2019 Japanese Super GT Series entry list & season preview
The new season of the Japanese Super GT Series will kick-off this weekend at the Okayama International Circuit. It would be the 15th season of the Super GT Series and 26th season of the GT championship sanctioned by the Japanese Automobile Federation (JAF).
Same as in 2018, the championship features eight rounds that will take place at six different Japanese tracks (Okayama, Fuji, Suzuka, Autopolis, Sugo, Motegi) plus visit to the Chang International Circuit in Thailand. Fuji Speedway will host two championship races, the 500-km race in May and the 500-mile race in August, but also the non-championship race in November that will see a clash of Super GT machinery against DTM cars.
2018 Super GT champions are returning in the same line-up
Forty-four cars are announced for the season-opening 300km race at Okayama, fifteen in the GT500 class and twenty-nine in the GT300 class. Driver market was very active during the offseason but defending champions in both classes will return to the championship with the same teams and cars.
GT500 champions Jenson Button and Naoki Yamamoto will share the cockpit of the #1 Honda NSX-GT, driving for Team Kunimitsu. In the GT300 class, the reigning champions Haruki Kurosawa and Naoya Gamou will share the #65 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of K2 R&D Leon Racing.
Super GT drivers ahead of 2019 season
On the GT500 grid, there will be six Lexus LC500s, five Honda NSX-GTs and four Nissan GT-Rs. Among GT500 drivers, there is a couple of Japanese rookies (Sho Tsuboi, Tadasuke Makino) but also one experienced former F1 driver, Narain Karthikeyan, who joined Nakajima Racing to drive Honda NSX-GT.
In the GT300 class, the biggest novelty is two British car manufacturers on the grid, Aston Martin and McLaren. Team Goh is returning to the championship after 23 years of absence as McLaren Customer Racing Japan. Previously, the team secured the only GT500 championship title for non-Japanese manufacturer back in 1996 with McLaren F1 GTR.
2019 Super GT Series entry list – GT500 class
| Number | Team | Drivers | Car | Tires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Team Kunimitsu | Jenson Button, Naoki Yamamoto | Raybrig Honda NSX-GT | Bridgestone |
| 3 | NDDP Racing with B-Max | Kohei Hirate, Frederic Makowiecki | Craftsports Motul Nissan GT-R | Michelin |
| 6 | Lexus Team LeMans Wako's | Kazuya Oshima, Kenta Yamashita | Wako's 4CR Lexus LC500 | Bridgestone |
| 8 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | Tomoki Nojiri, Takuya Izawa | ARTA Honda NSX-GT | Bridgestone |
| 12 | Team Impul | Daiki Sasaki, James Rossiter | Calsonic Impul Nissan GT-R | Bridgestone |
| 16 | Team Mugen | Hideki Mutoh, Daisuke Nakajima | Motul Mugen Honda NSX-GT | Yokohama |
| 17 | Keihin Real Racing | Koudai Tsukakoshi, Bertrand Baguette | Keihin Honda NSX-GT | Bridgestone |
| 19 | Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh | Yuji Kunimoto, Sho Tsuboi | WedsSport Advan Lexus LC500 | Yokohama |
| 23 | Nismo | Tsugio Matsuda, Ronnie Quintarelli | Motul Autech Nissan GT-R | Michelin |
| 24 | Kondo Racing | Mitsunori Takaboshi, Jann Mardenborough | Realize Corporation Advan Nissan GT-R | Yokohama |
| 36 | Lexus Team au Tom's | Kazuki Nakajima, Yuhi Sekiguchi | au Tom's Lexus LC500 | Bridgestone |
| 37 | Lexus Team KeePer Tom's | Ryo Hirakawa, Nick Cassidy | KeePer Tom's Lexus LC500 | Bridgestone |
| 38 | Lexus Team Zent Cerumo | Yuji Tachikawa, Hiroaki Ishiura | Zent Cerumo Lexus LC500 | Bridgestone |
| 39 | Lexus Team SARD | Heikki Kovalainen, Yuichi Nakayama | Denso Kobelco SARD Lexus LC500 | Bridgestone |
| 64 | Modulo Nakajima Racing | Narain Karthikeyan, Tadasuke Makino | Modulo Epson Honda NSX-GT | Dunlop |
2019 Super GT Series entry list – GT300 class
| Number | Team | Drivers | Car | Tires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Cars Tokai Dream28 | Kazuho Takahashi, Hiroki Katoh | Lotus Evora MC | Yokohama |
| 4 | Goodsmile Racing & Team Ukyo | Nobuteru Taniguchi, Tatsuya Kataoka | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Yokohama |
| 5 | Team Mach | Natsu Sakaguchi, Yuya Hiraki | Toyota 86 MC | Yokohama |
| 7 | D'Station Racing AMR | Tomonobu Fujii, Joao Paulo de Oliveira | Aston Martin Vantage GT3 | Yokohama |
| 9 | Pacific Racing with Good Speed | Naoki Yokomizo, Kyosuke Mineo | Porsche 911 GT3 R | Yokohama |
| 10 | Gainer | Kazuki Hoshino, Keishi Ishikawa | Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 | Yokohama |
| 11 | Gainer | Katsuyuki Hiranaka, Hironobu Yasuda | Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 | Dunlop |
| 18 | Team UpGarage | Takashi Kobayashi, Kosuke Matsuura | Honda NSX GT3 | Yokohama |
| 21 | Audi Team Hitotsuyama | Richard Lyons, Ryuichiro Tomita | Audi R8 LMS | Yokohama |
| 22 | R'Qs Motor Sports | Hisashi Wada, Masaki Jyonai | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Yokohama |
| 25 | Tsuchiya Engineering | Takamitsu Matsui, Kimiya Sato | Toyota 86 MC | Yokohama |
| 30 | apr | Hiroaki Nagai, Manabu Orido | Toyota Prius PHV GT Sport | Yokohama |
| 31 | apr | Koki Saga, Yuhki Nakayama | Toyota Prius PHV GT Sport | Bridgestone |
| 33 | X Works | Shaun Thong, Marchy Lee | Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 | Yokohama |
| 34 | Modulo Drago Corse | Ryo Michigami, Hiroki Otsu | Honda NSX GT3 | Yokohama |
| 35 | Panther arto Team Thailand | Sean Walkinshaw, Nattapong Hortongkum | Lexus RC F GT3 | Yokohama |
| 48 | NILZZ Racing | Masaki Tanaka, Taiyou Iida | Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 | Yokohama |
| 50 | Arnage Racing | Masaki Kano, Ryosei Yamashita | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Yokohama |
| 52 | Saitama Toyopet Green Brave | Hiroki Yoshida, Shigekazu Wakisaka | Toyota Mark X MC | Bridgestone |
| 55 | ARTA | Shinichi Takagi, Nirei Fukuzumi | Honda NSX GT3 | Bridgestone |
| 56 | Kondo Racing | Kazuki Hiramine, Sacha Fenestraz | Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 | Yokohama |
| 60 | LM Corsa | Hiroki Yoshimoto, Ritomo Miyata | Lexus RC F GT3 | Dunlop |
| 61 | R&D Sport | Takuto Iguchi, Hideki Yamauchi | Subaru BRZ | Dunlop |
| 65 | K2 R&D Leon Racing | Haruki Kurosawa, Naoya Gamou | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Bridgestone |
| 87 | JLOC | Tsubasa Takahashi, Andre Couto | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 | Yokohama |
| 88 | JLOC | Takashi Kogure, Yuya Motoyima | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 | Yokohama |
| 96 | K-tunes Racing | Morio Nitta, Sena Sakaguchi | Lexus RC F GT3 | Bridgestone |
| 360 | Tomei Sports | Takayuki Aoki, Atsushi Tanaka | Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 | Yokohama |
| 720 | McLaren Customer Racing Japan | Seiji Ara, Alex Palou | McLaren 720S GT3 | Yokohama |
Photos: Super GT,
