The 2012 Autobacs Super GT Series was the twentieth season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship including the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era and the eighth season as the Super GT series. It also marked the thirtieth season of a JAF-sanctioned sports car racing championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. The season began on April 1 and ended on November 18, 2012, after eight championship races and a non-championship race.
Masataka Yanagida and Ronnie Quintarelli of Nissan works team MOLA won their second consecutive GT500 Drivers' and Teams' Championships, and became only the second team and driver combination to win the GT500 championship before the final round of the season. Team Taisan Endless and drivers Kyosuke Mineo and Naoki Yokomizo won the GT300 championships in their new Porsche 911 GT3-R, giving Team Taisan their final Super GT championship.
Schedule
Round Race Circuit Date 1 Okayama GT300 km Okayama International Circuit April 1 2 Fuji GT 1500 km Fuji Speedway May 4 3 Super GT International Series Malaysia300 km Sepang International Circuit June 10 4 Sugo GT300 km Sportsland SUGO July 29 5 41st International Pokka 1000km1000 km Suzuka Circuit August 19 6 Fuji GT 2300 km Fuji Speedway September 9 7 Autopolis GT300 km Autopolis September 30 8 Motegi GT250 km Twin Ring Motegi October 28 NC Fuji Sprint Cup Fuji Speedway November 17 November 18
Regulation changes From this season, the GT300 class fully incorporated the Group GT3 ruleset and Balance of Performance parameters used by the SRO Motorsports Group. Sixteen GT300 entries that competed in all or most domestic rounds were GT3 vehicles. GT3 vehicles won every championship round, plus both races of the non-championship Fuji Sprint Cup, along with the series championship.
2012 saw the introduction of hybrid powertrain vehicles to the GT300 category. Constructor apr introduced a Toyota Prius JAF-GT300 vehicle powered by a battery-driven hybrid system, and Mugen (M-TEC) followed shortly after by introducing the Honda CR-Z GT300 with a racing hybrid system developed by Zytek. Vehicles from the JAF-GT Category C (vehicles based on modified sports cars with minimal production requirements) and Category D (prototype cars not belonging to other JAF-GT categories) were phased out beginning in 2012. These outgoing vehicles included the Mooncraft Shiden, ASL Garaiya, and Vemac RD320R, which had been mainstays of the series for much of the past decade. On the other hand, JAF-GT Category A and B cars, based on mass production models, were allowed to use traction control beginning in 2012, and were also given concessions such as 14-inch width tyres, paddle sequential shifters, and larger diameter air restrictors.
Drivers and teams
GT500
Team Make Car Engine Drivers Tyre Round MOLA Nissan Nissan GT-R GT500 Nissan VRH34B 3.4 L V8 1 Masataka Yanagida All Ronnie QuintarelliAll Lexus Team LeMans ENEOS Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus RV8KG 3.4 L V8 6 Daisuke Itō All Kazuya OshimaAll Autobacs Racing Team Aguri Honda Honda HSV-010 GT Honda HR10EG 3.4 L V8 8 Ralph Firman All Takashi KobayashiAll Team Impul Nissan Nissan GT-R GT500 Nissan VRH34B 3.4 L V8 12 Tsugio Matsuda All João Paulo de OliveiraAll Keihin Real Racing Honda Honda HSV-010 GT Honda HR10EG 3.4 L V8 17 Toshihiro Kaneishi All Koudai TsukakoshiAll Weider Honda Racing Honda Honda HSV-010 GT Honda HR10EG 3.4 L V8 18 Takashi Kogure All Carlo van DamAll Lexus Team WedsSport BANDOH Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus RV8KG 3.4 L V8 19 Seiji Ara All André Couto1–8 Marino FranchittiNC Nismo Nissan Nissan GT-R GT500 Nissan VRH34B 3.4 L V8 23 Satoshi Motoyama All Michael KrummAll Kondo Racing Nissan Nissan GT-R GT500 Nissan VRH34B 3.4 L V8 24 Hironobu Yasuda All Björn WirdheimAll Epson Nakajima Racing Honda Honda HSV-010 GT Honda HR10EG 3.4 L V8 32 Ryō Michigami All Yuhki NakayamaAll Lexus Team KeePer Kraft Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus RV8KG 3.4 L V8 35 Yuji Kunimoto All Andrea CaldarelliAll Lexus Team Petronas TOM'S Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus RV8KG 3.4 L V8 36 Kazuki Nakajima All Loïc Duval1, 3–8, NC Richard Lyons2 Lexus Team ZENT Cerumo Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus RV8KG 3.4 L V8 38 Yuji Tachikawa All Kohei HirateAll Lexus Team SARD Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus RV8KG 3.4 L V8 39 Juichi Wakisaka All Hiroaki IshiuraAll Team Kunimitsu Honda Honda HSV-010 GT Honda HR10EG 3.4 L V8 100 Takuya Izawa All Naoki YamamotoAll
GT300
Team Make Car Engine Drivers Tyre Round GSR & Studie with Team Ukyo BMW BMW Z4 GT3 BMW P65B44 4.4 L V8 0 Nobuteru Taniguchi All Tatsuya Kataoka All 4 Taku Bamba All Masahiro Sasaki All Cars Tokai Dream28 Mooncraft Mooncraft Shiden Toyota 1UZ-FE 4.0 L V8 2 Kazuho Takahashi All Hiroki Katoh All Hiroshi Hamaguchi 5 NDDP Racing Nissan Nissan GT-R GT3 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 3 Yuhi Sekiguchi 1–5, 7–8, NC Katsumasa Chiyo All Daiki Sasaki 5–6 Team Mach Ferrari Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 Ferrari F136F 4.5 L V8 5 Tetsuji Tamanaka 1–2, 4–8, NC Masayuki Ueda 1–2, 4–8, NC Masataka Kawaguchi 2 Gainer Audi Audi R8 LMS ultra Audi CJJ 5.2 L V10 11 Tetsuya Tanaka All Katsuyuki Hiranaka All Atsushi Yogo 5 Team SGC Lexus Lexus IS350 GT300 Lexus RV8J 3.4 L V8 14 Ryo Orime 4–8, NC Alexandre Imperatori 4–6 Naoya Yamano 7–8, NC Team Art Taste Porsche Porsche 911 GT3-R Porsche M97/79 4.0 L F6 15 Tim Bergmeister 1–2 Takeshi Tsuchiya 1–2 Jörg Bergmeister 2 Team Mugen Honda Honda CR-Z GT Honda HR28TT 2.8 L Twin Turbo Hybrid V6 16 Hideki Mutoh 4–8, NC Daisuke Nakajima 4–8, NC Hitotsuyama Racing Audi Audi R8 LMS Audi CJJ 5.2 L V10 20 Hideki Noda 1–2 Michael Kim 1 Kenji Kobayashi 2 Frank Yu 2 21 Akihiro Tsuzuki All Cyndie Allemann 1–5 Richard Lyons 5–8, NC Yukinori Taniguchi 2 77 Igor Sushko 8, NC Kenji Kobayashi 8, NC 99 Frank Yu 3, 7 Hideto Yasuoka 3–5, 7 Michael Kim 4–5 Yoshio Tsuzuki 5 R'Qs Motorsports Vemac Vemac RD350R Zytek ZV348 4.0 L V8 22 Hisashi Wada All Masaki Jyonai All LMP Motorsport Ferrari Ferrari F430 GTC Ferrari F136GT 4.3 L V8 27 Yutaka Yamagishi 1–8 Takuto Iguchi 1–8 apr Audi Audi R8 LMS ultra Audi CJJ 5.2 L V10 30 Yuki Iwasaki All Yuya Sakamoto All Kenji Kobayashi 5 Toyota Toyota Prius apr GT Toyota RV8KLM 3.4 L Hybrid V8 31 Morio Nitta All Koki Saga All Yuichi Nakayama 5 Hankook KTR Porsche Porsche 911 GT3-R Porsche M97/79 4.0 L F6 33 Masami Kageyama All Tomonobu Fujii All Autobacs Racing Team Aguri ASL ASL ARTA Garaiya Nissan VQ35DE 3.5 L V6 43 Shinichi Takagi All Kosuke Matsuura All Dijon Racing Callaway Callaway Corvette Z06.R GT3 Callaway LS7.R 7.0 L V8 48 Hiroshi Takamori 1–2, 4–6, 8, NC Shogo Mitsuyama 1–2, 4–6, 8, NC Keiichi Inoue 2, 5 Green Tec & Leon with Shift Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 Mercedes-Benz M159 6.2 L V8 52 Hironori Takeuchi All Haruki Kurosawa 1–5, 7–8, NC Akihiko Nakaya 5 Takeshi Tsuchiya 6 R&D Sport Subaru Subaru BRZ GT300 Subaru EJ20 2.0 L Turbo F4 61 Tetsuya Yamano All Kota Sasaki All A speed Aston Martin Aston Martin Vantage GT2 Aston Martin AJ37 4.7 L V8 66 Hiroki Yoshimoto 1 Kazuki Hoshino 1 Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 Aston Martin AM11 5.9 L V12 Hiroki Yoshimoto 2–8, NC Kazuki Hoshino 2–8, NC Hiroki Yoshida 5 ThunderAsia Racing Mosler Mosler MT900M Judd XV675 3.5 L V8 69 Fairuz Fauzy 3 Hiroki Yoshida 3 JLOC Lamborghini Lamborghini Gallardo RG-3 Lamborghini 07L1 5.2 L V10 85 Yuya Sakamoto 1–2, 5–7 Masaki Kano 1–2, 6 Ryohei Sakaguchi 2, 5 Hideshi Matsuda 7 86 Hideshi Matsuda 1–5, NC Junichiro Yamashita 1–5, NC Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 Lamborghini CEH 5.2 L V10 87 Koji Yamanishi All Hideki Yamauchi 1–8 Yuya Sakamoto NC 88 Manabu Orido All Takayuki Aoki All Keita Sawa 5 Tomei Sports Callaway Callaway Corvette Z06.R GT3 Callaway LS7.R 7.0 L V8 360 Atsushi Tanaka 1–4, 6–8, NC Yasushi Kikuchi 1 Takuya Shirasaka 2–4, 6–8, NC Team Taisan ENDLESS Porsche Porsche 911 GT3-R Porsche M97/79 4.0 L F6 911 Kyosuke Mineo All Naoki Yokomizo All
Entrant Changes
GT500 Class
Nissan: Two-time GT500 champion Michael Krumm replaced 2008 champion Benoît Tréluyer at NISMO. Tréluyer left the Japanese circuit in order to drive full-time for Audi in the new FIA World Endurance Championship, while Krumm had returned after competing in the FIA GT1 World Championship. Lexus: 2010 champion Loïc Duval transferred out of Honda to join Lexus at Team Petronas TOM's, replacing André Lotterer, who left the series in order to drive full-time for Audi in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Within the Lexus camp, three-time series champion Juichi Wakisaka transferred to Lexus Team SARD, and André Couto transferred to Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh. Yuji Kunimoto and Andrea Caldarelli each made their GT500 debuts, forming an all-rookie lineup at Lexus Team KeePer Kraft. Honda: 2008 All-Japan Formula 3 champion Carlo Van Dam made his full-time GT500 debut, replacing Duval at Weider Honda Racing. Ralph Firman returned to ARTA after a year away from racing in Japan.
GT300 Class
Reigning champions Goodsmile Racing & Studie with Team UKYO expanded to a two-car operation with the BMW Z4 GT3. Last year's championship-winning entry changed its number to 0, and championship winning driver Nobuteru Taniguchi was joined by former Lexus GT500 driver Tatsuya Kataoka. Co-champion Taku Bamba moved to the new number 4 car, joined by Masahiro Sasaki, who drove for GSR in 2010. NDDP (Nissan Driver Development Program) Racing entered the series with the all-new Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3. The team was managed by Masahiro Hasemi, and carried the number 3 which was associated with Hasemi Motor Sports, who competed in the series until 2010. Reigning All-Japan Formula 3 champion Yuhi Sekiguchi, and All-Japan F3 National Class champion Katsumasa Chiyo, were the team's drivers. SHIFT, the team managed by former GT500 champion Hironori Takeuchi, re-entered the series with the all-new Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3. The team competed under the banner of Green Tec & LEON with Shift, with Takeuchi and former Team Mach driver Haruki Kurosawa as their drivers. Subaru and Subaru Tecnica International (STI) launched the BRZ GT300. The BRZ GT300 was entered by R&D Sport, who raced with the Legacy B4 between 2009 and 2011. apr introduced the hybrid-powered Toyota Prius GT to replace their previous Corolla Axio GT model. The number 31 Prius was driven by Morio Nitta and Koki Saga. apr also fielded a second entry with an Audi R8 LMS Ultra, driven by Yuki Iwasaki and Yuya Sakamoto (of Tokyo). M-TEC (as Team Mugen) would return to the series as an independent team, and introduced the hybrid-powered Honda CR-Z GT300, beginning from the fourth round at Sportsland Sugo. GT500 race winner Hideki Mutoh, and second-generation rookie driver Daisuke Nakajima were announced as Mugen's drivers. Gainer changed vehicles from the Ferrari 458 GTC to the new Audi R8 LMS Ultra, and consolidated their programme into a single-car entry. Hankook KTR, who entered a second car in select races in 2011, consolidated their programme into a single-car entry, their number 33 Porsche 911 GT3-R (Type 997) driven by Masami Kageyama and Tomonobu Fujii. Hitotsuyama Racing returned to the series for the first time since 2009, fielding two Audi R8 LMS. Their primary entry, number 21, was prepared by Nova Engineering, and driven by Akihiro Tsuzuki (who transferred from Samurai Team Tsuchiya) and rookie Cyndie Allemann, who became the first woman to race in the series since Keiko Ihara in 2003. Their second entry was prepared by Mooncraft Engineering, and began the season as car number 20 with Hideki Noda as their ace driver alongside Michael Kim. JLOC entered two new Lamborghini Gallardo GT3s, the number 88 driven by Manabu Orido and Takayuki Aoki, and the number 87 driven by Koji Yamanishi (who rejoined JLOC after a year's absence) and Hideki Yamauchi (who transferred from LMP Motorsport). They also fielded two of their existing Gallardo RG-3 models in multiple races, giving them as many as four entries.