is a Japanese tuning company and racing team from

Toyota, Aichi , formerly known as Koromo, is a city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 426,162 and a population density of 464 people per km2. The total area was . It is located about 35 minutes from Nagoya by way of the Mei ...

, mainly competing in the

Super GT Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a sports car racing, grand touring car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as either the JGTC or the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, the series was renamed to Super ...

series and specialising in

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

tuning parts.

History

The company was formed in 1972 as Sigma Automotive Co., Ltd by Shin Kato to develop and produce motorsport related parts and accessories as well as operating their own racing team.SARD
Sigma began its racing career in the Fuji Grand Champion Series and for the following year participated for the first time in the

24 hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose w ...

with their Sigma MC73, powered by a

Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima (town), Fuchū, Hiroshima Prefecture, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, M ...

Wankel engine The Wankel engine (, ) is a type of internal combustion engine using an eccentric rotary design to convert pressure into rotating motion. It was invented by German engineer Felix Wankel, and designed by German engineer Hanns-Dieter Paschke. ...

, becoming the first Japanese car to qualify for Le Mans,Sard Racing
/ref> before retiring early in the race with electrical problems. The team returned for the following year with a

backed MC74, finishing but not making enough laps to be classified. In

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

the team switched to a Toyota powerplant in the MC75, only to suffer from another early retirement. Sigma Automotive would continue to compete in numerous domestic series. In 1985, the racing division of Sigma Automotive became an independent company, Kato established a company called Sigma Advanced Racing Development (SARD) specialising in motorsport as well as producing aftermarket parts for Toyota automobiles.JCN Network: Toyota to Enter Hybrid Sedan in 24-hour Race
SARD returned to international motorsports in 1989, debuting as a Toyota backed team named Toyota Team SARD in the first round of World Sports Prototype Championship held in Suzuka, using a

Toyota 89C-V The Toyota 89C-V is a Group C sports prototype racing car, developed and built by Toyota intended to participate in the World Sportscar Championship, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the All-Japan Japanese Sports-Prototype Championship. The chassis i ...

, also competing in the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. With the demise of

Group C Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with '' Group A'' for touring cars and '' Group B'' for GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 special production cars (closed top t ...

in 1993, SARD switched to the newly formed JGTC series and also return to Le Mans with a V8 powered MR2 known as the MC8-R, having the same spell of misfortune as they had during the 1970s, competing in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

and

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

, only to fail to pre-qualify in the face of the newer generations of GT1 cars in the following year. SARD also entered a

Toyota Supra is a sports car and grand tourer manufactured by the Toyota Motor Corporation beginning in 1978. The name " supra" is derived from the Latin prefix, meaning "above", "to surpass" or "go beyond". The initial four generations of the Supra were p ...

in first two years of the MC8-R program where it faced against fellow Japanese GT machines in form of

Nissan Skyline GT-R The is a sports car based on the Nissan Skyline range. The first cars named "Skyline GT-R" were produced between 1969 and 1972 under the model code KPGC10, and were successful in Japanese touring car racing events. This model was followed by ...

and

Honda NSX The Honda NSX, marketed in North America as the Acura NSX, is a two-seat, mid-engined coupe sports car manufactured by Honda. The origins of the NSX trace back to 1984, with the HP-X (Honda Pininfarina eXperimental) concept, which was a mid-en ...

, the latter which also raced in and won the GT2 class in 1995. SARD continued to compete in the JGTC and Super GT series with works-backed Toyotas and Lexuses; the team currently fields a Toyota GR Supra under the Toyota Team SARD name. In 2016, SARD won its first-ever Super GT championship with a Lexus RC F driven by

Heikki Kovalainen Heikki Johannes Kovalainen (; born 19 October 1981) is a Finnish racing driver competing in the Japan Rally Championship for Rally Team AICELLO. He raced in Formula One between 2007 and 2013 for the Renault, McLaren, Team Lotus, Caterham and ...

and

Kohei Hirate is a Japanese race car driver. Hirate has won the Super GT series twice. Career Hirate began karting in 1999 when he was 13. After winning the All Japan Junior Kart Championship, coming third and fifth in the All Japan Kart Championship and com ...

. In 2006, SARD competed in the

24 Hours of Tokachi 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smalles ...

, a

Super Taikyu Super Taikyu (スーパー耐久, ''Super Endurance''), formerly known as the Super N1 Taikyu Series prior to 2005 and N1 Endurance Series prior to 1995, and currently named the Eneos Super Taikyu Series Powered by Hankook for sponsorship reasons, ...

race, with a hybrid powered Lexus GS450h finishing 4th in class and 17th overall. For the following year, SARD took their Super GT specification Supra out of retirement, installed a hybrid version of its Super GT 3UZ-FE engine, giving out and of torque.Autoblog: Toyota SARD entering Supra HV-R hybrid racer in Tokachi 24 hours
/ref> The Supra, rechristened as the ''Denso SARD Supra HV-R'' and driven by series regulars

André Couto André Couto (; born 14 December 1976) is a MacaneseAkira Iida, Katsuyuki Hiranaka and Tatsuya Kataoka started on pole and effortlessly dominated the entire race, completing 616 laps, 19 laps ahead of the runner-up. It became the first hybrid-powered car to win a race. In addition, SARD develops and manufactures tuning parts mainly for

cars, namely

turbocharger In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pr ...

s, redesigned fuel systems and cooling systems, suspension parts and aerodynamic kits. The company is not restricted to Toyotas as they are well known within the aftermarket tuning market for their fuelling components used by numerous tuning companies. Also, under the SARD Marine Project, a separate project to its car works, it builds and sell its Toyota powered

motorboat A motorboat, speedboat or powerboat is a boat that is exclusively powered by an engine. Some motorboats are fitted with inboard motor, inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the internal combustion ...

s. SARD planned to take part in the

2015 FIA World Endurance Championship season The 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship season was the fourth season of the FIA World Endurance Championship auto racing series, co-organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). ...

with a LMP2-class prototype in association with

Morand Racing Morand Racing is an auto racing team founded by former racing driver Benoît Morand and based in Marly, Switzerland. The team traces its origins to 2000 when Morand founded PoleVision Racing which competed in numerous open-wheel series before s ...

, with plans for a future LMP1 entry. However, SARD was forced to reduce its participation after a loss of backers before the season started; it was unable to come up with half of the season's budget, as agreed with Morand. Nevertheless, Morand continued to compete under the Team SARD Morand name during the 2015 season.

Complete JGTC Results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

External links

Super GT profile
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sard Auto parts suppliers of Japan Automotive motorsports and performance companies Companies based in Aichi Prefecture Toyota Japanese auto racing teams Super GT teams 24 Hours of Le Mans teams Auto tuning companies FIA World Endurance Championship teams Turbocharger manufacturers Japanese brands Toyota in motorsport World Sportscar Championship teams FIA GT Championship teams Auto racing teams established in 1985