2016 Super GT Series

2016 Super GT Series season
Previous:	2015	Next:	2017
Support series: F4 Japanese Championship

The 2016 Autobacs Super GT Series will be the 23rd season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship including the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era, and the 12th season under the name Super GT. The season will begin on April 10 and will end on November 13, after 8 races.

Schedule

Round	Race	Circuit	Date
1	Okayama GT 300 km	Okayama International Circuit	April 10
2	Fuji GT 500 km	Fuji Speedway	May 4
TBA	Autopolis GT 300 km	Autopolis	TBA
4	Sugo GT 300 km	Sportsland SUGO	July 24
5	Fuji GT 300 km	Fuji Speedway	August 7
6	45th International Suzuka 1000km 1000 km	Suzuka Circuit	August 28
7	Buriram United Super GT Race 300 km	Chang International Circuit	October 9
8	Motegi GT 250 km	Twin Ring Motegi	November 13

Calendar Changes

• The Autopolis GT 300km was brought forward to May 22nd as the third round of the season but was subsequently postponed in the aftermath of the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes.
• The SUGO GT 300km was brought forward to July from its previous date in September.
• The overseas round at Burinam, Thailand was moved from its 2015 date of June to October. The series first visited the circuit in October 2014.

Suzuka Motegi Autopolis Fuji SUGO Okayama 2016 Japanese venues

Chang 2016 International venue

Drivers and teams

GT500

Team	Make	Car	No.	Drivers	Tyre	Rounds
Nismo[1]	Nissan	Nissan GT-R	1	Tsugio Matsuda	M	All
				Ronnie Quintarelli		All
Lexus Team LeMans WAKO'S[2]	Lexus	Lexus RC F	6	Andrea Caldarelli	B	All
				Kazuya Oshima		All
Autobacs Racing Team Aguri[3]	Honda	Honda NSX-GT	8	Kosuke Matsuura	B	All
				Tomoki Nojiri		All
Team Impul[1]	Nissan	Nissan GT-R	12	João Paulo de Oliveira	B	All
				Hironobu Yasuda		All
Drago Modulo Honda Racing[3]	Honda	Honda NSX-GT	15	Hideki Mutoh	B	All
				Oliver Turvey		All
Keihin Real Racing[3]	Honda	Honda NSX-GT	17	Takashi Kogure	B	All
				Koudai Tsukakoshi		All
Lexus Team WedsSport BANDOH[2]	Lexus	Lexus RC F	19	Yuji Kunimoto	Y	All
				Yuhi Sekiguchi		All
Kondō Racing[1]	Nissan	Nissan GT-R	24	Daiki Sasaki	Y	All
				Masataka Yanagida		All
Lexus Team TOM'S[2]	Lexus	Lexus RC F	36	Nick Cassidy	B	All
				Daisuke Ito		All
			37	Ryō Hirakawa	B	All
				James Rossiter		All
Lexus Team ZENT Cerumo[2]	Lexus	Lexus RC F	38	Hiroaki Ishiura	B	All
				Yuji Tachikawa		All
Lexus Team SARD[2]	Lexus	Lexus RC F	39	Kohei Hirate	B	All
				Heikki Kovalainen		All
MOLA[1]	Nissan	Nissan GT-R	46	Katsumasa Chiyo	M	All
				Satoshi Motoyama		All
Nakajima Racing[3]	Honda	Honda NSX-GT	64	Bertrand Baguette	D	All
				Daisuke Nakajima		All
Team Kunimitsu[3]	Honda	Honda NSX-GT	100	Takuya Izawa	B	All
				Naoki Yamamoto		All

GT300

Team	Make	Car	No.	Drivers	Tyre	Rounds
Gainer[4]	Nissan	Nissan GT-R GT3	0	André Couto	D	1-2
				Ryuichiro Tomita		1-2
	Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG GT3	11	Katsuyuki Hiranaka		1-2
				Björn Wirdheim		1-2
Cars Tokai Dream28[4]	Lotus	Lotus Evora	2	Hiroki Katoh	Y	1-2
				Kazuho Takahashi		1-2
NDDP Racing[4]	Nissan	Nissan GT-R GT3	3	Kazuki Hoshino	Y	1-2
				Jann Mardenborough		1-2
Goodsmile Racing & Team Ukyo[4]	Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG GT3	4	Tatsuya Kataoka	Y	1-2
				Nobuteru Taniguchi		1-2
Team Mach[4]	Toyota	Toyota 86	5	Tetsuji Tamanaka	Y	1-2
				Junichiro Yamashita		1-2
				Masami Kageyama		2
BMW Team Studie[4]	BMW	BMW M6 GT3	7	Seiji Ara	Y	1-2
				Jörg Müller		1-2
Gulf Racing with Pacific[4]	Porsche	Porsche 911 GT3 R	9	Ryohei Sakaguchi	Y	1-2
				Hiroki Yoshida		1-2
				Dylan Derdaele		2
Team Up Garage with Bandoh[4]	Toyota	Toyota 86	18	Yuhki Nakayama	Y	1-2
				Shinnosuke Yamada		1-2
Audi Team Hitotsuyama[4]	Audi	Audi R8 LMS	21	Tomonobu Fujii	D	1-2
				Richard Lyons		1-2
R'Qs Motor Sports[4]	Mercedes-Benz	Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3	22	Masaki Jyonai	Y	1-2
				Hisashi Wada		1-2
VivaC team Tsuchiya[4]	Toyota	Toyota 86	25	Takamitsu Matsui	Y	1-2
				Takeshi Tsuchiya		1-2
Team Taisan SARD[4]	Audi	Audi R8 LMS ultra	26	Shogo Mitsuyama	Y	1-2
				Yuya Motojima		1-2
apr[4]	Toyota	Toyota Prius	30	Hiroaki Nagai	Y	1-2
				Kota Sasaki		1-2
			31	Yuichi Nakayama	B	1-2
				Koki Saga		1-2
Excellence Porsche Team KTR[4]	Porsche	Porsche 911 GT3 R	33	Jörg Bergmeister	Y	1-2
				Naoya Yamano		1-2
Dijon Racing[4]	Nissan	Nissan GT-R GT3	48	Hiroshi Takamori	Y	1-2
				Masaki Tanaka		1-2
				Takayuki Aoki		2
Arnage Racing[4]	Mercedes-Benz	Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3	50	Rintaro Kubo	Y	1-2
				Hideto Yasuoka		1-2
				Masaki Kano		2
LM corsa[4]	Ferrari	Ferrari 488 GT3	51	Morio Nitta	Y	1-2
				Akihiro Tsuzuki		1-2
				Shigekazu Wakisaka		2
	Lexus	Lexus RC F GT3	60	Akira Iida		1-2
				Hiroki Yoshimoto		1-2
Autobacs Racing Team Aguri[4]	BMW	BMW M6 GT3	55	Takashi Kobayashi	B	1-2
				Shinichi Takagi		1-2
R&D Sport[4]	Subaru	Subaru BRZ	61	Takuto Iguchi	D	1-2
				Hideki Yamauchi		1-2
Lamborghini Team Direction[4]	Lamborghini	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	63	Naoki Yokomizo	Y	1-2
				Adrian Zaugg		1-2
K2 R&D Leon Racing[4]	Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG GT3	65	Naoya Gamou	Y	1-2
				Haruki Kurosawa		1-2
Audi Team Braille[4]	Audi	Audi R8 LMS	86	Pierre Kaffer	Y	TBA
				Masanobu Kato		TBA
JLOC[4]	Lamborghini	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	87	Shinya Hosokawa	Y	1-2
				Kimiya Sato		1-2
				Taiyo Iida		2
			88	Kazuki Hiramine		1-2
				Manabu Orido		1-2
Lamborghini Team Direction Shift[4]	Lamborghini	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	108	Kei Cozzolino	Y	1-2
				Kyosuke Mineo		1-2
Rn-sports[4]	Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG GT3	111	Kazuya Tsuruta	Y	1-2
				Masayuki Ueda		1-2
Tomei Sports[4]	Nissan	Nissan GT-R GT3	360	Yusaku Shibata	Y	1-2
				Atsushi Tanaka		1-2
				Shota Kiyohara		2

Driver Changes

Team Transfers

• Andrea Caldarelli switches from the KeePer TOM's team to the Wako's LeMans team.
• Yuji Kunimoto moves over from Team LeMans to drive for the WedsSport BANDOH team.
• Two-time and defending 1000 km Suzuka winner James Rossiter switches from the Petronas TOM's team to the KeePer TOM's team.
• Takashi Kogure and Hideki Mutoh swap seats within the Honda fleet. Mutoh will drive for Drago Modulo Honda Racing alongside Oliver Turvey, while Kogure joins Koudai Tsukakoshi at Keihin Real Racing.
• Katsumasa Chiyo steps up to the GT500 class for 2016 driving for MOLA, after helping GAINER secure their first GT300 championship last season.
• Masataka Yanagida moves from MOLA to Kondo Racing, his third different team in four seasons.
• Ryuichiro Tomita will now partner Andre Couto on a full-time basis in the #0 GAINER Nissan GT-R.
• Kota Sasaki will drive a second Toyota Prius GT for apr.

Entering Super GT

• Reigning Japanese Formula 3 champion Nick Cassidy joins the number 36 TOM's team. He is the first driver from New Zealand to race in the series since Mark Porter in 1998.
• GT Academy champion and Nissan factory driver Jann Mardenborough joins the NDDP team, partnering Kazuki Hoshino.
• Former Rolex 24 champion Jörg Bergmeister joins Excellence Porsche Team KTR on a full-time basis, after driving two rounds for the team in 2014.
• WEC LMP1 driver Pierre Kaffer will drive for Audi Team Braille in his debut GT300 campaign.
• Porsche Carrera Cup Japan champion Yuya Motojima, as well as fellow PCCJ drivers Rintaro Kubo and Hiroaki Nagai, will race in GT300 for Team Taisan SARD, Arnage Racing, and apr respectively.
• Shinnosuke Yamada graduates from the F4 Japanese Championship to race for Team Upgarage with Bandoh.
• South African Adrian Zaugg and Japanese-Italian driver Kei Cozzolino will each make their Super GT debuts for Lamborghini Team Direction.

Leaving Super GT

• Three-time GT500 champion Juichi Wakisaka announced his retirement from racing at the Toyota Gazoo Racing press conference on February 4. He will stay in the series as the team principal of Lexus Team Wako's LeMans.
• Inaugural GT Academy champion Lucas Ordóñez will return to racing in Europe, competing in the Blancpain GT Series for NISMO RJN Motorsport.
• Mitsunori Takaboshi leaves the series after a successful rookie season with NDDP, also driving in Blancpain GT for RJN Motorsport as part of the Nismo Global Driver Exchange.
• Former GT500 champion Michael Krumm has no plans to race in Super GT in 2016, after competing for Kondo Racing last season.
• Alexandre Imperatori leaves Super GT to focus on his World Endurance Championship campaign with Rebellion Racing.
• Former 24h Nürburgring winner Christian Mamerow will not return to the series after running a partial campaign with Audi Team Racing Tech.

Team Changes

GT500

• Au replaces Petronas as the title sponsor of the number 36 TOM's RC-F.
• Petrochem company WAKO's will replace Eneos as the title sponsor of Team Le Mans.
• Forum Engineering takes over from D'Station as the title sponsor of Kondo Racing.

GT300

• Goodsmile Racing with Team UKYO, the number 11 GAINER team, LEON Racing, and Rn-sports will field the new Mercedes-AMG GT3 in 2016.
• EVA Racing becomes the primary sponsor of the Rn-sports AMG.
• apr will field two new Toyota Prius GTs, with the number 31 car on Bridgestone tyres, and the number 30 on Yokohama tyres.
• Audi Team Hitotsuyama will debut the second-generation Audi R8 LMS and switch from Yokohama to Dunlop Tyres.
• Audi Team Racing Tech, who withdrew mid-way through the 2015 season, return to the series as Audi Team Braille, with a new Audi R8 LMS.
• BMW Team Studie and Autobacs Racing Team Aguri will use the new BMW M6 GT3 in 2016. ARTA switches to BMW after the retirement of their previous Honda CR-Z, while Studie receives additional support from BMW.
• Gulf Racing have merged with Pacific Racing Team to form Gulf Racing with PACIFIC, fielding an all-new Porsche 911 GT3-R.
• Excellence Porsche Team KTR will also field the new 911 GT3-R, and will also receive additional support from Porsche.
• LM Corsa's number 51 team will switch from BMW to the new Ferrari 488 GT3 for 2016. The number 60 team will continue to use the Lexus RC-F GT3.
• JLOC will be one of two teams introducing the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 to Super GT in 2016.
• Direction Racing change their name to Lamborghini Team Direction, and will also field two Huracán GT3s. One Direction car will be run in conjunction with Hironori Takeuchi's SHIFT team.
• After withdrawing from the 2015 season, Team Taisan have returned to GT300 in alliance with SARD.

Results

Round	Circuit	Date	Class	Pole Position	Race Winner
1	Okayama International Circuit Report	10 April	GT500	No. 37 Lexus Team KeePer TOM'S	No. 1 Nismo
				James Rossiter Ryō Hirakawa	Tsugio Matsuda Ronnie Quintarelli
			GT300	No. 25 VivaC team Tsuchiya	No. 65 LEON Racing
				Takamitsu Matsui Takeshi Tsuchiya	Naoya Gamou Haruki Kurosawa
2	Fuji Speedway Report	4 May	GT500	No. 12 Team Impul	No. 1 Nismo
				Hironobu Yasuda Joao Paulo de Oliveira	Tsugio Matsuda Ronnie Quintarelli
			GT300	No. 55 ARTA	No. 3 NDDP Racing
				Takashi Kobayashi Shinichi Takagi	Kazuki Hoshino Jann Mardenborough

Championship standings

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
Suzuka	25	18	13	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1

Drivers' championships

GT500

Rank Driver OKA FUJ AUT SUG FUJ SUZ CHA MOT Points 1 Tsugio Matsuda Ronnie Quintarelli 1 1 40 2 James Rossiter Ryo Hirakawa 2 3 27 3 Kohei Hirate Heikki Kovalainen 7 2 19 4 Satoshi Motoyama Katsumasa Chiyo 3 7 15 5 Kazuya Oshima Andrea Caldarelli 4 5 14 6 Daisuke Ito Nick Cassidy 8 4 11 7 Joao Paulo de Oliveira Hironobu Yasuda 5 11 7 8 Yuji Tachikawa Hiroaki Ishiura 6 14 5 9 Kosuke Matsuura Tomoki Nojiri Ret 6 5 10 Yuji Kunimoto Yuhi Sekiguchi 9 8 5 11 Daiki Sasaki Masataka Yanagida 13 9 2 12 Daisuke Nakajima Bertrand Baguette 14 10 1 13 Naoki Yamamoto Takuya Izawa 10 Ret 1 14 Koudai Tsukakoshi Takashi Kogure 11 12 0 15 Hideki Mutoh Oliver Turvey 12 13 0 Rank Driver OKA FUJ AUT SUG FUJ SUZ CHA MOT Points

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Excluded (EX)

GT300

Rank	Driver	OKA	FUJ	AUT	SUG	FUJ	SUZ	CHA	MOT	Points
1	Kazuki Hoshino Jann Mardenborough	10	1							21
2	Naoya Gamou Haruki Kurosawa	1	Ret							20
3	Takamitsu Matsui Takeshi Tsuchiya	6	3							17
4	Shinichi Takagi Takashi Kobayashi	11	2							16
5	Nobuteru Taniguchi Tatsuya Kataoka	2	18							15
6	Jorg Muller Seiji Ara	3	24							11
7	Akihiro Tsuzuki Morio Nitta	5	6							11
8	Ryuichiro Tomita Andre Couto	8	5							9
9	Yuhki Nakayama Shinnosuke Yamada	15	4							8
10	Katsuyuki Hiranaka Bjorn Wirdheim	4	Ret							8
11	Richard Lyons Tomonobu Fujii	7	7							8
12	Shigekazu Wakisaka		6							5
13	Shinya Hosokawa Kimiya Sato	13	8							3
14	Taiyo Iida		8							3
15	Hiroaki Nagai Kota Sasaki	14	9							2
16	Manabu Orido Kazuki Hiramine	9	25							2
17	Hiroshi Takamori Masaki Tanaka	27	10							1
18	Takayuki Aoki		10							1
19	Takuto Iguchi Hideki Yamauchi	23	11							0
20	Hideto Yasuoka Rintaro Kubo	18	12							0
21	Koki Saga Yuichi Nakayama	12	20							0
22	Kazuho Takahashi Hiroki Katoh	17	13							0
23	Masayuki Ueda Kazuya Tsuruta	24	14							0
24	Shogo Mitsuyama Yuya Motojima	20	15							0
25	Kyosuke Mineo Kei Cozzolino	16	17							0
26	Yusaku Shibata Atsushi Tanaka	26	16							0
27	Hisashi Wada Masaki Jyonai	19	Ret							0
28	Adrian Zaugg Naoki Yokomizo	21	19							0
29	Akira Iida Hiroki Yoshimoto	25	21							0
30	Naoya Yamano Jorg Bergmeister	22	23							0
31	Tetsuji Tamanaka Junichiro Yamashita	DNS	22							-
-	Ryohei Sakaguchi Hiroki Yoshida	DNS	Ret							-
Rank	Driver	OKA	FUJ	AUT	SUG	FUJ	SUZ	CHA	MOT	Points

References

1. "Nissan announces 2016 motorsports activities". Nismo. February 26, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
2. "Toyota GAZOO Racing Outlines 2016 Motorsports Activities". Toyota Global Newsroom (Toyota). February 4, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
3. "Honda 2016 Motorsports Program Overview". Honda. February 12, 2016. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
4. "2016 Teams and Drivers". Super GT Teams and Drivers (Super GT). March 3, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.

External links

• Official website