Racing Project Bandoh


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 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

YearClassCarDriversDrivers' rankings
1997GT300RS☆R Nissan Silvia S14 Manabu Orido / Hideo Fukuyama1st
1998GT300WedsSport Toyota Celica Manabu Orido / Max Angelelli / Katsumi Yamamoto2nd
1999GT300WedsSport Toyota Celica Manabu Orido / Takahiko Hara3rd
2000GT300WedsSport Toyota Celica Wakisaka KaoruHajime / Takahiko Hara6th
2001GT300WedsSport Toyota MR-S Tanaka Minoru / Satoshi Goto8th
2002GT300WedsSport Toyota MR-S Tanaka Minoru / Satoshi Goto12th
2003GT300WedsSport Toyota MR-S Takayuki Aoki / Tanaka Minoru4th
2003GT300WedsSport Toyota Celica Takayuki Aoki / Tanaka Minoru4th
2004GT300WedsSport Toyota Celica Takayuki Aoki / Nobuteru Taniguchi5th
2005GT300WedsSport Toyota Celica Hiroki Kato / Nobuteru Taniguchi7th
2006GT300WedsSport Toyota Celica Koji Matsuda / Shigekazu Wakisaka10th
2007GT300WedsSport Toyota Celica Akira Iida / Yuhi Sekiguchi10th
2008GT300WedsSport Toyota Celica Manabu Orido / Tsubasa Abe / Yuhi Sekiguchi12th
2008GT300WedsSport Lexus IS350 Manabu Orido / Tsubasa Abe / Yuhi Sekiguchi12th
2009GT300WedsSport Lexus IS350 Manabu Orido / Tatsuya Kataoka1st
2010GT300WedsSport Lexus IS350 Manabu Orido / Tatsuya Kataoka8th
2011GT500WedsSport ADVAN Lexus SC430 Tatsuya Kataoka / Seiji Ara13th
2012GT500WedsSport ADVAN Lexus SC430 Seiji Ara / Andre Couto / Marino Franchitti9th
2013GT500WedsSport ADVAN Lexus SC430 Seiji Ara / Andre Couto13th
2014GT500WedsSport ADVAN Lexus RC F Juichi Wakisaka / Yuhi Sekiguchi15th
2015GT500WedsSport ADVAN Lexus RC F Juichi Wakisaka / Yuhi Sekiguchi11th
2015GT300UP GARAGE BANDOH Toyota 86 Yuki Nakayama / Marko Asmer / Yuji Ide25th
2016GT500WedsSport ADVAN Lexus RC F Yuji Kunimoto / Yuhi Sekiguchi4th
2016GT300UP GARAGE BANDOH Toyota 86 Yuhki Nakayama / Shinnosuke Yamada14th
2017GT500Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh Lexus LC 500 Yuji Kunimoto / Yuhi Sekiguchi / Kenta Yamashita / Kamui Kobayashi13th / 14th / 20th / NC
2017GT300 with Bandoh Toyota 86 Yuhki Nakayama / Shintaro Kawabata18th
2018GT500Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh Lexus LC 500 Yuji Kunimoto / Kenta Yamashita11th
2018GT300Team UpGarage BANDOH Toyota 86 MC Yuhki Nakayama / Takashi Kobayashi12th
2019GT500Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh Lexus LC 500 GT500 Yuji Kunimoto / Sho Tsuboi11th
2019GT300Team UpGarage Honda NSX GT3 Evo Takashi Kobayashi / Kosuke Matsuura / Shinnosuke Yamada22nd / NC
2020GT500Toyota Team WedsSport Bandoh Toyota GR Supra GT500
2020GT300Team UpGarage Honda NSX GT3 Evo Takashi Kobayashi / Kosuke Matsuura