Good Smile Racing

Good Smile Racing (GSR) is a subsidiary company established in 2010, it was introduced in 2008 season under the primary sponsor of Studie GLAD Racing, Good Smile Company. The company also produces model vehicles and related goods to support the racing team with sponsors.

History
In 2008, Good Smile Company became the primary sponsor of Studie GLAD Racing, a team which took part in the GT300 race division of the SUPER GT racing series in a car featuring illustrations of Hatsune Miku. The team took first place and the title of champion in Japan's 2011 Super GT GT300 class series race.

VOCALOID : Racing Miku
Hatsune Miku's design has been adapted into a Racing Queen version for each seasons since 2010. The designs are officially acknowledged as "Racing Miku" (レーシングミク) derivative and are based on Miku's attire.

The 2009 derivative is the only version of the Racing Miku derivatives which did not have an official illustration herself, though it was featured in merchandise for that season. The unveiling of the Racing Miku derivatives only became a feature from the 2010 season onwards. All merchandise related to Good Smile Racing featuring Miku prior to the 2010 season, with the exception of the 2009 Racing Miku figurine, features Miku in her normal attire.

The 2008 season remains the only season where other Crypton Future Media VOCALOIDs (Kagamine Rin \ Len) are featured on a Good Smile Racing related car.

In 2013, Miku also was featured with racing outfit in the Isle of Man motor cycling race, for this race Team Mirari were sponsored. Miku also recieved a "Sepang" version showing bare toned skin as part of showing good health and promoting the design as "the Angel of summer".

Illustrators/Designers
The designer of the 2011 outfit was illustrator Yuichi Murakami.

The designer of the 2012 outfit was illustrator GAN.

The designer of the 2013 outfit was Shimazaki Mari (島崎麻里). The illustrator of the official art was Saitom. Saitom was noted for the amount of illustrations produced for the 2013 season (he produced 1 new illustration for each race) compared to previous illustrators.

The illustrator for the 2014 season was Oguchi (おぐち), one of the 15 artists of Kantai Collection. The outfit is designed by Koyamashigeto (コヤマシゲト). The machine version of the outfit is designed by Koyamashigeto (のコヤマシゲト氏) the art director of Kill la Kill (キルラキル) and Kawamori Shoji, who is noted for his "Macross" designs.

Staff

 * Team Owner: Takanori Aki (安藝 貴範)
 * Team Manager: Ukyo Katayama (片山 右京)
 * Crew Chief: Itsuo Ohashi (大橋 逸夫)

Racing Drivers
The sponsorship of each season has changed teams, with most of the drivers for each season being of a Japanese nationality (Jörg Müller of Germany, 2013, being the sole exception). The class of car entered is GT300.

Racing Queens
Starting in 2010, the "Racing Queens" (レースクイーン ) found around the pit stops pre/post race also wear a manufactured version of the outfit. There have been, however, VOCALOID related outfits worn by the Racing Queens since 2008 with the 2009 'gals' proving quite popular.

The original 2008 Racing Queen trio were nicknamed the "MikuMiku☆gals" (ミクミク☆ギャルズ), this was also used as a nickname for the 2009 Racing Queens trio, the 2008 trio are also referred to as "the plain clothes MikuMiku☆gals".

Websites


The official Good Smile Racing website is available in Japanese and English. It features Hatsune Miku in the latest Racing Queen uniform. There is information about the current drivers and queens of the season. The 2014 SUPER GT Race Schedule displays all the rounds Team UKYO will participate in.

Figurines
Official figurines are produced by both Good Smile company and Max Factory, some were made for mass commercial release, while others were exclusives.

Albums
In 2011 a collab CD "Hatsune Miku GT Project Theme Song Collection", was released.

Another CD was released in 2013.

In 2014, a pair of matching racing bikes were made for Good Smile Racing.

Official theme song
Released in April 2014 Hatsune Miku GT Project theme song, "Drag the Ground," by Camellia became available via iTunes.

Motor cars

 * Studie, which participated in the 2008 with a BMW Z4 E86.


 * Studie also used Miku's image in the 2009 seasons with BMW Z4 E86.


 * Team COX, participating in the 2010 season, which used a Porsche 996 GT3 RSR and a Porsche 997 GT3-R. Their car used Racing Miku (an official Hatsune Miku derivative, wearing an orange race queen suit) as their image.


 * For the 2011 season GSR & Studie with TeamUKYO used Miku's image on their BMW E89 Z4 GT3 team car.


 * Team MOLA, using a Nissan 350Z, and they received sponsors on the final race in Fuji in the 2008 season. Images of Kagamine Rin and Len was added on their original colorings. The Fuji round, in fact, is the first FIA race to feature two unique itasha cars competing in a single race.

Motorcycles
Sponsorship was extended to motorcycle racing in 2013, and 2014.

Trivia

 * Maker Hikōshiki Hatsune Mix references the sponsorship of BMW in chapter 11 where Miku comments how the design is "uncute" and desired to design something more appealing.