The opening round of the 2026 Autobacs Super GT Series took place at the Okayama GT International Circuit in Japan, where EDGE Sporting Management driver Charlie Fagg delivered a dominant performance to begin his second season in the championship with victory in the 300km endurance race.
Held in warm and stable conditions, with blue skies and ambient temperatures of 24°C, the weekend provided an ideal backdrop for the start of the season. Returning to the series after a strong debut campaign in 2025 with the #777 D’Station Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3, Fagg entered the event aiming to build on his experience and challenge consistently at the front of the field.
That intent was immediately evident in qualifying, where the D’Station Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 secured pole position by a margin of three tenths of a second after both drivers completed their laps, underlining the pace of the package heading into race day.
Starting from pole position, Fagg’s teammate, Tomonobu Fujii, made a clean getaway to lead into Turn 1 and quickly settled into a strong rhythm at the front of the field. By lap six, the lead had extended to just over one second, before battles within the chasing pack allowed the #777 car to build a more significant advantage. By lap 20, the gap had grown to four seconds, providing valuable breathing space ahead of the pit window.
The team executed a clean and well-timed pit stop on lap 29, handing the car over to Fagg to complete the race from the lead. In the early stages of his stint, Fagg pushed to consolidate the advantage, and once the pit cycle had concluded, the lead had extended to approximately 11 seconds.
From that point onwards, the focus shifted to tyre management and maintaining consistency. Despite some late pressure from the chasing pack, including former Formula 1 driver Daniil Kvyat, Fagg controlled the race effectively to secure victory by just over seven seconds, completing a lights-to-flag win for the #777 entry.
The result marks a perfect start to the 2026 campaign for Fagg and D’Station Racing, reinforcing their status as strong contenders for the season ahead.
Reflecting on the weekend, Fagg said:
“My race was a tiny bit lonely and the biggest thing for me was to keep my concentration and mindset on looking after the car and managing the gap. Well done to the team who produced a fantastic car. The package for the whole weekend was excellent, and my teammate did an excellent job at the start of the race and handed me over the car in a great position. From then on, it was about doing a professional job and bringing it home to win the first race of the year.
I’d like to thank EDGE Sporting Management for all their support and Team D’Station for putting together such a competitive car. I really can’t wait for the rest of the season – I think it’s going to be a good one.”