Rd.5 JAPAN SPECIAL GT CUP - FUJI SPEEDWAY 7/27 - 28

Impreza was modified in suspension and aerodynamics. On the exterior, the headlight was the same type to the WR cars participating in World Rally Championship (WRC).

The overall impression differs as it attaches a clear cover; it made the facade of the car sharper. The first qualifying session started from noon, both temperature and moisture level was high, and it was a tough condition for car and tires. Tatsuya Tanigawa was responsible for the time, but this circuit with 1.5 km long straight, the car had positioned in the 12th place with 1'33"970, 1.3 seconds behind the top. The second qualifying session later the same afternoon, was much cooler, but because of the oil spills and such, the course condition was not at its best. Tanigawa managed to bring out the best of Impreza, brought down the time to 1'33"809, ranking 7th this session. In the accumulated result promoted the position slightly to 10th place.

The race on Sunday, 28th started for 57 laps at 3:00pm. Tanigawa, who started the race made use of the confusion at the start and pulled up to 8th place and seeking for higher position. On the second lap, the cars behind crashed at the 300R and the first Safety Car was brought in. The race restarted at the end of lap 5, Impreza was overtaken by cars that pride themselves on their speed on the straights, and lost its position to 11th place. On lap 19, when Impreza was on 10th place, more cars crashed an 300R, and the Safety Car was brought in for the second time. As it has passed 1/3 of the total race distance, the cars had rushed towards the pit for driver change. The pit was in a mayhem, but Cusco Racing mechanics manage to operate the pit work smoothly, the car returned to the course in speed. The Safety Car left the track at the end of lap 25. When most of the GT 300 class cars completed their routine pit stops, Impreza found itself boosted up to 6th place. Kobayashi was now responsible for much long share of steering, but he drove the Impreza most steadily in spite of the heated gas pedals.

At the end of the race, multiple crashes occurred on the final corner, and the Safety Car was brought in for the third time. The timing monitor was disordered and the accurate positioning was unknown. Right in front of Impreza was the Vemac, which was successfully leading in the beginning, but lost its position to 5th place from the pit stop (who were still, on the monitor, was listed 1st place with one lap lead), and a Porche in 7th place was there with 2 cars in between. When the race restarted, Vemac slowed down with percolations that gave position away to Impreza, Kobayashi gaining the 5th place position. As he managed to evade the pursuit of Porche, crossed the goal line gaining 8 points. The team gained points for drivers ranking promoting to 5th place.