The 2018 Autobacs Super GT Series was the twenty-sixth season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship including the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era and the fourteenth season the series has competed under the Super GT name. It was the thirty-sixth overall season of a national JAF sportscar championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. The season began on April 8 and ended on November 11, after 8 races.
In the GT500 class, Team Kunimitsu won their first-ever championship with the all-star lineup of series veteran Naoki Yamamoto and 2009 Formula One champion Jenson Button, narrowly beating defending champions Ryō Hirakawa and Nick Cassidy at the final race in Motegi to clinch the title after both teams came in to the race tied in points. It was the first championship title for Honda in the GT500 class since 2010. Yamamoto, who had won the 2018 Super Formula title before the season finale, became just the fourth driver to win both the GT500 and Super Formula titles in the same year, while Button became the first rookie to win the GT500 title since Tora Takagi in 2005.
In the GT300 class, the No. 65 LEON CVSTOS AMG fielded by K2 R&D LEON Racing won the championship in Motegi after overcoming a 12-point deficit over the then-points leader No. 55 ARTA BMW, giving series veteran Haruki Kurosawa and Naoya Gamou their first championship title in the series. The No. 55 ARTA team, despite winning two races in the season, were ultimately too inconsistent in their championship challenge, as two races without scoring a point coupled with poor performance in both Sugo and Motegi ultimately cost them the championship over the more consistent LEON AMG. The No. 31 Toyota Prius apr GT of Koki Saga and Kohei Hirate would finish third, just one point behind the ARTA BMW, while defending champions Goodsmile Racing finished fourth after a poor start to the season and a tire issue in Autopolis ultimately cost them the chance to defend the title.
Schedule edit
| Round | Race | Circuit | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Okayama GT 300 km |
 Okayama International Circuit
|
April 7–8 |
| 2 | Fuji GT 500 km |
Fuji Speedway
|
May 3–4 |
| 3 | Suzuka GT 300 km |
Suzuka Circuit
|
May 19–20 |
| 4 | Buriram United Super GT Race 300 km |
 Chang International Circuit
|
June 30 – July 1 |
| 5 | Fuji GT 500 miles |
Fuji Speedway
|
August 4–5 |
| 6 | Sugo GT 300 km |
Sportsland Sugo
|
September 15–16 |
| 7 | Autopolis GT 300 km |
Autopolis
|
October 20–21 |
| 8 | Motegi GT 250 km |
Twin Ring Motegi
|
November 10–11 |
Schedule changes edit
- On March 4, 2017, Suzuka Circuit, the Stéphane Ratel Organisation, and the GT Association announced that the Suzuka 1000km would become the Suzuka 10 Hours from 2018, and moves to the Intercontinental GT Challenge. The Super GT championship round at Suzuka moves to May 19–20 and will be a 300km race, as it was from 1995 to 2010.
- To replace the Suzuka 1000km as the series' endurance round, the Fuji GT 300km, held in early August, was lengthened to a 500 mile (804 kilometer) race. The Fuji 500 Mile Race was originally held from 1977 to 1992.
- The race at Buriram United International Circuit in Thailand was moved from the seventh to the fourth round of the championship, on June 30 – July 1.
- The race at Sportsland Sugo was moved from the fourth to the sixth round of the championship, on September 15–16.
- The race at Autopolis was moved from the third to the seventh round of the championship, on October 20–21.
Teams and drivers edit
GT500 edit
GT300 edit
- Notes
Vehicle Changes edit
GT300 edit
- Panther Team Thailand switched from the Dome-built Toyota 86 MC to the Lexus RC F GT3.
- GAINER switched to a full-on effort with Nissan, fielding two brand-new 2018 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3s.
- Arnage Racing separated from INGING Motorsport after one season, and also switch vehicles to the Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Entrant changes edit
GT500 edit
- Honda:
- 2009 Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button, who made his series debut with Team Mugen at the 2017 Suzuka 1000km, will run full-time with Honda and Team Kunimitsu in 2018.
- Takuya Izawa moves from Team Kunimitsu to Autobacs Racing Team Aguri, replacing Takashi Kobayashi.
- Toyota:
- Former F1, and current WEC and Super Formula driver Kamui Kobayashi will make his full-time GT500 debut with Lexus Team SARD
- James Rossiter stepped away from full-time Super GT racing in 2018, but will continue to race in Japan in the Super Formula championship. Yuhi Sekiguchi replaces Rossiter at Lexus Team au TOM's
- Toyota young driver Kenta Yamashita moves up to GT500 full-time with Lexus Team WedsSport BANDOH, replacing Sekiguchi.
- Formula E standout Felix Rosenqvist will make his Super GT debut in the GT500 class for Lexus Team Wako's LeMans. Replaces Andrea Caldarelli who confirmed that he would leave Toyota and Super GT this season, focusing solely on his commitments as a factory driver at Lamborghini Squadra Corse.
- Nissan:
- Reigning All-Japan Formula 3 Champion Mitsunori Takaboshi steps up to GT500 full-time with Kondo Racing, replacing Daiki Sasaki, who moves over to Team Impul to drive the Calsonic GT-R.
- NDDP Racing moved up to the GT500 class for 2018, entering as NDDP Racing with B-Max. They take the place of MOLA, who withdrew from the series at the end of 2017. Satoshi Motoyama and Katsumasa Chiyo stays to the new team.
GT300 edit
- Former GT500 driver Hironobu Yasuda and two-time GT300 champion Kazuki Hoshino move to Gainer, from Team Impul and NDDP Racing respectively, to drive their new Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3s.
- Takashi Kobayashi moves to Team UpGarage, replacing Shintaro Kawabata.
- VivaC Team Tsuchiya reverted to their original name, Tsuchiya Engineering, following the withdrawal of their title sponsor VivaC. Toyota young driver Sho Tsuboi will replace Kenta Yamashita at Tsuchiya Engineering.
- Akira Iida will step away from full-time driving duties, and became team director of the #60 LM Corsa Lexus RC F GT3. Two-time FIA F4 Japanese Champion Ritomo Miyata makes his series debut with LM Corsa.
- The #51 LM Corsa Lexus RC F GT3 changes its number to #96, and has a new title sponsor in Okayama Toyopet / K-Tunes Racing. The team will be officially known as K-Tunes Racing LM Corsa from 2018. Three-time GT300 champion Morio Nitta moves to K-Tunes LM Corsa Lexus RC F GT3 to replace Sho Tsuboi.
- Jono Lester was released from Pacific with Gulf Racing after the 2017 season, and will not return to Super GT in 2018. Pacific with Gulf Racing recruit Rintaro Kubo from apr, and Keishi Ishikawa who moves from Rn-sports. Kyosuke Mineo become the third driver.
- Two-time GT500 champion Kohei Hirate moves out of GT500 to drive the #31 Toyota Prius for apr Racing. And two-time GT300 champion Manabu Orido joined apr Racing midseason to replace Kota Sasaki.
- Drago Corse, who competed from 2015 to 2016 as Drago Modulo Honda Racing, return to the series in GT300 with another Honda NSX GT3. They will be known as Modulo Drago Corse. 2000 GT500 Champion Ryo Michigami returns to the series as a full-time driver owner, after racing in the World Touring Car Championship in 2017. Former All-Japan Formula 3 race winner Hiroki Otsu makes his series debut with Modulo Drago Corse.
- FIA F4 Japanese graduate Yuya Hiraki makes his series debut with Team Mach, replacing Kiyoto Fujinami as Natsu Sakaguchi's co-driver.
- Audi Team Hitotsuyama recruit Ryuichiro Tomita to replace Masataka Yanagida
- Masaki Kano and Hideto Yasuoka both return to the series with Arnage Racing.
- CarGuy Racing makes their Super GT debut with the all-new Honda NSX GT3. They previously competed in the Super Taikyu Series and Blancpain GT Series Asia. Gentleman racer Takeshi Kimura makes his series debut with CarGuy Racing. Naoki Yokomizo, the 2012 GT300 Champion, returns after a year-long hiatus to drive for the new CarGuy Racing team.
- BMW Team Studie, the 2011 GT300 class Champion (by then co-joint with Goodsmile Racing) announced in January that they would switch to the Blancpain GT Series Asia GT4 category, and suspended operations in Super GT for the foreseeable future.
- Bentley factory driver Jules Gounon makes his Super GT debut in a one-off for EIcars Bentley at the Fuji 500-mile race.[25]
Results edit
Championship standings edit
Drivers' championships edit
- 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 |
| Fuji 500 mile | 25 | 18 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
GT500 edit
|
GT300 edit
| Rank | Driver | Team | OKA
|
FUJ
|
SUZ
|
CHA
|
FUJ
|
SUG
|
AUT
|
MOT
|
Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Haruki Kurosawa Naoya Gamou
|
No. 65 K2 R&D LEON Racing
|
4 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 68 |
| 2 | Shinichi Takagi Sean Walkinshaw
|
No. 55 ARTA
|
6 | 1 | 20 | 11 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 9 | 62 |
| 3 | Koki Saga Kohei Hirate
|
No. 31 apr
|
Ret | 2 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 25 | 10 | 2 | 61 |
| 4 | Nobuteru Taniguchi Tatsuya Kataoka
|
No. 0 Goodsmile Racing with Team Ukyo
|
8 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 3 | 56 |
| 5 | Katsuyuki Hiranaka Hironobu Yasuda
|
No. 11 GAINER
|
5 | 3 | 16 | 1 | 22 | 19 | 6 | 5 | 48 |
| 6 | Morio Nitta Yuichi Nakayama
|
No.96 K-Tunes LM Corsa
|
14 | 14 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 1 | 10 | 45 |
| 7 | Takamitsu Matsui
|
No. 25 Tsuchiya Engineering
|
3 | Ret | 2 | 19 | 5 | 24 | 24 | 8 | 39 |
| Sho Tsuboi
|
No. 25 Tsuchiya Engineering
|
3 | 2 | 19 | 5 | 24 | 24 | 8 | 39 | ||
| 8 | Takuto Iguchi Hideki Yamauchi
|
No. 61 R&D Sport
|
18 | Ret | 3 | Ret | Ret | 1 | 15 | 6 | 37 |
| 9 | Tomonobu Fujii Sven Müller
|
No. 7 D'station Racing
|
2 | 6 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 35 |
| 10 | Kazuki Hiramine
|
No. 88 JLOC
|
7 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 13 | 27 | 33 |
| 11 | Kimiya Sato Yuya Motojima
|
No. 87 JLOC
|
12 | 16 | 12 | 5 | Ret | 13 | 2 | 4 | 29 |
| 12 | Yuhki Nakayama Takashi Kobayshi
|
No. 18 Team UpGarage
|
1 | 13 | 6 | 18 | 9 | 11 | 27 | Ret | 28 |
| 13 |  Marco Mapelli
|
No. 88 JLOC
|
7 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 13 | 27 | 28 | |
| 14 | Ryo Michigami Hiroki Otsu
|
No. 34 Modulo Drago Corse
|
Ret | 8 | 26 | 9 | DNS | 4 | 3 | 14 | 24 |
| 15 | Ritomo Miyata Hiroki Yoshimoto
|
No. 60 LM Corsa
|
17 | 7 | 5 | 3 | Ret | 9 | 12 | 24 | 23 |
| 16 | Kazuki Hoshino Hiroki Yoshida
|
No. 10 GAINER
|
13 | 11 | 10 | Ret | 8 | 2 | 9 | 15 | 22 |
| 17 | Rintaro Kubo Keishi Ishikawa
|
No. 9 Pacific with Gulf Racing
|
16 | 17 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 6 | 11 | 12 | 5 |
| 18 | Andrea Caldarelli
|
No. JLOC
|
6 | 5 | |||||||
| 19 | Taku Bamba Shigekazu Wakisaka
|
No. 52 Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave
|
11 | 19 | 14 | 17 | Ret | 7 | 17 | 13 | 4 |
| 20 | Natsu Sakaguchi Yuya Hiraki
|
No. 5 Team Mach
|
Ret | 12 | Ret | 19 | 22 | 7 | 18 | 4 | |
| 21 | Shintaro Kawabata Shinnosuke Yamada
|
No. 26 Team Taisan
|
9 | 15 | 28 | Ret | 20 | 20 | 16 | 2 | |
| 22 | Richard Lyons Ryuichiro Tomita
|
No. 21 Audi Team Hitotsuyama
|
Ret | 10 | 23 | Ret | 14 | 23 | 14 | 11 | 1 |
| 23 | Masaki Kano Hideto Yasuoka
|
No. 50 Arnage Racing
|
10 | 20 | 19 | 13 | 11 | 17 | 16 | 20 | 1 |
| 24 | Tsubasa Kondo
|
No. 25 Tsuchiya Engineering
|
Ret | 5 | 1 | ||||||
| - | Takuro Shinohara
|
No. 21 Audi Team Hitotsuyama
|
10[a] | 14 | 0 | ||||||
| - | Yuya Sakamoto
|
No. 50 Arnage Racing
|
20 | 11 | 0 | ||||||
| - | Kazuho Takahashi Hiroki Katoh
|
No. 2 Cars Tokai Dream28
|
23 | 23 | 13 | 12 | 20 | Ret | 21 | 22 | 0 |
| - | Yusaku Shibata
|
No. 360 Tomei Sports
|
Ret | 12 | Ret | 23 | 17 | 0 | |||
| - | Takayuki Aoki
|
No. 360 Tomei Sports
|
Ret | Ret | 27 | 12 | Ret | 17 | 0 | ||
| - | Masataka Yanagida
|
No. 360 Tomei Sports
|
12 | 0 | |||||||
| - | Tetsuji Tamanaka
|
No. 5 Team Mach
|
12 | 0 | |||||||
| - | Yuji Ide Ryohei Sakaguchi
|
No. 117 EIcars Bentley
|
21 | 22 | 18 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 19 | 0 | |
| - |  Jules Gounon
|
No. 117 EIcars Bentley
|
13 | 0 | |||||||
| - | Maxime Jousse Kantadhee Kusiri
|
No. 32 est cola by AAS Motorsport
|
14 | 0 | |||||||
| - | Nattavude Charoensukhawatana Nattapong Horthongkum
|
No. 35 Arto Panther Team Thailand
|
24 | 24 | 24 | 15 | 16 | 18 | 22 | 25 | 0 |
| - | Takeshi Kimura Naoki Yokomizo
|
No. CarGuy Racing
|
15 | 26 | 21 | 17 | Ret | 23 | 0 | ||
| - | Kyosuke Mineo
|
No. 9 Pacific with Gulf Racing
|
15 | 0 | |||||||
| - | Shinji Nakano
|
No. 26 Team Taisan
|
15 | Ret | 0 | ||||||
| - | Hiroaki Nagai
|
No. 30 apr
|
20 | 18 | 17 | Ret | Ret | 16 | 26 | 21 | 0 |
| - | Manabu Orido
|
No. 30 apr
|
Ret | 16 | 26 | 21 | 0 | ||||
| - | Koji Yamanishi
|
No. 35 Arto Panther Team Thailand
|
16 | 0 | |||||||
| - | Tsubasa Takahashi
|
No. 87 JLOC
|
16 | Ret | 0 | ||||||
| - | Kota Sasaki
|
No. 30 apr
|
20 | 18 | 17 | Ret | Ret | 0 | |||
| - | Masaki Tanaka
|
No. 48 Dijon Racing
|
22 | 21 | 22 | 18 | 21 | 28 | 26 | 0 | |
| - | Richard Bradley
|
No. 48 Dijon Racing
|
21 | 22 | 18 | 28 | 26 | 0 | |||
| - | Taiyou Iida
|
No. 48 Dijon Racing
|
22 | 21 | 18 | 0 | |||||
| - | Masaki Jyonai Hisashi Wada
|
No. 22 R'Qs Motor Sports
|
19 | 25 | 25 | 21 | 25 | 28 | 0 | ||
| - | Kiyoto Fujinami
|
No. 5 Team Mach
|
19 | 0 | |||||||
| - | Masayuki Ueda
|
No. 22 R'Qs Motor Sports
|
21 | 0 | |||||||
| - | Hiroshi Takamori
|
No. 48 Dijon Racing
|
21 | 0 | |||||||
| - | Atsushi Tanaka
|
No. 360 Tomei Sports
|
Ret | 27 | 23 | 0 | |||||
| - | Kei Cozzolino
|
No. 777 CarGuy Racing
|
26 | 0 | |||||||
| - | Takeshi Tsuchiya
|
No. 25 Tsuchiya Engineering
|
Ret | 0 | |||||||
| Rank | Driver | Team | OKA
|
FUJ
|
SUZ
|
CHA
|
FUJ
|
SUG
|
AUT
|
MOT
|
Points |
Notes edit
- ^ Takuro Shinohara did not run during the race as a third driver and was ineligible for championship points.
References edit
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa "Toyota Gazoo Racing Announces Super GT Programmes For 2018". dailysportscar.com. 8 February 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Entry List Round 3 FUJI GT500". Super GT. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u "Nissan & NISMO Announce 2018 Super GT Programmes". dailysportscar.com. 12 February 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Honda Confirm 2018 Super GT Plans In GT500 & GT300". dailysportscar.com. 12 January 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
- ^ "Button secures 2018 Super GT drive with Honda". Motorsport.com. 3 December 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
- ^ a b c d e "2018年、SUPER GT参戦体制のお知らせ | GOODSMILE RACING". www.goodsmileracing.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 2018-01-14.
- ^ "Cars Tokai Dream28 returning for 2018 with "Version 2" Lotus". Super GT World. 2018-01-10. Retrieved 2018-01-14.
- ^ a b c "Yuya Hiraki to make Super GT debut for Team Mach". Super GT World. 2018-03-23. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
- ^ a b c "2018 年 SUPER GT 参戦体制" (PDF). D'station Racing (in Japanese). 7 February 2018.
- ^ a b c "Kubo and Ishikawa join Pacific with Gulf Racing". Super GT World. 2018-02-01. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
- ^ a b c "MOTORSPORTS GARAGE 2018 Powered by UP GARAGE". d1ms.upgarage.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 2018-02-24.
- ^ a b c "Tomita & Shinohara join Lyons at Audi Team Hitotsuyama". Super GT World. 2018-02-21. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
- ^ a b c "Team Taisan confirm Yamada, Kawabata for 2018". Super GT World. 2018-02-22. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
- ^ a b c d e "Honda Confirm 2018 Super GT Plans In GT500 & GT300". dailysportscar.com. 12 January 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
- ^ "Honda Teams Lock In Drivers For Suzuka 10 Hours". dailysportscar.com. 22 June 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
- ^ a b c "Arnage Racing switches to Mercedes-AMG; Yasuoka & Kano return". Super GT World. 2018-02-15. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "TEAM KUNIMITSUにバトンが加入！Hondaが2018年体制を発表。ARTAやGT300新チームも登場 | SUPER GT OFFICIAL WEBSITE". supergt.net (in Japanese). Retrieved 2018-01-14.
- ^ a b "Ritomo Miyata to drive for OTG LM Corsa; Akira Iida named team director". Super GT World. 2018-01-12. Retrieved 2018-01-14.
- ^ a b c "» 2018 SUBARU Motorsport Activities | NewsRelease | Subaru Corporation". Subaru Corporation. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
- ^ a b c "K2 R&D LEON Racing seek GT300 championship in 2018". Super GT World. 2018-02-22. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
- ^ a b c d e f "JLOC adds Mapelli, Motojima for 2018". Super GT World. 2018-03-26. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
- ^ a b c "EIcars Bentley return with Ide & Sakaguchi". Super GT World. 2018-01-22. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
- ^ a b c d "Yanagida joins 4-driver crew at Tomei Sports". Super GT World. 2018-02-24. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
- ^ a b c "CarGuy Racing Enters Super GT With Honda NSX GT3". dailysportscar.com. 21 December 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
- ^ "EIcars Bentley Continental GT3 returns to Super GT". endurance-info.com. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
- ^ "Driver Ranking GT500". 株式会社GTアソシエイション. Retrieved 2017-04-13.
- ^ "Driver Ranking GT300". 株式会社GTアソシエイション. Retrieved 2017-04-18.