Pro athlete and motorsport star, Daijiro “Dai” Yoshihara enters the professional competition field in TC America with the Florida-based Victor Gonzalez Racing Team (VGRT). The TC America powered by Skip Barber championship continues to be both a manufacturer and driver destination for professional touring car racing.
Comprised of three competition classes — TCX, TC, and TCA — all TC America powered by Skip Barber championships utilize factory-built or supported turn-key race cars, with TCX supporting the BMW M2 CS Racing platform and other full-fledged, homologated race cars.
Dai is a perfect addition to VGRT. Now in its fourth year, the racing outfit has competed in TC America, GR Cup, and the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. With second place in the TCR Championship, over 20 podiums, and four outright wins, the team’s resume continues to speak for itself. Dai’s participation is significant in bolstering that effort, not only for his undeniable talent, but also as a Japanese driver piloting a Honda FK8 Civic Type R TCR in the series.
“We are super excited to have Dai as part of the VGRT family, he is an excellent ambassador for the sport and a good race car driver,” said Victor Gonzalez, VGRT. “We will push to give him a car to go and fight for wins in every race. We are a team of diversity and he is a perfect fit for our program.”
Dai is amongst three drivers in the VGRT TC America entry list: Ruben Iglesias Jr. represents the team in TCA, Michael Hurczyn in TC, and Dai Yoshihara in TCX. While the other Hondas in the team’s lineup are production models modified for racing, the hindmost is a full-blown Type R race car built by JAS Motorsport — the official Honda motorsport engineering and customer service partner since 1998.