2020 Super GT Series

The 2020 Super GT Series is an upcoming 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 set to be the twenty-eighth season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship which includes the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era and the sixteenth season the series to compete under the Super GT name. It is to be the thirty-eighth overall season of a national JAF sportscar championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship.

2020 Super GT Series
Previous: 2019 Next: 2021
Sister series:
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters

Schedule

Initial 2020 schedule

On July 26, 2019, the GTA announced the provisional calendar for the 2020 Super GT series, with the number of rounds remaining at 8, but with an increase in the number of overseas races, with the return of Chang International Circuit in Thailand, and for the first time since 2013 Super GT Series, a return to Sepang International Circuit, in Malaysia. Despite its absence in the calendar, Sepang had remained a popular choice for manufacturers when reviewing locations for testing, particularly during the winter months. At the time, dates for neither of the overseas rounds were revealed, although the races were expected to take place between June and August. The Fuji 500 mile round, introduced to replace the 1000 km of Suzuka, was dropped to avoid a clash with the 2020 Summer Olympics, which would be held in Tokyo.[1] A finalised calendar with the dates for both overseas rounds was revealed during the 2019 Motegi GT 250 km weekend.[2][3]

Impact of 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic

On March 18, 2020, the original opening round at Okayama International Circuit was postponed to an undetermined date due to the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic.[4] On March 30, 2020, the second and third rounds at Fuji Speedway and Suzuka Circuit were each postponed.[5] On April 5, 2020, the series released its first revised calendar, which was scheduled to begin on July 12 at Okayama. With the 2020 Summer Olympics postponed, the Fuji Speedway round, traditionally scheduled for the Golden Week holiday of May 4, was moved to August 9.

On June 4, 2020, a second revision to the calendar was announced[6]. The season is now scheduled to begin on July 19 at Fuji Speedway, the first of three confirmed races that were announced to be held at Fuji, with a fourth added later. Two rounds were scheduled to take place at Suzuka Circuit, with one scheduled for August 23, the date that was originally set for the cancelled 2020 Suzuka 10 Hours. Two rounds were scheduled to take place at Twin Ring Motegi. The rounds at Okayama International Circuit, Autopolis, and Sportsland Sugo in Japan, as well as the round at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia, were all cancelled for 2020.[7] On June 8, 2020, it was confirmed that the eighth and final round would take place at Fuji Speedway on November 29, after the round at Chang International Circuit in Thailand, which was provisionally scheduled to take place on December 27, was cancelled.[8] The first event format was announced on June 29, with the first race at Fuji being held at a 300 kilometre distance.[9]

Round Race Circuit Date
1 Takanoko Hotel Fuji GT 300km Race[9] Fuji Speedway July 18-19
2 Fuji GT II Fuji Speedway August 8–9
3 Suzuka GT I Suzuka Circuit August 22-23
4 Motegi GT I Twin Ring Motegi September 12-13
5 Fuji GT III Fuji Speedway October 3-4
6 Suzuka GT II Suzuka Circuit October 24-25
7 Motegi GT II Twin Ring Motegi November 7-8
8 Fuji GT IV Fuji Speedway November 28-29

Teams and drivers

A total of 45 teams have registered to take part in the 2020 Super GT season, 15 teams from the GT500 class, and 30 teams from the GT300 class. On March 9, 2020, Earl Bamber Motorsport (EBM) announced their intent to enter the Super GT Malaysia Festival at Sepang International Circuit as a wildcard,[10] however, that event has since been cancelled due to the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic.

GT500
Team Make Car No. Drivers Tyre Rounds
NDDP Racing with B-Max[11] Nissan Nissan GT-R Nismo GT500[11] 3 Kohei Hirate[11] M TBA
Katsumasa Chiyo[11]
Autobacs Racing Team Aguri[12] Honda Honda NSX-GT GT500[12] 8 Tomoki Nojiri[12] B TBA
Nirei Fukuzumi[12]
Team Impul[11] Nissan Nissan GT-R Nismo GT500[11] 12 Daiki Sasaki[11] B TBA
Kazuki Hiramine[11]
TGR Team Wako's Rookie[13] Toyota Toyota GR Supra GT500[13] 14 Kazuya Oshima[14] B TBA
Sho Tsuboi[14]
TGR Team ZENT Cerumo[13] 38 Hiroaki Ishiura[14] B TBA
Yuji Tachikawa[14]
Team Red Bull Mugen[12] Honda Honda NSX-GT GT500[12] 16 Hideki Mutoh[12] Y TBA
Ukyo Sasahara[12]
Keihin Real Racing[12] Honda Honda NSX-GT GT500[12] 17 Koudai Tsukakoshi[12] B TBA
Bertrand Baguette[12]
TGR Team WedsSport Bandoh[14] Toyota Toyota GR Supra GT500[14] 19 Yuji Kunimoto[14] Y TBA
Ritomo Miyata[14]
NISMO[11] Nissan Nissan GT-R Nismo GT500[11] 23 Tsugio Matsuda[11] M TBA
Ronnie Quintarelli[11]
Kondo Racing[11] Nissan Nissan GT-R Nismo GT500[11] 24 Jann Mardenborough[11] Y TBA
Mitsunori Takaboshi[11]
TGR Team au Tom's[14] Toyota Toyota GR Supra GT500[14] 36 Sacha Fenestraz[14] B TBA
Yuhi Sekiguchi[14]
TGR Team KeePer Tom's[14] 37 Nick Cassidy[14] B TBA
Ryō Hirakawa[14]
TGR Team SARD[14] Toyota Toyota GR Supra GT500[14] 39 Heikki Kovalainen[14] B TBA
Yuichi Nakayama[14]
Modulo Nakajima Racing[12] Honda Honda NSX-GT GT500[12] 64 Takuya Izawa[12] D TBA
Hiroki Otsu[12]
Team Kunimitsu[12] Honda Honda NSX-GT GT500[12] 100 Naoki Yamamoto[12] B TBA
Tadasuke Makino[12]

GT300
Team Make Car No. Drivers Tyre Rounds
Cars Tokai Dream28 Lotus Lotus Evora MC GT300 2 Hiroki Katoh[15] Y TBA
Masataka Yanagida[15]
Goodsmile Racing with Team UKYO[16] Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo[16] 4 Tatsuya Kataoka[16] Y TBA
Nobuteru Taniguchi[16]
Team Mach Toyota Toyota 86 MC GT300 5 Yuya Hiraki Y TBA
Natsu Sakaguchi
Advics muta Racing INGING Toyota Toyota 86 MC GT300 6 Kazuto Kotaka B TBA
Ryohei Sakaguchi
Yuui Tsutsumi
BMW Team Studie × CSL BMW BMW M6 GT3 7 Seiji Ara Y TBA
Augusto Farfus
Tomohide Yamaguchi
Pacific - D'station Racing AMR[17] Aston Martin Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3[17] 9 Tomonobu Fujii[17] M TBA
Nicki Thiim[17]
GAINER Nissan Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 10 Kazuki Hoshino Y TBA
Keishi Ishikawa
11 Katsuyuki Hiranaka D TBA
Hironobu Yasuda
Team UpGarage[12] Honda Honda NSX GT3 Evo[12] 18 Takashi Kobayashi[12] Y TBA
Kosuke Matsuura[12]
Audi Sport Team Hitotsuyama Audi Audi R8 LMS Evo 21 Shintaro Kawabata Y TBA
Christopher Mies
R'Qs Motor Sports Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG GT3 22 Masaki Jyonai Y TBA
Hisashi Wada
Hoppy Team Tsuchiya[18] Porsche Porsche 911 GT3 R[18] 25 Takamitsu Matsui[18] Y TBA
Kimiya Sato[18]
apr[14] Toyota Toyota Prius PHV GR Sport GT300[14] 30 Yuta Kamimura Y TBA
Hiroaki Nagai[14]
Manabu Orido[14]
31 Yuhki Nakayama[14] B TBA
Koki Saga[14]
Audi Sport Asia Team X Works Audi Audi R8 LMS Evo 33 Alex Au Y TBA
Shaun Thong
Modulo Drago Corse[12] Honda Honda NSX GT3 Evo[12] 34 Ryo Michigami[12] Y TBA
Jake Parsons[12]
Panther arto Team Thailand[14] Lexus Lexus RC F GT3[14] 35 Nattapong Horthongkum Y TBA
Sean Walkinshaw
NILZZ Racing Nissan Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 48 Taiyou Iida Y TBA
Masaki Tanaka
Arnage Racing Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 50 Kizuku Hirota Y TBA
Masaki Kano
Ryosei Yamashita
Saitama Toyopet Green Brave[19] Toyota Toyota GR Supra GT300[19] 52 Kota Kawaai[19] B TBA
Hiroki Yoshida[19]
Autobacs Racing Team Aguri[12] Honda Honda NSX GT3 Evo[12] 55 Toshiki Oyu[12] B TBA
Shinichi Takagi[12]
Kondo Racing Nissan Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 56 Kiyoto Fujinami Y TBA
João Paulo de Oliveira
LM Corsa[14][N 1]
K-Tunes Racing[14][N 1]
 Lexus Lexus RC F GT3[14] 60 Shunsuke Kohno[14] M TBA
Hiroki Yoshimoto[14]
96 Morio Nitta[14] D TBA
Sena Sakaguchi[14]
R&D Sport Subaru Subaru BRZ R&D Sport 61 Takuto Iguchi D TBA
Hideki Yamauchi
K2 R&D Leon Racing Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 65 Naoya Gamou B TBA
Togo Suganami
JLOC[20] Lamborghini Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo[20] 87 Dennis Lind[20] Y TBA
Yuya Motojima[20]
Tsubasa Takahashi
88 André Couto[20] Y TBA
Takashi Kogure[20]
Yuya Tezuka
Earl Bamber Motorsport[10] Porsche Porsche 911 GT3 R[10] 91 Adrian Henry D'Silva[10] Y TBA
Jazeman Jaafar[10]
Max Racing[14] Lexus Lexus RC F GT3[14] 244 Rintaro Kubo[14] Y TBA
Atsushi Miyake[14]
Tomei Sports Nissan Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 360 Takayuki Aoki Y TBA
Yusaku Shibata
Atsushi Tanaka

Vehicle Changes

GT500 Class
  • All GT500 vehicles will be prepared to the unified Class One technical regulations created by the GTA and the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters' sanctioning body, the ITR. The cars will feature a standard engine control unit (ECU) manufactured by Bosch, who joined Super GT as a sponsor of the series from 2020.
  • After being represented by the Lexus brand from 2006 to 2019, Toyota Motor Corporation will field the fifth-generation Toyota GR Supra in the GT500 Class, beginning in 2020. The GR Supra will be powered by the same Toyota RI4A powerplant used in its predecessors, the Lexus RC F, and the Lexus LC 500. To reflect the change, all six of Toyota's GT500 entries will carry the "TGR Team" prefix in their team names.
  • After a change in the GT500 technical regulations that state that the engine must be mounted in front of the cockpit, Honda announced that they will field a front-engined version of the traditionally mid-engined NSX-GT in 2020. It will be the first Honda GT500 car with a front-engine layout since the HSV-010 GT raced from 2010 to 2013.
  • Nissan will field an updated version of the GT-R NISMO GT500 in 2020.

GT300 Class
  • Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave will field the fifth-generation Toyota GR Supra in the GT300 Class from 2020. Built to JAF-GT GT300 regulations, the GT300 GR Supra will be powered by Toyota's 5.4 litre 2UR-GSE V8 engine.
  • On December 6, 2019, Tsuchiya Engineering announced a customer racing partnership with Porsche to field the latest 911 GT3-R in the 2020 season.[18]
  • X Works Racing will change from the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 to the Audi R8 LMS GT3 in 2020.

Team Changes

GT500 Class
  • 2019 GT500 Championship winners Team Le Mans parted ways with Toyota Gazoo Racing at the end of the season. To replace their entry, a new team, "TGR Team Wako's Rookie," was announced for 2020. The new team is owned by KTR Co. Ltd, with vehicle maintenance being handled by TGR Team Cerumo. Wako Chemical, the title sponsor of Team Le Mans from 2016 to 2019, will be the title sponsor of the new team, and 2005 GT500 Drivers' Champion, Toranosuke Takagi, will be the Team Director. TGR Team Wako's Rookie will carry the number 14, and for the first time since 1998, the number one plate, reserved for the GT500 Champion team, will not be in use.
  • Three-time GT500 Drivers' Champion Juichi Wakisaka, who was the Team Director at Team Le Mans from 2016 to 2019, now takes over the same position at TGR Team SARD.
  • Red Bull have become the title sponsor of Team Mugen, beginning in 2020.

GT300 Class
  • On January 29, 2020, Tsuchiya Engineering announced an expanded partnership with title sponsor Hoppy Beverage Company, with Hoppy CEO Mina Ishiwatari purchasing a share of the team, and changed their name to "Hoppy Team Tsuchiya."
  • Aston Martin Racing customer squad D'station Racing will partner with Pacific Racing under the new name "Pacific-D'station Racing" in 2020, and changed their number from 7 to 9. They will also be the first full-time GT300 entry to run on Michelin tyres since 2014.[17]
  • Max Racing, who had competed in the Pirelli Super Taikyu Series' ST-X (FIA GT3) category from 2018 to 2019, announced that they will move up to the GT300 class of Super GT beginning in 2020.[14] Former Super GT driver Tetsuya Tanaka was appointed team director, and the aforementioned Tsuchiya Engineering will be in charge of vehicle maintenance. They will field a Lexus RC F GT3, running on Yokohama tyres.
  • INGING Motorsport will return to the GT300 class as a stand-alone entry in 2020, fielding a Toyota 86 MC previously used by Panther arto Team Thailand. They will carry the number 6, the number which they had previously used in the 1998 All-Japan GT Championship and had since been used by Team Le Mans until their split from Toyota. Their 86 MC will run on Bridgestone Potenza tyres.
  • Team Le Mans announced that they will take over vehicle maintenance and operation for Audi Team Hitotsuyama beginning in 2020.
  • BMW Team Studie will enter the GT300 class for the first time since 2017 under the name "BMW Team Studie x CSL", using the current BMW M6 GT3. Kazumichi Goh, the owner of Team Goh Motorsports (who entered Super GT in 2019 as McLaren Customer Racing Japan), was appointed as the Representative Director of the team.
  • Lexus Customer Racing teams K-Tunes Racing and LM Corsa will change tyre suppliers for the 2020 season: K-Tunes Racing will switch from Bridgestone to Dunlop, and LM Corsa will switch from Dunlop to Michelin.[14]

Driver Changes

GT500 Class
  • Honda: On October 29, 2019, 2018 GT500 Drivers' Champion Jenson Button announced that he would not return to race in Super GT in 2020. One month later, during the Super GT x DTM Dream Race at Fuji Speedway, Team Mugen driver Daisuke Nakajima announced that he would retire from racing at the conclusion of the event, while Narain Karthikeyan, who won the second Dream Race at Fuji for Nakajima Racing, confirmed in January that he would not return to the series. On January 10, 2020, Honda appointed three new drivers to their GT500 lineup. Reigning Formula 3 Asian Championship and Porsche Carrera Cup Japan Champion, Ukyo Sasahara, joined Team Mugen to replace Nakajima. Reigning GT300 Drivers' Champion, Nirei Fukuzumi, was promoted by Autobacs Racing Team Aguri (ARTA) to their GT500 car, replacing veteran Takuya Izawa, who moved to Nakajima Racing in an all-new driver lineup alongside fellow GT300 graduate, Hiroki Otsu. Tadasuke Makino, who drove for Nakajima Racing in 2019, transferred to Team Kunimitsu in 2020, in place of Button.[12]
  • Nissan: On December 7, 2019, Porsche factory driver Frédéric Makowiecki returned to the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship full-time in 2020, ruling him out for a full-time return to Super GT. His departure from Nissan was confirmed on January 10, 2020, along with that of James Rossiter, who has ended his career in Japan after seven seasons to focus on his role with the DS Techeetah Formula E Team. Katsumasa Chiyo, who raced full-time in the Intercontinental GT Challenge for Nissan in 2019, returns to GT500 on a full-time basis at NDDP Racing with B-Max, replacing Makowiecki. At Team Impul, Kazuki Hiramine steps up from the GT300 class after six seasons, to replace Rossiter.[11]
  • Toyota: Toyota Gazoo Racing announced their 2020 motorsport activities on February 7, 2020. The new TGR Team Wako's Rookie entry will feature 2019 GT500 Champion Kazuya Oshima and 2018 All-Japan Formula Three Champion Sho Tsuboi as its drivers. Tsuboi's place at TGR Team WedsSport Bandoh will be taken by GT300 graduate and 2019 All-Japan F3 vice-champion Ritomo Miyata, the first person on the autism spectrum to race full-time in the premier class of Super GT. 2019 All-Japan F3 Champion, Sacha Fenestraz, also steps up to the GT500 class, driving for TGR Team au TOM's. Two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Kazuki Nakajima and 2019 GT500 Champion Kenta Yamashita will not return to the series in 2020, as they will focus solely on their roles in the FIA World Endurance Championship and Japanese Super Formula Championship.[14]

GT300 Class
  • 2014 Le Mans class winner Nicki Thiim joined Pacific-D'station Racing for 2020, alongside Tomonobu Fujii.
  • Two-time Nürburgring 24 Hours winner Christopher Mies and former Team Taisan driver Shintaro Kawabata replace 2004 GT500 Champion Richard Lyons and Ryuichiro Tomita at Audi Team Hitotsuyama.
  • Lamborghini Squadra Corse driver Dennis Lind joins Team JLOC in their number 87 entry alongside Yuya Motojima, while 2010 GT500 Champion Takashi Kogure will now be partnered by 2015 GT300 Champion André Couto in the number 88 car.
  • With Kazuki Hiramine and Sacha Fenestraz's respective promotions to GT500, Kondo Racing announced a new lineup for their GT300 team, featuring 2010 Japanese Top Formula Champion João Paulo de Oliveira and two-time Fuji 24 Hours winner Kiyoto Fujinami.
  • BMW Team Studie x CSL welcomes 2004 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Seiji Ara back to the team, alongside rookie gentleman driver Tomohide Yamaguchi. BMW Works driver Augusto Farfus was appointed as a third driver.
  • Two-time GT500 Champion Masataka Yanagida returns to Super GT full-time at Cars Tokai Dream28, replacing gentleman driver Kazuho Takahashi, who retired from racing in the series and will now serve as team director.
  • All-Japan F3 and Euroformula Open race winner Toshiki Oyu replaces Nirei Fukuzumi at Autobacs Racing Team Aguri in their championship-winning Honda NSX GT3.
  • Australian Jake Parsons returns to Super GT after a two-year absence, driving for Modulo Drago Corse alongside owner/driver Ryo Michigami.
  • All-Japan F3 graduate Shunsuke Kohno replaces Ritomo Miyata at LM Corsa.
  • Kohta Kawaai graduates from the FIA F4 Japanese Championship to drive for Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave.
  • Newcomers Max Racing appointed GT300 veteran Rintaro Kubo and FIA F4 Japanese Championship graduate Atsushi Miyake as their drivers.
  • INGING Motorsport appoints Toyota Gazoo Racing young driver Kazuto Kotaka and veteran Ryohei Sakaguchi as their full-time driver lineup, joined by third driver Yuui Tsutsumi.
  • Kizuku Hirota joins Arnage Racing as a third driver.
Notes
  1. Car No. 60 entered as LM Corsa and car No. 96 entered as K-Tunes Racing.

References
  1. "Super GT reveals 2020 calendar with two overseas races". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  2. "Super GT Buriram & Sepang Dates Revealed, FCY To Be Introduced In 2020 – dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  3. "Thai race saved as Super GT firms up 2020 schedule". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 2019-12-14.
  4. "Super GT postpones Okayama opener after all". www.motorsport.com. 18 March 2020.
  5. "Super GT indefinitely postpones Fuji, Suzuka races". www.motorsport.com. 30 March 2020.
  6. "2020 SUPER GTシリーズ公式イベントの日程変更について | SUPER GT OFFICIAL WEBSITE". supergt.net. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  7. "Revised 2020 Super GT Calendar Announced – dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  8. "Super GT Cancels Thailand Round, Season Finale Set For Fuji In November – dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  9. "オオノ・アソシエーツが開幕戦富士のラウンドパートナーに決定。大会名称は「たかのこのホテル FUJI GT 300km RACE」に | SUPER GT OFFICIAL WEBSITE". supergt.net. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  10. "Earl Bamber Motorsport To Enter Super GT Malaysia Round". dailysportscar.com. 9 March 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  11. "Rossiter loses Super GT seat as Nissan reveals 2020 drivers". motorsport.com. 10 January 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  12. "Honda Announces 2020 Super GT Teams & Drivers". dailysportscar.com. 10 January 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  13. "Toyota Team Cerumo Adds Second GT500 Car For 2020 Super GT Series". dailysportscar.com. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  14. "Toyota Gazoo Racing Announces 2020 Super GT Programmes". dailysportscar.com. 7 February 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  15. "Cars Tokai Dream28に柳田真孝加入。加藤寛規とロータス・エヴォーラでスーパーGT300クラス参戦". autosport.web (in Japanese). 10 January 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  16. "Goodsmile Racing & Team UKYO Announce 2020 Programmes With New AMG GT3". dailysportscar.com. 22 December 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  17. "Nicki Thiim Joins PACIFIC D'station Racing For Aston Martin Super GT Effort". dailysportscar.com. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  18. "Porsche Switch For Tsuchiya Engineering". dailysportscar.com. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  19. "Toyota GR Supra GT300 In Development – Set For 2020 Launch". dailysportscar.com. 26 December 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  20. "Team JLOC Completes 2020 Super GT Grid With Driver Announcements". dailysportscar.com. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
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