2013 Super GT Series
The 2013 Autobacs Super GT Series will be the 20th season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship including the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era, and the 9th season under the name Super GT. It will be the final year of the current GT500 regulations as the 2014 season will see unified technical regulations with the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.[1] The season will begin on April 7 and will end on November 17, 2013 after 8 regular races and 2 non championship events.
Apart the series' 8 points-scoring races, the 3 Hours of Fuji, a part of 2013 Asian Le Mans Series organized by Automobile Club de l'Ouest, will also count for points towards the GT300 class.
Schedule
An updated provisional calendar was released on November 1, 2012.[2]
| Round | Race | Circuit | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Okayama GT 300 km |
 Okayama International Circuit
|
April 7 |
| 2 | Fuji GT 1 500 km |
Fuji Speedway
|
April 29 |
| NC | Exhibition Round Korea |  Korea International Circuit
|
May 19 |
| 3 | Super GT International Series Malaysia 300 km |
 Sepang International Circuit
|
June 16 |
| 4 | Sugo GT 300 km |
Sportsland SUGO
|
July 28 |
| 5 | 42nd International Pokka 1000km 1000 km |
Suzuka Circuit
|
August 18 |
| 6 | Fuji GT 2 300 km |
Fuji Speedway
|
September 8 |
| AsLMS | 2013 Asian Le Mans Series 3 Hours of Fuji (for GT300 only) |
Fuji Speedway
|
September 22 |
| 7 | Autopolis GT 300 km |
Autopolis
|
October 6 |
| 8 | Motegi GT 250 km |
Twin Ring Motegi
|
November 3 |
| NC | Fuji Sprint Cup | Fuji Speedway
|
November 16 |
| November 17 |
The 3 Hours of Fuji is a optional points-scoring round for the GT300 class, as a part of the 2013 Asian Le Mans Series season. Points and success ballast will be counted if points are awarded for the top 10 finishers in the SGT class; no penalty will be imposed on success ballast reduction if entrants miss the race.
Drivers and teams
GT500
GT300
Driver changes
Team transfers
- Naoki Yamamoto, who competed with Team Kunimitsu last year, swapped seats with Weider Honda Racing's Takashi Kogure.
- Team Mugen's Daisuke Nakajima was promoted to the GT500 class, replacing Yuhki Nakayama at Nakajima Racing. Nakayama will drive for Mugen instead.
- Takashi Kobayashi and Kosuke Matsuura of Autobacs Racing Team Aguri switched classes; Kobayashi moved to the GT300 class, while Matsuura moved to GT500.
Joining Super GT
- Frédéric Makowiecki joined Weider Honda Racing, replacing Carlo van Dam.
- James Rossiter, Force India's test driver, joined TOM'S, replacing Loïc Duval.
- Jörg Müller from Team BMW RLL will race for Goodsmile Racing as the team's third driver in the Suzuka 1000 km.[12]
Leaving Super GT
Team changes
GT500
- Honda
- With new technical regulations being introduced for the 2014 Super GT season, Honda announced 2013 will be the final year for the Honda HSV-010 GT. For the 2014 season, Honda will base their cars on the Honda NSX.
- Weider Honda Racing will switch to running Michelin tyres for the 2013 season.[13]
- Lexus
- TOM'S expanded to two cars, with the acquisition of Team Kraft's machinery.
- After two seasons competing on Michelin tyres, Lexus Team SARD will compete on Bridgestone tyres for the 2013 season.[14]
- Nissan
GT300
- New technical regulations are in effect for the 2013 season; as a result, LM-GTE class machinery and racing prototypes are no longer eligible, making FIA-GT3 and JAF-GT – based on vehicles currently in production – are the only eligible machinery. This has resulted in a change of machinery for many teams. Team SGC and Team LMP Motorsports withdrew from the series, as they could not acquire eligible machinery for the class.[16][17]
- After three seasons, A speed announced their withdrawal from the series.[18] Their team was later formally taken over by Arnage, the mechanics of A speed.
- After participating with the Mooncraft Shiden since 2006, Cars Tokai Dream28 would switch to race a McLaren MP4-12C GT3 for 2013.[5]
- Gainer expanded their team to two cars, switching their Audi R8 LMS ultra for two Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3s.
- Green Tec & Leon with Shift, who utilised a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 in 2012, split up into three separate teams: Green Tec, Leon Racing, and Team Shift. With Green Tec backing the R'Qs Motorsports and the other two teams operating separately, the three teams will all use a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3.
- Autobacs Racing Team Aguri will switch from running a Garaiya to a Honda CR-Z in their GT300 entry.[19]
- R&D Sport will switch to Michelin tyres for the 2013 season.
- Goodsmile Racing scaled back from two cars to a single BMW Z4 GT3 for the 2013 season.[12]
- JLOC scaled back from four cars to three cars, with their JAF-GT specification Lamborghini Gallardo RG-3 becoming no longer eligible for Super GT.
- Team Kraft, a regular Toyota/Lexus GT500 participant since Super GT's establishment, pulled out from GT500 competition at the end of the 2012 season. They will participate in GT300 under Bonds Racing, using a Nissan GT-R GT3.[6]
- Tomei Sports would switch their Callaway Corvette Z06.R GT3 to race with a Nissan GT-R GT3.
- Dijon Racing expanded their team to two cars, racing with both a Nissan GT-R GT3 and a Callaway Corvette Z06.R GT3.
- After a season's absence, Direction Racing will return to GT300 in 2013, with a Porsche 911 GT3R.
References
- ^ "SUPER GT and DTM agreed to unify technical regulation from 2014". Super GT. October 16, 2012. Retrieved November 6, 2012.
- ^ "Changes in the 2013 SUPER GT Calendar". Super GT. November 1, 2012. Retrieved November 6, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Honda 2013 Motorsports Overview". February 8, 2013. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
- ^ "峰尾＆横溝の王座を祝いパーティ開催。来季新車!?". as-web.jp. November 26, 2012. Retrieved December 25, 2012.
- ^ a b "カーズ東海が来季新体制を発表。高橋／加藤組継続". as-web.jp. December 25, 2012. Retrieved December 25, 2012.
- ^ a b "クラフト、ボンズに名称一新。GT-RでGT300参戦". as-web.jp. February 3, 2013. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
- ^ "今日は・・・". February 3, 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
- ^ "GAINER、今季はSLSを加え2台体制。ビヨン加入". as-web.jp. January 11, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
- ^ "KTR、来季は13年仕様のポルシェGT3Rで参戦へ". as-web.jp. December 30, 2012. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
- ^ "アストン来季も継続か。アルナージュが参戦の意向". as-web.jp. December 25, 2012. Retrieved December 25, 2012.
- ^ "BRZがミシュラン装着へ。山野／佐々木組継続". as-web.jp. January 11, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
- ^ a b "GSR、今季は谷口＆片岡組の1台体制で参戦". as-web.jp. February 10, 2012. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
- ^ "『HSVラストイヤー』に童夢がミシュラン装着へ". as-web.jp. February 8, 2013. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
- ^ "レクサス勢激変!? 新エアロ車＆BS装着#39が走行". as-web.jp. December 12, 2012. Retrieved December 25, 2012.
- ^ "セパンでGT500の5台がテスト開始。#230がMI装着". as-web.jp. December 25, 2012. Retrieved December 25, 2012.
- ^ "TeamSGC、2013年のスーパーGT活動を休止". as-web.jp. February 6, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
- ^ "LMP MOTORSPORT、今季GT300参戦を休止". as-web.jp. February 10, 2012. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
- ^ "A speed、今季シーズン限りのチーム解散を宣言". as-web.jp. October 28, 2012. Retrieved November 6, 2012.
- ^ "ARTA Project、CR-Zを使用。ゼッケン55に変更". as-web.jp. February 8, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
External links
- Super GT official website Transclusion error: {{En}} is only for use in File namespace. Use {{lang-en}} or {{in lang|en}} instead.