2023 Super GT Series
The 2023 Super GT Series is a motor racing championship based in Japan for grand touring cars. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and run by the GT Association (GTA). It is the thirty-first season of the JAF Super GT Championship, which includes the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship era, and the nineteenth season under the Super GT name. It is also the forty-first overall season of a national JAF sportscar championship dating back to the All Japan Endurance/Sports Prototype Championship.
Team Impul and drivers Kazuki Hiramine and Bertrand Baguette entered the season as the defending GT500 champions, while Kondo Racing and driver João Paulo de Oliveira entered the season as the defending GT300 champions.
Regulation changes
GTA chairman Masaaki Bandoh outlined the series' environmental initiative plans in November 2022, known as the "Super GT Green Project 2030".[1][2] The series aims to reduce carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2030. As part of this initiative, Super GT have made the following regulation changes for 2023:
- Super GT will debut a new, 100 percent sustainable carbon-neutral fuel manufactured by ETS Racing Fuels, a division of Haltermann Carless GmbH. The new ETS Renewablaze GTA R100 racing fuel was introduced to GT500 for the first round of the championship, and then GT300 for the third round.[3]
- The number of tyre sets available to teams per race weekend has been limited to five sets of dry tyres and six sets of wet tyres for 300 kilometre race meetings, one set fewer for each than in 2022. The number of tyre sets available for 450km races will be determined on a case-by-case basis.[4]
Teams and drivers
On 20 February, 2023, the GTA released the series entry list, featuring 15 entries in the GT500 class and 27 entries in the GT300 class. All teams will compete under a Japanese license.
GT500
GT300
GT500
- Honda announced that a new GT500 car based on the Civic Type R will debut in 2024.[25] As a result, 2023 is the final season for the second-generation NSX-GT.
GT300
- apr replaced their Toyota GR Sport Prius PHV with a new hybrid GT300 car, the Lexus LC500h GT.[26] The Prius had served as apr's flagship car since 2012.
- After selling their Toyota 86 Mother Chassis to Team Mach in the off-season, Anest Iwata Racing with Arnage (see Entrant changes below) changed to the Lexus RC F GT3.
- Pacific Racing Team have replaced their Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo with a Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.
GT500
- Toyota: Toyota Gazoo Racing announced their GT500 class driver line-ups on 25 November 2022. Sacha Fenestraz, who raced with TOM'S, left the series to compete in Formula E with Nissan. TOM's drivers Ritomo Miyata and Giuliano Alesi exchanged cars, with Miyata going to the number 36 team and Alesi going to the number 37 with new sponsorship from Deloitte, alongside Ukyo Sasahara, who officially joined Toyota on 12 January 2023 after leaving Honda.
- Honda: Honda Racing announced their GT500 class driver line-ups on 12 December 2022. Mugen (M-TEC) will work together with ARTA and compete with two ARTA Mugen-branded cars under the ARTA entrant name.[27] Toshiki Oyu moved from the number 16 car (entered as Team Red Bull Mugen in 2022) to the number 8 ARTA Mugen car to partner Tomoki Nojiri. In exchange, Nirei Fukuzumi moved to the number 16 car to partner Hiroki Otsu, who joined ARTA after three seasons at Nakajima Racing. Kakunoshin Ohta stepped up from GT300 to take Otsu's place at Nakajima Racing, alongside Takuya Izawa.
- Nissan: Nissan announced their GT500 class driver line-ups on 27 January 2023. There were no changes in teams and drivers from the 2022 season.[5] Team Impul carried the GT500 champions number 1 plate, while Kazuki Hoshino was appointed Team Principal alongside his father, Kazuyoshi Hoshino, who continues as Team Director. Team Impul's title sponsor, Marelli, retired the Calsonic brand and the car is now entered as the "Marelli Impul Z".[24] NDDP Racing signed Niterra (formerly NGK) as their new title sponsor, replacing specialty dealer CraftSports.[24]
GT300
- Team UpGarage recruited 2022 F4 Japanese Champion Syun Koide to replace Kakunoshin Ohta, following his promotion to the GT500 class.[7]
- After forming a two-car GT500 programme with M-TEC, ARTA will not enter the GT300 class in 2023.[7]
- 2016 GT300 champion Takamitsu Matsui transferred from Hoppy Team Tsuchiya to Team Mach, replacing Reiji Hiraki.[28] Matsui was replaced by former LEON Racing driver Togo Suganami, who returned to the series full-time in 2023.[16]
- Reigning Super Formula Lights champion Kazuto Kotaka replaced Yuhki Nakayama in the number 31 apr team, with Yuki Nemoto signed as the third driver for long-distance rounds. Yuta Kamimura and reigning Porsche Carrera Cup Japan champion Ryo Ogawa would share the role of third driver in the number 30 apr GR86 GT. Kamimura replaced Hiroaki Nagai for the opening round of the series.[18][19]
- 2012 DTM champion and BMW factory driver Bruno Spengler made his series debut with BMW Team Studie, partnering the returning Seiji Ara. Two-time GT500 and GT300 champion Masataka Yanagida was signed to be the third driver and will replace Spengler in the event of calendar clashes.[14] The entrant name was changed from BMW Team Studie x CSL (Customer Racing Support Limited) to BMW Team Studie x CRS (Customer Racing Support).
- 2008 GT300 champion Hironobu Yasuda moved to the number 10 GAINER team to partner second-year driver Riki Okusa. Video game developer PONOS became the new title sponsor of the number 10 car. In exchange, Ryuichiro Tomita moved to the number 11 car to partner Keishi Ishikawa. Yusuke Shiotsu, previously the third driver of the number 10 car, became the third driver of the number 11 car for long-distance rounds.[5]
- Anest Iwata Racing will make their debut in Super GT, working together with Arnage Racing as Anest Iwata Racing with Arnage. Igor Fraga, a multi-time Gran Turismo World Series champion and former FIA Formula 3 Championship driver, will race full-time alongside 2021 Formula Regional Japanese Champion Yuga Furutani for the full season. 2022 Formula Regional Japanese Champion Miki Koyama will be the team's third driver, the first woman to race in the series since Cyndie Allemann in 2012. All three drivers made their series debuts.[20]
- Yogibo Racing returned to Super GT as an independent team, having previously competed in a collaboration with Drago Corse in the 2021 season. The team entered a Honda NSX GT3 and received technical support from Servus Japan, who previously supported ARTA. F4 Japanese Championship graduates Reimei Ito and Yugo Iwasawa were the full-time drivers, making their series debut.[17]
- 2020 FIA F4 Japanese Champion Hibiki Taira began his first full season in the series, joining Yuui Tsutsumi at muta Racing INGING. Two-time GT300 championship runner-up Hiroki Katoh was appointed as the new team director and shifted to a part-time driving role as the team's third driver.
- 2021 Super Formula Lights champion Teppei Natori returned to the series with defending series champions Kondo Racing, replacing two-time and reigning GT300 champion Kiyoto Fujinami.[24] Kondo Racing declined the option to use the number 0 plate reserved for the reigning GT300 series champions and will keep the number 56.
- Drago Corse, who dropped out of the 2022 season due to sponsorship issues, will not return to the series in 2023.
- Pacific Racing Team ended their collaboration with CarGuy Racing and Hololive Production after the 2022 season. Instead, they have entered a new collaboration with virtual YouTuber agency Vspo! and signed an all-new driver line up of Ryohei Sakaguchi, Alex Jiatong Liang, and Shintaro Kawabata as the third driver for the team.[15] They withdrew from the Fuji 450km after a crash at Okayama.[29]
- Seiya Jin, Shinosuke Yamada, Masaki Kano, Takumi Sanada, and Takuya Otaki has been announced as the third driver of Team LeMans, SHADE Racing, R'Qs MotorSports, NILZZ Racing, and Tomei Sports respectively. Masaya Kohno replaces NILZZ Racing's Yuki Tanaka for round 2.[13]
Calendar
A confirmed eight round provisional 2023 calendar was announced on 8 August 2022.[30] On 28 December 2022, the dates of Sugo and Autopolis rounds were changed.[31] On 20 February 2023, distances and formats for all rounds were confirmed. The spring race at Suzuka Circuit and the penultimate round in Autopolis will be 450 kilometre semi-endurance races with two compulsory pit stops for refuelling.[4] Also, the first and final rounds of the championship will no longer require teams to change tyres on their compulsory pit stops.[4]
Round | Race | Circuit | Dates |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Okayama GT 300km Race | Okayama International Circuit | 15–16 April |
2 | Fujimaki Group Fuji GT 450km Race | Fuji Speedway | 3–4 May |
3 | Suzuka GT 450km Race | Suzuka Circuit | 3–4 June |
4 | Fuji GT 450km Race | Fuji Speedway | 5–6 August |
5 | Suzuka GT 450km Race | Suzuka Circuit | 26–27 August |
6 | Sugo GT 300km Race | Sportsland Sugo | 16–17 September |
7 | Autopolis GT 450km Race | Autopolis | 14–15 October |
8 | Motegi GT 300km Race | Mobility Resort Motegi | 4–5 November |
NOTE: Race names are preliminary and subject to change.
Results
Drivers credited with winning Pole Position for their respective teams are indicated in bold text.
Round | Circuit | Date | Class | Pole Position | Race Winner |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Okayama International Circuit | 16 April | GT500 | No. 23 Motul Autech Z ![]() ![]() |
No. 23 Motul Autech Z ![]() ![]() |
GT300 | No. 65 LEON Pyramid AMG![]() ![]() |
No. 18 UpGarage NSX GT3![]() ![]() | |||
2 | Fuji Speedway | 4 May | GT500 | No. 100 Team Kunimitsu![]() ![]() |
No. 36 TGR Team au TOM'S |
GT300 | No. 56 Kondo Racing![]() ![]() |
No. 56 Kondo Racing![]() ![]() | |||
3 | Suzuka Circuit | 4 June | GT500 | ||
GT300 | |||||
4 | Fuji Speedway | 6 August | GT500 | ||
GT300 | |||||
5 | Suzuka Circuit | 27 August | GT500 | ||
GT300 | |||||
6 | Sportsland Sugo | 17 September | GT500 | ||
GT300 | |||||
7 | Autopolis | 15 October | GT500 | ||
GT300 | |||||
8 | Mobility Resort Motegi | 5 November | GT500 | ||
GT300 | |||||
Championship standings
Drivers' championships
- Scoring system
Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Pole |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Points | 20 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
GT500
Bold – Pole |
GT300
Rank | Driver | Team | OKA |
FUJ1 |
SUZ1 |
FUJ2 |
SUZ2 |
SUG |
AUT |
MOT |
Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() ![]() |
No. 65 K2 R&D LEON Racing | 2 | 4 | 24 | ||||||
2 | ![]() ![]() |
No. 56 Kondo Racing | 10 | 1 | 22 | ||||||
3 | ![]() ![]() |
No. 18 Team UpGarage | 1 | Ret | 20 | ||||||
4 | ![]() ![]() |
No. 52 Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave | 5 | 3 | 17 | ||||||
5 | ![]() ![]() |
No. 2 muta Racing INGING | 18 | 2 | 15 | ||||||
6 | ![]() ![]() |
No. 244 Max Racing | 3 | 16 | 11 | ||||||
7 | ![]() ![]() |
No. 27 Yogibo Racing | 4 | 15 | 8 | ||||||
8 | ![]() ![]() |
No. 10 GAINER | 11 | 5 | 6 | ||||||
9 | ![]() |
No. 7 BMW Team Studie x CRS | 6 | 13 | 5 | ||||||
9 | ![]() |
No. 7 BMW Team Studie x CRS | 6 | 5 | |||||||
10 | ![]() ![]() |
No. 88 JLOC | 24 | 6 | 5 | ||||||
11 | ![]() ![]() |
No. 6 Team LeMans | 21 | 7 | 4 | ||||||
12 | ![]() ![]() |
No. 87 JLOC | 7 | Ret | 4 | ||||||
13 | ![]() ![]() |
No. 31 apr | 16 | 8 | 3 | ||||||
13 | ![]() |
No. 31 apr | 8 | 3 | |||||||
14 | ![]() ![]() |
No. 60 LM corsa | 8 | 23 | 3 | ||||||
15 | ![]() ![]() |
No. 96 K-Tunes Racing | 14 | 9 | 2 | ||||||
16 | ![]() ![]() |
No. 4 Goodsmile Racing & Team UKYO | 9 | Ret | 2 | ||||||
17 | ![]() ![]() |
No. 25 Hoppy Team Tsuchiya | 17 | 10 | 1 | ||||||
- | ![]() |
No. 2 muta Racing INGING | 2[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | |||||||
- | ![]() |
No. 6 Team LeMans | 7[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | |||||||
- | ![]() ![]() |
No. 61 R&D Sport | 22 | 11 | 0 | ||||||
- | ![]() ![]() |
No. 50 Anest Iwata Racing with Arnage | 12 | 14 | 0 | ||||||
- | ![]() ![]() |
No. 20 SHADE Racing | Ret | 12 | 0 | ||||||
- | ![]() |
No. 20 SHADE Racing | 12 | 0 | |||||||
- | ![]() |
No. 30 apr | 13 | 18 | 0 | ||||||
- | ![]() |
No. 30 apr | 13 | 0 | |||||||
- | ![]() |
No. 7 BMW Team Studie x CRS | 13 | 0 | |||||||
- | ![]() |
No. 50 Anest Iwata Racing with Arnage | 14 | 0 | |||||||
- | ![]() ![]() |
No. 5 Team Mach | 15 | 22 | 0 | ||||||
- | ![]() ![]() |
No. 11 GAINER | Ret | 17 | 0 | ||||||
- | ![]() |
No. 11 GAINER | 17 | 0 | |||||||
- | ![]() ![]() |
No. 30 apr | 18 | 0 | |||||||
- | ![]() |
No. 48 NILZZ Racing | 19 | 20 | 0 | ||||||
- | ![]() ![]() |
No. 360 Tomei Sports | Ret | 19 | 0 | ||||||
- | ![]() |
No. 48 NILZZ Racing | 19 | 0 | |||||||
- | ![]() |
No. 360 Tomei Sports | 19 | 0 | |||||||
- | ![]() ![]() |
No. 22 R'Qs Motor Sports | 20 | 21 | 0 | ||||||
- | ![]() ![]() |
No. 48 NILZZ Racing | 20 | 0 | |||||||
- | ![]() |
No. 22 R'Qs Motor Sports | 21 | 0 | |||||||
- | ![]() ![]() |
No. 9 Pacific Racing Team | 23 | WD | 0 | ||||||
- | ![]() |
No. 9 Pacific Racing Team | WD | 0 | |||||||
Rank | Driver | Team | OKA |
FUJ1 |
SUZ1 |
FUJ2 |
SUZ2 |
SUG |
AUT |
MOT |
Points |
Notes
- Hiroki Katoh & Seiya Jin did not run during the race as a third driver and was ineligible for championship points.
References
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- "Honda Reveals New SUPER GT Civic Type R-GT Concept | dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
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