What's the deal with Honda drivers moving to Toyota?

Ukyo Sasahara, Nirei Fukuzumi, Toshiki Oyu - there has been a sudden migration of Honda drivers to the marque's arch-rival Toyota in the last two years. So what gives?

Photos: JRP

Up until around two years ago, switching manufacturers in Japanese racing was very rare. For many years, such moves in SUPER GT usually involved Nissan providing a new home for a driver who had fallen out of favour with either Honda or Toyota. Drivers generally never passed directly between Honda and Toyota, which meant inter-manufacturer moves in Super Formula were almost unheard of.

Loic Duval became the last man to contest Super Formula as a full-time driver for both manufacturers when he joined the Toyota camp in 2012. After that, the only driver to even sample both types of engine was Mitsunori Takaboshi in 2020/21, as a replacement driver for B-Max Racing (Honda) and Team Impul (Toyota). That was until Ukyo Sasahara stunned the paddock by turning down an offer to remain at Honda in favour of crossing the aisle and becoming a Toyota driver in 2023.

And now, two more members of the Honda stable have followed Sasahara’s example this off-season, with both Nirei Fukuzumi and Toshiki Oyu joining Toyota. So what’s behind the sudden shift? Are there any factors that unite their decision-making, or is it just a mere coincidence that they have all gone in the same direction?