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Goodsmile Racing (GSR), currently competing as GSR & Team Ukyo, is a Japanese auto racing team established by Goodsmile Company’s founder Aki Takanori that currently competes in the GT300 class of Super GT. The team was originally created as primary sponsors for the Studie team in 2008 before forming an independent team in 2010 following Studie’s brief withdrawal.

Goodsmile gained notoriety for the Hatsune Miku itasha liveries that they used in their race cars and using a fan supported program to help finance the team’s efforts. Under the guidance of former Formula One driver Ukyo Katayama, they won three drivers championships and two team championships. They are also the first team to win a Super GT championship using a FIA GT3 specification machine. Cars run or sponsored by Goodsmile Racing had also previously competed in GT World Challenge.

History
In 2007, Takanori Aki was introduced to motorsport when Goodsmile Company was invited to become a sponsor in the 2007 Rally Japan. One year later, Aki decided to form Goodsmile Racing and entered the GT300 class of Super GT as the primary sponsors for Studie GLAD Racing, a joint effort between BMW tuning company Studie and import part supplier Advance Step.

According to an interview in 2022, the decision to use itasha paint scheme on their cars was made because of uncertainties with attracting enough sponsors. In one team meeting, an employee suggested the use of Hatsune Miku, a Vocaloid project created by Crypton Future Media in 2007, as a suitable character for the itasha scheme. Aki soon contacted Crypton and negotiated a deal that would allow Goodsmile Racing to use Hatsune Miku as the team’s mascot.

The team made their first appearance in the sixth round of the 2008 season, the International POKKA 1000km at Suzuka, using a BMW Z4 M Coupe that was fitted with a detuned 4.9 liter BMW S62B50 V8 engine derived from the E39 M5 and an H-pattern gearbox. Yasushi Kikuchi and Shozo Tagahara were signed as the team’s drivers while Yasuaki Suzuki of Studie was chosen to become its team manager. However, the team failed the pre-race inspection for its fuel system and was not allowed to race. Goodsmile tried to compete in the next round at Motegi, but an engine fire during practice forced the team to not start the race. On the final round at Fuji Speedway, the team made its debut despite an issue in qualifying that left them starting the race from last place on the grid. Kikuchi and Tagahara finished the race in 18th place, beating a Lamborghini Murcielago entered by JLOC and a Porsche Boxster entered by Arktech Motorsport.

On the team’s debut year, it had managed to garner support from Hatsune Miku fans but struggled to attract corporate sponsors. Facing a lack of funding, Aki came up with the idea of a “personal sponsorship” system where fans would pledge financial support in exchange for one-of-a-kind memorabilia and fan experiences. The system was successful to garner enough funding to allow the team to enter the 2009 Super GT season, competing in all but the overseas race at Sepang.

Goodsmile retained both Kikuchi and Tagahara as its drivers, as well as the Z4 M Coupe. Later in the season, the team replaced their S62B50 V8 engine with a 4.0 liter S65B40 V8 engine sourced from the E90 BMW M3. Former series race winner Taku Bamba was signed as a third driver in the sixth round at Suzuka before he replaced Kikuchi starting from the eighth round at Autopolis. The pairing of Kikuchi and Bamba scored GSR’s first points scoring finish at Autopolis, allowing the team to finish 20th in the team’s standings.

Studie and Advance Step left the series at the end of the year, necessitating Goodsmile to form their own team. The team signed an agreement with Cox Speed Incorporated to supply a Porsche 911 GT3 for the 2010 season. Goodsmile initially entered a 996 GT3 RSR before switching to a 997 GT3-R later in the season. They planned to enter the 997 GT3-R starting from the second round of the year, but delays with its delivery meant that it’s only available for the final three races. Hankook was also signed as the team’s tire supplier, replacing Yokohama. Bamba was retained as the team’s lead driver while Kikuchi was replaced by Masahiro Sasaki. Former GT300 champion Mitsuhiro Kinoshita was added as a third driver for the Suzuka 1000km race. GSR scored three points finishes, allowing Bamba and Sasaki to finish 19th in the drivers standings and 16th in the teams championship.

For the 2011 season, team owner Takanori Aki made it public that he wanted Goodsmile to “go for the win”. To facilitate this, Aki signed former Formula One driver Ukyo Katayama as its new sporting driver. He also signed Nobuteru Taniguchi as its new lead driver after Taniguchi became a free agent following RE Amemiya’s withdrawal from the series. Studie also returned as a partner, while RS Fine became the team’s maintenance garage. Goodsmile also decided to return to Yokohama tires and swap their Porsche 997 GT3-R for a BMW Z4 GT3 that they purchased from Schubert Motorsport. The Z4 GT3 that Goodsmile used for the 2011 season is the same Z4 GT3 that won that year’s edition of the Dubai 24 Hours.