• Dai Yoshihara accepts a 2023 TC America seat with the Victor Gonzalez Racing Team (VGRT).
• While the VGRT TC America field will be all Honda, Dai’s TCX entry will be a fully-fledged Type R race car built by JAS Motorsport in Italy.
• The announcement represents another advancement in Dai’s proliferating career under Pit+Paddock’s athlete management.

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. 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.” – Victor Gonzalez, VGRT

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.

Yoshihara’s participation is another step forward in his multi-lateral growth as a motorsport icon and brand under the Pit+Paddock athlete management portfolio. During his inaugural year under the Pit+Paddock flag, not only did Yoshihara build three highly impactful cars for SEMA (including a pre-runner-style Nissan Frontier, an R33 GT-R, and a 2023 Acura Integra), he soared as the fastest EV at the 100th Running of Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, allowed fans to experience his Formula DRIFT Pro class BRZ during the nationwide Ride with Dai Experience, and became an official ambassador for Turn 14 Distribution, ENEOS, and Yokohama Tire.

“As part of our ongoing relationship with Dai, we are pleased to enter the TC America racing series with VGRT. The team at Victor Gonzalez Racing has a proven track record of performance. Dai’s addition to their established roster adds a proven winner and a new challenge in professional road racing in the series.” – Daryl Sampson, Pit+Paddock Publisher