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The Super GT series, formerly known as the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship or JGTC (全日本GT選手権, Zen Nihon GT Sensyuken), is a grand touring car race series promoted by the GT-Association (GT-A). Though the JGTC was authorized by the Japan Automobile Federation and recognized by the FIA, the Super GT is authorized directly by FIA.
History
The JGTC Years
The JGTC—established in 1993 by the JAF (Japanese Automobile Federation) via its subsidiary company the GT-A (GT Association)—replaced the defunct All Japan Sports Prototype Championship for Group C cars (that was terminated by the end of 1994) and in the same year Japanese Touring Car Championship for Group A touring cars, which would adopt the supertouring formula which was used worldwide. Seeking to prevent the spiraling budgets and one-team/make domination of both series, JGTC imposed strict limits on power, and heavy weight penalties on race winners in an openly-stated objective to keep on-track action close with an emphasis on keeping the race goers happy.
n its first ever race, which was also an IMSA GT exhibition race, apart from the GTS and GTU cars from the United States series, as with the rest of the season, the grid consisted of mostly Japan Sport Sedan cars with the only genuine JGTC cars being two Nissan Skyline GT-Rs entered by NISMO, which were in fact modified Group A cars. The prototypes and European GT cars would only appear one race to be joined by the IMSA and Group N cars at the Suzuka 1000 km.
For the following season, the series would undergo a rules overhaul, class 1 for cars similar to that of the FIA's GT1 category and class 2 for cars that were the equivalent to the GT2 category. The JSS series would altogether dissolve into the latter category. What made the series more significant was compared to the series from other countries, JGTC teams had at the time the freedom to enter whichever cars they preferred, even if it was the JSS cars from the inaugural season and IMSA GTS spaceframe racers. The Group C prototypes, whilst easily showing dominant form, were banished at the end of the 1994 season.
By the end of the season, as the cost of attaining a FIA's GT1 cars shot through the roof dramatically, in order to keep costs down and determined not to go the same way as the JSPC series it replaced, the GT-A would go through another rules overhaul. This time was a change adoption of the newly formed GT500 and GT300 regulation which capped cars depending on weight and brake horsepower with an air restrictor. In 2002, the GT-A made another rule change, this time because the series had been intended to be a GT championship; this meant all competing cars must remain as two doors, while a special waiver was given to allow Cusco Racing to race their Subaru Impreza sedan.
The JGTC would first venture abroad with its first oversea race at Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia and after another successive year, the Malaysian race would become a regular championship fixture. After GT-A's abortive attempt at hosting a street race in Shanghai, the series would also venture into the United States with an exhibition race to be run with the D1 Grand Prix exhibition event in the Los Angeles area-California Speedway in Fontana, held during the week before Christmas in December 2004, which was not shown to be a success, since then no exhibition event was held until in 2010 season, which will be held in Fuji Speedway.
Super GT
After years of successive rules changes, at the same time, the JGTC planned holding one more race outside of Japan, in China (Shanghai), in addition to Malaysia (Sepang). However, holding the series in more than three countries violates from the definition of the "national championship" of FIA. Therefore, the series needed to be authorized directly by FIA and was not able to be named Japanese Championship because the series had to be parted from Japan Automobile Federation (JAF), the Authority Sport Nationale (ASN) of Japan.
On December 10, 2004, while the series had been mainly focused on Japanese domestic teams, sponsors and fans, with an ever-rising international fan following and TV coverage shown all over the world it was announced that JGTC would now be called Super GT with the goals of "challenge to the world", "challenge from the world", and "challenge to entertainment".
Races
Races are held as part of a yearly series. Races take place on well known Japanese race tracks like Twin Ring Motegi, Fuji Speedway, and Suzuka Circuit. The series was expanded to its first international venue in Malaysia (2000), and an exhibition race at the California Speedway (2004). The Malaysian leg of the series, held at Sepang International Circuit was made an official race from 2002 and counted in the points. For the 2011 & 2012 Malaysian leg, the official organizer is JP Performance Motorsports Sdn. Bhd. (JPM). The baton was passed on to JPM to carry the Super GT tradition in Malaysia with hopes of producing an even more electrifying event.
Races were planned for both Zhuhai International Circuit in 2004 and Shanghai International Circuit in 2005, but both events failed to materialize.
Races are held as a single long endurance race of 300 km or greater such as 1000km Suzuka event. Through in season 2011, most of the race changes into sprints of 250 km due to the aftermath of 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
The cars
The cars are divided into two groups: GT500 and GT300 (cars with no more than 500 and 300 horsepower (374 and 224 kW), respectively). These power outputs are capped via the use of intake restrictors although some heavier cars are given allowances to run larger restrictors to maintain parity.
In order to ensure maximum excitement, both of the GT500 and GT300 groups are run at the same time although points are awarded separately for each group.
Apart from sport cars, personal luxury cars such as the Lexus SC430 and BMW Z4, and small family cars such as Toyota Corolla Axio have also joined the series.
GT500
The top class in Super GT, GT500, is dominated by the Big 3 Japanese automakers: Honda (HSV-010 GT replacing NSX Super GT), Nissan (GT-R replacing 350Z), and Toyota/Lexus (LFA replacing SC430, which replaced the Toyota Supra) with some privateer teams running European cars such as Aston Martin DB9, Ferrari 550-GTS, Lamborghini Murciélago or McLaren F1 GTR.
Regulations in GT500 are considerably looser than most GT classifications, and teams are free to change engines with other models made by the manufacturer, change the alignment of the engine, or add forced-induction systems to models which do not normally have it, however from 2010 onwards all GT500 cars run V8 engines displacing 3.4 liters. The chassis may also be heavily modified, with lightweight tube-frame "clips" being allowed in front of and behind the main cockpit, although the car must overall look similar to its road-going variant. These regulations result in cars which are possibly the fastest GT racing cars in the world. The rationale for this was to allow manufacturers to field competitive cars without having to spend large amounts of money for homologation versions of the race car's road car counterparts (although some companies, notably Honda and Nissan, have still developed homologation specials).
In comparison to other grand tourer series, GT500 cars are generally quicker compared to similar FIA GT1 cars, in part due to the more liberal aerodynamic regulations present in Super GT. An FIA GT1 Maserati MC12 briefly entered the series, participating in a pre-season test, but was unable to match the cornering speeds of the existing Super GT competitors. The only car to successfully run in both specifications was the McLaren F1 GTR which won races in the past in both categories.
In 2010 the GT association announced they will start to investigate the possibility to unite their GT500 regulations with the DTM regulations for the 2012 season. Additionally, 2012 season GT500 cars based on 4-door sedans are allowed, where in the past only 2-door cars were allowed in GT500.
Electronic aids such as ABS, Traction Control and Stability Control are not allowed even if fitted to the road going variant, and ceramic brakes are prohibited. There are also restrictions regarding placement and size of aerodynamic aids such as wings and spoilers. From 2010 onwards canards fitted to the front sides in the front bumper are prohibited. The choice of tires is also varied with Bridgestone, Yokohama, Dunlop, Kumho, Michelin and Hankook (new for 2006) available to teams.
History
The JGTC Years
The JGTC—established in 1993 by the JAF (Japanese Automobile Federation) via its subsidiary company the GT-A (GT Association)—replaced the defunct All Japan Sports Prototype Championship for Group C cars (that was terminated by the end of 1994) and in the same year Japanese Touring Car Championship for Group A touring cars, which would adopt the supertouring formula which was used worldwide. Seeking to prevent the spiraling budgets and one-team/make domination of both series, JGTC imposed strict limits on power, and heavy weight penalties on race winners in an openly-stated objective to keep on-track action close with an emphasis on keeping the race goers happy.
n its first ever race, which was also an IMSA GT exhibition race, apart from the GTS and GTU cars from the United States series, as with the rest of the season, the grid consisted of mostly Japan Sport Sedan cars with the only genuine JGTC cars being two Nissan Skyline GT-Rs entered by NISMO, which were in fact modified Group A cars. The prototypes and European GT cars would only appear one race to be joined by the IMSA and Group N cars at the Suzuka 1000 km.
For the following season, the series would undergo a rules overhaul, class 1 for cars similar to that of the FIA's GT1 category and class 2 for cars that were the equivalent to the GT2 category. The JSS series would altogether dissolve into the latter category. What made the series more significant was compared to the series from other countries, JGTC teams had at the time the freedom to enter whichever cars they preferred, even if it was the JSS cars from the inaugural season and IMSA GTS spaceframe racers. The Group C prototypes, whilst easily showing dominant form, were banished at the end of the 1994 season.
By the end of the season, as the cost of attaining a FIA's GT1 cars shot through the roof dramatically, in order to keep costs down and determined not to go the same way as the JSPC series it replaced, the GT-A would go through another rules overhaul. This time was a change adoption of the newly formed GT500 and GT300 regulation which capped cars depending on weight and brake horsepower with an air restrictor. In 2002, the GT-A made another rule change, this time because the series had been intended to be a GT championship; this meant all competing cars must remain as two doors, while a special waiver was given to allow Cusco Racing to race their Subaru Impreza sedan.
The JGTC would first venture abroad with its first oversea race at Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia and after another successive year, the Malaysian race would become a regular championship fixture. After GT-A's abortive attempt at hosting a street race in Shanghai, the series would also venture into the United States with an exhibition race to be run with the D1 Grand Prix exhibition event in the Los Angeles area-California Speedway in Fontana, held during the week before Christmas in December 2004, which was not shown to be a success, since then no exhibition event was held until in 2010 season, which will be held in Fuji Speedway.
Super GT
After years of successive rules changes, at the same time, the JGTC planned holding one more race outside of Japan, in China (Shanghai), in addition to Malaysia (Sepang). However, holding the series in more than three countries violates from the definition of the "national championship" of FIA. Therefore, the series needed to be authorized directly by FIA and was not able to be named Japanese Championship because the series had to be parted from Japan Automobile Federation (JAF), the Authority Sport Nationale (ASN) of Japan.
On December 10, 2004, while the series had been mainly focused on Japanese domestic teams, sponsors and fans, with an ever-rising international fan following and TV coverage shown all over the world it was announced that JGTC would now be called Super GT with the goals of "challenge to the world", "challenge from the world", and "challenge to entertainment".
Races
Races are held as part of a yearly series. Races take place on well known Japanese race tracks like Twin Ring Motegi, Fuji Speedway, and Suzuka Circuit. The series was expanded to its first international venue in Malaysia (2000), and an exhibition race at the California Speedway (2004). The Malaysian leg of the series, held at Sepang International Circuit was made an official race from 2002 and counted in the points. For the 2011 & 2012 Malaysian leg, the official organizer is JP Performance Motorsports Sdn. Bhd. (JPM). The baton was passed on to JPM to carry the Super GT tradition in Malaysia with hopes of producing an even more electrifying event.
Races were planned for both Zhuhai International Circuit in 2004 and Shanghai International Circuit in 2005, but both events failed to materialize.
Races are held as a single long endurance race of 300 km or greater such as 1000km Suzuka event. Through in season 2011, most of the race changes into sprints of 250 km due to the aftermath of 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
The cars
The cars are divided into two groups: GT500 and GT300 (cars with no more than 500 and 300 horsepower (374 and 224 kW), respectively). These power outputs are capped via the use of intake restrictors although some heavier cars are given allowances to run larger restrictors to maintain parity.
In order to ensure maximum excitement, both of the GT500 and GT300 groups are run at the same time although points are awarded separately for each group.
Apart from sport cars, personal luxury cars such as the Lexus SC430 and BMW Z4, and small family cars such as Toyota Corolla Axio have also joined the series.
GT500
The top class in Super GT, GT500, is dominated by the Big 3 Japanese automakers: Honda (HSV-010 GT replacing NSX Super GT), Nissan (GT-R replacing 350Z), and Toyota/Lexus (LFA replacing SC430, which replaced the Toyota Supra) with some privateer teams running European cars such as Aston Martin DB9, Ferrari 550-GTS, Lamborghini Murciélago or McLaren F1 GTR.
Regulations in GT500 are considerably looser than most GT classifications, and teams are free to change engines with other models made by the manufacturer, change the alignment of the engine, or add forced-induction systems to models which do not normally have it, however from 2010 onwards all GT500 cars run V8 engines displacing 3.4 liters. The chassis may also be heavily modified, with lightweight tube-frame "clips" being allowed in front of and behind the main cockpit, although the car must overall look similar to its road-going variant. These regulations result in cars which are possibly the fastest GT racing cars in the world. The rationale for this was to allow manufacturers to field competitive cars without having to spend large amounts of money for homologation versions of the race car's road car counterparts (although some companies, notably Honda and Nissan, have still developed homologation specials).
In comparison to other grand tourer series, GT500 cars are generally quicker compared to similar FIA GT1 cars, in part due to the more liberal aerodynamic regulations present in Super GT. An FIA GT1 Maserati MC12 briefly entered the series, participating in a pre-season test, but was unable to match the cornering speeds of the existing Super GT competitors. The only car to successfully run in both specifications was the McLaren F1 GTR which won races in the past in both categories.
In 2010 the GT association announced they will start to investigate the possibility to unite their GT500 regulations with the DTM regulations for the 2012 season. Additionally, 2012 season GT500 cars based on 4-door sedans are allowed, where in the past only 2-door cars were allowed in GT500.
Electronic aids such as ABS, Traction Control and Stability Control are not allowed even if fitted to the road going variant, and ceramic brakes are prohibited. There are also restrictions regarding placement and size of aerodynamic aids such as wings and spoilers. From 2010 onwards canards fitted to the front sides in the front bumper are prohibited. The choice of tires is also varied with Bridgestone, Yokohama, Dunlop, Kumho, Michelin and Hankook (new for 2006) available to teams.
