Manabu Orido

is a Japanese professional racing driver. He currently competes in the Super GT series for apr driving a Toyota GR86 GT300, in the Super Taikyu series driving an Aston Martin Vantage GT8R, and in the GT World Challenge Asia series driving a BMW M4 GT4.

Orido is a two-time JGTC / Super GT GT300 class champion, winning the title in 1997 and 2009. He is also a two-time Super Taikyu ST-1 class champion, and GT World Challenge Asia GT4 class champion in 2023.

Racing career

Early career Orido began his racing career as a street racer and then progressed to touge racing. He made his professional racing debut in 1990, where, sponsored by the Bandoh Chain of Commerce, Orido entered a drift contest organized by the automobile magazine CARBOY. He emerged as the grand champion and promptly moved on to circuit racing.

In 1992, Orido made his debut in the Fuji Freshman race for Yokohama Rubber. During his time in the Freshman series, Orido earned a class victory in the NA-1600 class in the Fuji Freshman, and a three-time winner in the Suzuka Freshman's N2-1600 class.

JGTC

1996–1999: JGTC Debut and GT300 Dominance

After years of one make series, he first appeared in the JGTC series in 1996, driving for Team JUN and Team Taisan Jr. as a part-time driver, before joining Team Bandoh as a full-time driver in 1997, winning the 1997 GT300 championship and continuing to perform well over the next two years, finishing second overall in 1998 and third overall in 1999.

Orido continued to occasionally compete in One-make racing series, even amid discussions of banning drivers who had won points in the Japanese Touring Car Championship races from competing in the series. Despite this he participated in the commemorative Altezza (Lexus IS) one-make race at Fuji Speedway on May 3, 2000, driving a SXE10 RS200 Z Edition for team TOM'S and Uetake Racing and finishing 2nd overall.

2000–2001: Moving up to GT500 In 2000, Orido moved up to GT500, racing for in the Toyota Supra alongside Mitsuhiro Kinoshita. Though he was consistently finishing in the points, his performance in the GT500 class was not as impressive as his early GT300 career, his highest finish a seventh place in the sixth round at Mine. The pair ended the season with only 11 points, placing them 18th overall.

2001 offered more of the same for Orido along with his new partner Seiji Ara, as the Team Tsuchiya's Toyota Supra was struggling for pace compared to the other Toyota teams. Their highest finish of the season was two seventh-place finishes at Twin Ring Motegi and Suzuka, while the team was unable to qualify for the race at Fuji. Team Tsuchiya ended the season with 11 points once more, but ranked 19th overall. thumb

2002–2003: Finding Success in GT500 At the first round of the 2002 season at TI Circuit Aida, Orido finished third for Team SARD along with French driver Jérémie Dufour, this was Orido's first podium finish in GT500, and although they suffered retirements at the first Fuji race and Sepang and finishing outside the points in Sugo and the second Fuji race, Orido still finished in the points at the last three races to amass 33 points, ending the season 14th overall, Team SARD beating out Orido's former team, Team Tsuchiya and Team KRAFT in the standings.

Orido's best GT500 season came the following year with German driver Dominik Schwager as his new partner. Team SARD started off the season inconsistently, as they weren't able to score points at round 1 at TI Circuit and round 3 at Sugo, but managed to place second in rounds 2 and 4, both of which were held at the Fuji Speedway races, The team carried on their good form by finishing seventh in the next two rounds at Fuji and Motegi, and scoring their first GT500 victory at Autopolis, before ending the season with a 9th-place finish at Suzuka. Orido and Team SARD ended the season with 57 points, sixth overall and third among the Toyota teams. He returned to Team WedsSport Bandoh as an executive advisor for the 2018 season. Orido replaced Kota Sasaki at near the end of the 2018 season from Round 6 at Sugo onwards, but scored no points.

In 2019, Orido returned to race in Super GT for a full season with Team apr Racing driving the Toyota Prius PHV GR Sport GT300 alongside Hiroaki Nagai.

From 2019 to 2021, Orido had very little success in the GT300 field with apr Racing, with no points in 2019, one point and 29th place in 2020, and eight points and 21st place in 2021.

In 2022, apr Racing switched to the Toyota GR86 GT300, and Orido improved to winning one podium and one points finish. He scored 14 points overall and finished in 19th place for the season.

24 Hours of Le Mans Orido's #77 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR racing in the 2004 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2004, Orido joined the Choro-Q Racing Team to race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans driving a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (996). The team finished second place in the GT class and 12th place overall. He won the third round and finished the season in 12th place.

Orido competed again in 2009 driving a Toyota Aristo JZS161, and finished in 15th place overall. He had a podium finish at round 4 in 2010 and finished in 8th place overall, driving a Toyota Supra JZA80.

In 2011, Orido won the third round of the championship, and finished the season in 13th place.

Orido finished in 16th place in 2012 and 2013, with a podium finish at round 4 in 2013. He finished in 13th place in 2014.

Orido won the fourh round in 2015 at Ebisu, and finished the season in 23rd place after only competing in two rounds.

Formula Drift Orido has competed in the Formula Drift series for individual rounds, and regularly in Formula Drift Asia.

Orido joined frequent collaborator Team RS-R in the Formula D Asia series from 2011 onwards.

World Touring Car Championship Orido raced in the 2008 FIA World Touring Car Championship for Rounds 10-12, driving the Chevrolet Lancetti for Team Chevrolet RML, finishing with two points in 19th place overall.

In 2020, he moved to the ST-Z class, driving the Aston Martin Vantage GT4. The team finished in second place for the class, with one win and three podiums. He finished with a class second place again in 2021, with two wins and four podiums.

In 2022, Orido moved back to the ST-1 class, driving the Aston Martin Vantage GT8R, where he finished in second place for the class, with two wins and six podiums. The team finished second in the class for the 2023 season as well, with two wins and four podium finishes.

GT World Challenge Asia In 2023, Orido participated in the GT World Challenge Asia championship series, driving a BMW M4 GT4 for the YZ Racing with Studie Team alongside Masaki Kano. Orido and the team scored six race wins in the 2023 championship in the GT4 class.

Orido and the YZ Racing with Studie team went on to win the 2023 GT4 class championship, as well as the Japan Cup title for the 2023 season.

Outside racing

Outside his racing activities, Orido currently teaches safety driving at NATS (Nihon Automobile Technical High School).

Orido is also famous for being one of the three main hosts of the Hot Version segments of the long running Best Motoring DVD series, his co-hosts fellow racing drivers Nobuteru Taniguchi and Keiichi Tsuchiya.

In 2013, Orido opened the 130R Yokohama professional driving simulator facility, where he also acts as a coach for young drivers who want to improve their driving skills with the simulator. The 130R Yokohama facility is frequented by fellow racing driver Juichi Wakisaka and World Time Attack driver Tomohiko "Under" Suzuki and was also featured in one of the Video Option DVDs.

Orido owns the RIDOX brand that sells custom aero parts for the fourth-generation Toyota Supra, with the parts designed in partnership with Varis and promoted using his personal time attack Toyota Supra. Orido's RIDOX Supra is regarded as one of the best looking Supras in the tuning community and has been featured in several Hot Version segments, and video games, most notably as a rival car named Orimabu (a reference to Orido's name) in Genki's Tokyo Xtreme Racer series of video games.

In 2018, Orido launched the AKEa brand which specializes in body kits and other car exterior parts, as his own personal line of aero parts for modern cars. He has released "Max Orido x AKEa" kits for the first- and second-generation Toyota 86 and fifth-generation Toyota Supra. These kits emphasize a casual and timeless styling to complement the car's original design, and are offered unpainted, painted, or in carbon fiber.

Racing record

Complete Super GT results

1FUJ 2SEN 2FUJ 3MIN 1SUG 7MOT 2MIN 2SUG 1FUJ 2SUG RetMIN 3FUJ RetTAI 5MOT 13FUJ 10SUG 14FUJ 8TAI 8MIN 7SUZ 9FUJ 11SUG 11FUJ DNQMOT 7SUZ 7MIN 3FUJ RetSUG 12SEP RetFUJ 15MOT 5MIN 7SUZ 14FUJ 2SUG 14FUJ 2FUJ 7MOT 7AUT 1SUZ 14SUG 2SEP RetTOK 13MOT 12AUT 3SUZ 1FUJ 14SEP 15SUG 9MOT 15FUJ RetAUT RetSUZ 8OKA 9FUJ 6SUG 10SUG 12SUZ RetMOT 12AUT 15FUJ 9OKA 6FUJ RetSEP 5SUG 8SUZ RetMOT 8AUT 10FUJ 7OKA 9SEP RetSUG 15SUZ 19MOT 1AUT 10FUJ 1SUZ 8FUJ 5SEP 2SUG 5SUZ 6FUJ 4AUT 3MOT 3OKA 14FUJ 4SEP 9SUG RetSUZ 4FUJ CMOT 3FUJ 14SEP 7SUG 16SUZ 3FUJ 19AUT 16MOT 17FUJ RetSEP RetSUG 3SUZ 3FUJ RetAUT 7MOT RetFUJ 12SEP 5SUG 18SUZ 4FUJ RetFSWAUT 12MOT 11FUJ RetAUT 11SUG 1FUJ 21SUZ 13BUR 18MOT RetFUJ RetBUR 17FUJ 7SUZ 4SUG 4AUT RetMOT 9FUJ 25SUG 6FUJ 4SUZ 9BUR 10MOT 3MOT 19FUJ 25AUT 16SUG RetFUJ 7SUZ 2BUR 5MOT RetSUG 16AUT 26MOT RetFUJ 21SUZ 21BUR 22FUJ 25AUT RetSUG 25MOT 21FUJ 17SUZ RetMOT 24FUJ 20AUT 20SUZ 10MOT RetFUJ 18MOT 8SUZ 6SUG 20AUT 23MOT 16FUJ 13FUJ 18SUZ 8FUJ 15SUZ 3SUG 20AUT 17MOT 13FUJ 18SUZ 9FUJ 13SUZ 17SUG RetAUT 16MOT 2324th2 2024 apr Toyota GR86 GT300 GT300 OKA FUJ SUZ FUJ SUG AUT MOT SUZ NC 0 2025 apr Toyota GR86 GT300 GT300 OKA FUJ SEP FS1 FS2 SUZ SUG AUT MOT

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans Results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Position Class Position 2004 ChoroQ Racing Team Haruki Kurosawa Kazuyuki Nishizawa Porsche 911 GT3 RSR GT 322 12th 2nd

D1 Grand Prix Results

(key) Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Position Points RS*R Toyota Supra JZA80 IRWTAN ODB8 SGOTSU APS EBS2nd FUJTSU TKB 12 25 DRIVE M7 ADVAN MAX ORIDO RACING Toyota Toyota ZN6 FUJ14 ODB5 APS23 EBS EBS ODB 13 69 TOPTUL M7 NATS Toyota Toyota ZN6 ODB SUZ TKB EBS MSI ODB

GT World Challenge Asia Results YearTeamCarClass1 BUR2 FUJ3 SUZ4 MOT5 OKA6