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 B4 at
Twin Ring Motegi in 2009 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. at
Sportsland SUGO in 2012 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 ==