZ 3 | SUG 4 | AUT 4 | MOT 10 | | | 7th | 59 |
| 2024 | Subaru BRZ | D | GT300 | 61 | Takuto Iguchi Hideki Yamauchi | OKA 26† | FUJ 15 | SUZ Ret | FUJ 24 | SUG 5 | AUT 25† | MOT Ret | SUZ 7 | | | 17th | 20 |
Note: Non-championship (NC1, NC2) races are major races that do not count towards the championship.

### Super Formula (Formula Nippon, Japanese Formula 3000)

| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | Drivers | Drivers' rankings |
| 1992 | AD Racing | Reynard 92D | Mugen Honda | Mika Salo | 14th |
| 1993 | AD Racing | Lola T93/50 | Mugen Honda | Mika Salo | 17th |
| 1995 | NAVI CONNECTION | Reynard | Mugen Honda | Masahiko Kageyama / Masahiko Kondo | 17th |
| 1996 | NAVI CONNECTION | Reynard | Mugen Honda | Masahiko Kageyama / Masahiko Kondo | 15th |
| 1997 | NAVI CONNECTION | Reynard | Mugen Honda | Masami Kageyama / Katsumi Yamamoto | 5th |
| 1998 | Team LeyJun | Reynard | Mugen Honda | Shinsuke Shibahara / Osamu / Taichiro Oonishi | 24th |
| 1999 | Team LeyJun | Reynard 99L | Mugen Honda | Peter Dumbreck / Osamu / Shinsuke Shibahara | 7th |
| 2000 | Team LeyJun | Reynard 2KL | Mugen Honda | Shinsuke Shibahara / Osamu | 11th |
| 2000 | TAKAGI B-1 | Reynard 99L | Mugen Honda | Tetsuji Tamanaka | 19th |
| 2001 | TAKAGI B-1 | Reynard 2KL | Mugen Honda | Tetsuji Tamanaka / Masahiko Kageyama | 18th |