The 2013 Autobacs Super GT Series was the twenty-first season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship including the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era, and the ninth season under the name Super GT. It marked the thirty-first season overall of a Japanese professional sportscar championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. It was the final year of the GT500 regulations introduced in 2010 as the 2014 season would see unified technical regulations with the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. The season began on April 7 and ended on November 17, 2013 after 8 regular races and 1 non championship event.
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, also counted for points towards the GT300 class.
Schedule An updated provisional calendar was released on November 1, 2012.
Round Race Circuit Date 1 Okayama GT300 km Okayama International Circuit April 7 2 Fuji GT 1500 km Fuji Speedway April 29 3 Super GT International Series Malaysia300 km Sepang International Circuit June 16 4 Sugo GT300 km Sportsland SUGO July 28 5 42nd International Pokka Sapporo 1000km1000 km Suzuka Circuit August 18 6 Fuji GT 2300 km Fuji Speedway September 8 AsianLMS 2013 Asian Le Mans Series3 Hours of Fuji Fuji Speedway September 22 7 Autopolis GT300 km Autopolis October 6 8 Motegi GT250 km Twin Ring Motegi November 3 Fuji Sprint Cup Fuji Speedway November 23 November 24 Notes: There was originally a non-championship race to be held at the Korea International Circuit scheduled for May 19 but was postponed and not held during the season. — The 3 Hours of Fuji is an optional points-scoring round that is only open to teams competing in the GT300 class, held as a part of the 2013 Asian Le Mans Series season, where the cars were reclassified as "SGT". Points and success ballast were to be counted if points were awarded to the top 10 finishers in the SGT class; no penalty was to be imposed on success ballast reduction if entrants miss the race. — Originally scheduled for November 16 and 17 but rescheduled to November 23 and 24.
Drivers and teams
GT500 Team Make Car Engine Drivers Tyre Rounds MOLA Nissan Nissan GT-R GT500 Nissan VRH34B 3.4 L V8 1 Satoshi Motoyama All Yuhi SekiguchiAll Lexus Team LeMans ENEOS Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus RV8KG 3.4 L V8 6 Kazuya Oshima All Yuji KunimotoAll Autobacs Racing Team Aguri Honda Honda HSV-010 GT Honda HR10EG 3.4 L V8 8 Ralph Firman All Kosuke MatsuuraAll 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 Modulo Dome Racing Honda Honda HSV-010 GT Honda HR10EG 3.4 L V8 18 Naoki Yamamoto All Frédéric MakowieckiAll Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus RV8KG 3.4 L V8 19 Seiji Ara All André CoutoAll Nismo Nissan Nissan GT-R GT500 Nissan VRH34B 3.4 L V8 23 Masataka Yanagida All Ronnie QuintarelliAll Kondo Racing Nissan Nissan GT-R GT500 Nissan VRH34B 3.4 L V8 24 Hironobu Yasuda All Michael KrummAll Nakajima Racing Honda Honda HSV-010 GT Honda HR10EG 3.4 L V8 32 Ryō Michigami All Daisuke NakajimaAll Lexus Team Petronas TOM'S Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus RV8KG 3.4 L V8 36 Kazuki Nakajima All James RossiterAll Lexus Team KeePer TOM'S Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus RV8KG 3.4 L V8 37 Daisuke Ito All Andrea CaldarelliAll 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 Takashi KogureAll
GT300 Team Make Car Engine Drivers Tyre Rounds Team Taisan Ken Endless Porsche Porsche 997 GT3 Porsche M97/79 4.0 L F6 0 Kyosuke Mineo All Naoki YokomizoAll Cars Tokai Dream28 McLaren McLaren MP4-12C GT3 McLaren M838T 3.8 L Twin Turbo V8 2 Kazuho Takahashi All Hiroki KatohAll Carlo van Dam5 NDDP Racing Nissan Nissan GT-R GT3 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 3 Kazuki Hoshino 1–8, FSC Daiki Sasaki1–8, FSC Lucas Ordóñez5 GSR & Studie with Team Ukyo BMW BMW Z4 GT3 BMW P65B44 4.4 L V8 4 Nobuteru Taniguchi 1–8, FSC Tatsuya Kataoka1–8, FSC Jörg Müller5 Team Mach Ferrari Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 Ferrari F136F 4.5 L V8 5 Tetsuji Tamanaka 1–3 Junichiro Yamashita1–3 Naofumi Omoto2 Nissan Nissan GT-R GT3 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 Tetsuji Tamanaka5–8, LMS, FSC Junichiro Yamashita5–8, FSC Naofumi Omoto5 Naoya YamanoLMS Bonds Racing Nissan Nissan GT-R GT3 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 7 Igor Sushko 1–2 Ryo Orime1 Yuji Ide2 Pacific Direction Racing Porsche Porsche 911 GT3-R Porsche M97/79 4.0 L F6 9 Shogo Mitsuyama 1–8, FSC You Yokomaku1–2, 4–8, FSC Hisao Shigeta3 Yuya Sakamoto5 Akira Mizutani LMS Gainer Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 Mercedes-Benz M159 6.2 L V8 10 Tetsuya Tanaka 1–8, FSC Masayuki Ueda1–8, FSC Masataka Kawaguchi5 11 Katsuyuki HiranakaAll Björn WirdheimAll Team Mugen Honda Honda CR-Z GT Honda HR28TT 2.8 L Twin Turbo Hybrid V6 16 Hideki Mutoh All Yuhki NakayamaAll Hitotsuyama Racing Audi Audi R8 LMS ultra Audi CJJ 5.2 L V10 21 Akihiro Tsuzuki 1–8, FSC Richard Lyons1–8, FSC R'Qs MotorSports Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 Mercedes-Benz M159 6.2 L V8 22 Hisashi Wada 1–8, FSC Masaki Jyonai1–8, FSC apr Audi Audi R8 LMS ultra Audi CJJ 5.2 L V10 30 Yuki Iwasaki 1–3 Fairuz Fauzy1–2 Kenji Kobayashi2 Igor Sushko3 Nissan Nissan GT-R GT3 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 Yuki Iwasaki4–8, LMS, FSC Igor Sushko4–8, LMS, FSC Kenji Kobayashi5, LMS Toyota Toyota Prius apr GT Toyota RV8KLM 3.4 L Hybrid V8 31 Morio Nitta1–8, FSC Koki Saga1–8, FSC Yuichi Nakayama5 Hankook KTR Porsche Porsche 911 GT3-R Porsche M97/79 4.0 L F6 33 Masami Kageyama 1–8, FSC Tomonobu Fujii1–8, FSC Nismo Athlete Global Team Nissan Nissan GT-R GT3 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 35 Alex Buncombe FSC Lucas OrdóñezFSC Dijon Racing Nissan Nissan GT-R GT3 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 48 Hiroshi Takamori 1–8, FSC Katsumasa Chiyo1–8, FSC Masaki Tanaka5 Callaway Callaway Corvette Z06.R GT3 Callaway LS7.R 7.0 L V8 96 Masaki Tanaka2, 4, 6, FSC Keiichi Inoue2, FSC Shin Ikegami4, 6 Arnage Racing Aston Martin Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 Aston Martin AM11 5.9 L V12 50 Masaki Kano 1–8, FSC Hideto Yasuoka1–8, FSC Ryohei Sakaguchi2, 5 Okinawa-IMP Racing with Shift Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 Mercedes-Benz M159 6.2 L V8 52 Hironori Takeuchi 1–8, LMS Takeshi Tsuchiya1–8, LMS Naoya Gamou5 Motoyoshi YoshidaLMS Autobacs Racing Team Aguri Honda Honda CR-Z GT Honda HR28TT 2.8 L Twin Turbo Hybrid V6 55 Shinichi Takagi All Takashi KobayashiAll Tomoki Nojiri5, LMS R&D Sport Subaru Subaru BRZ GT300 Subaru EJ20 2.0 L Turbo F4 61 Tetsuya Yamano All Kota SasakiAll Takuto Iguchi5 Leon Racing Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 Mercedes-Benz M159 6.2 L V8 62 Haruki Kurosawa All Masanobu Kato1–2 Tsubasa Kurosawa2–8, LMS Akihiko Nakaya5 JLOC Lamborghini Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 Lamborghini CEH 5.2 L V10 86 Koji Yamanishi 1–8, FSC Shinya Hosokawa1–8, FSC Yuya Sakamoto2, 5 87 Hideki Yamauchi1–8 Hiroki Yoshimoto1–8 88 Manabu Orido1–8 Takayuki Aoki1–8 Hideki YamauchiFSC Hiroki YoshimotoFSC Tomei Sports Nissan Nissan GT-R GT3 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 360 Takuya Shirasaka 1–4, 6–7 Atsushi Tanaka1–4, 6–7
Entrant Changes
GT500 Class
Nissan: Two-time and defending GT500 champions Masataka Yanagida and Ronnie Quintarelli, transferred from MOLA to the flagship NISMO team, who also switched from Bridgestone to Michelin tyres. Three-time GT500 champion Satoshi Motoyama transferred to MOLA, joining first-year GT500 driver Yuhi Sekiguchi in an all-new lineup. Two-time GT500 champion Michael Krumm transferred to Kondo Racing. Lexus: TOM's Racing expanded to a two-car team, with the number 37 Lexus Team KeePer TOM's squad taking over the entry vacated by Team Kraft's departure. Loïc Duval departed Super GT to drive full-time for Audi in the FIA World Endurance Championship, and was replaced by former Force India F1 reserve driver James Rossiter. Daisuke Ito and Andrea Caldarelli were named as the drivers for Lexus Team KeePer TOM's, while Yuji Kunimoto transferred to Lexus Team Eneos LeMans to replace Ito. Lexus Team SARD switched to Bridgestone tyres after two seasons with Michelin. Honda: FIA GT1 World Championship runner-up Frédéric Makowiecki replaced Carlo Van Dam at Weider Modulo Dome Racing, joined by Naoki Yamamoto, who transferred from Team Kunimitsu after four seasons. Dome also changed tyre suppliers from Bridgestone to Michelin. 2010 GT500 champion Takashi Kogure was transferred to Team Kunimitsu to replace Yamamoto. Kosuke Matsuura returned to the GT500 class with ARTA, and Daisuke Nakajima stepped up to GT500 for the first time with Nakajima Racing.
GT300 Class
Team Taisan Ken Endless inherited the number 0 from last year's champions, Goodsmile Racing & Studie with Team UKYO. This began an informal tradition of GT300 teams designating the number 0 as the champion's number plate. Goodsmile Racing & Studie with Team UKYO consolidated their programme into a single-car operation, fielding the number 4 BMW Z4 GT3 for Nobuteru Taniguchi and Tatsuya Kataoka. For their first full-season effort since 2005, Team Mugen replaced GT500-bound Daisuke Nakajima with former Honda GT500 driver Yuhki Nakayama in their hybrid-powered Honda CR-Z GT300. Subaru and R&D Sport changed tyre suppliers from Yokohama to Michelin for their second season with the BRZ GT300. Autobacs Racing Team Aguri changed vehicles from the ASL Garaiya to the Honda CR-Z GT300. Takashi Kobayashi joined ARTA's GT300 squad after two seasons in their GT500 team. The team also changed its number from 43 to 55. Two-time GT300 champion Kazuki Hoshino and reigning All-Japan Formula 3 National Class champion Daiki Sasaki, formed an all-new driver lineup at NDDP Racing. Bonds Racing, a new team established by members of the former Lexus Team Kraft, entered the series for the first time with a Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 driven in the first round by Igor Sushko and Ryo Orime. Tomei Sports changed vehicles from the Callaway Corvette Z06.R GT3 to the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3. Dijon Racing changed their primary number 48 team's vehicle to the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3, and signed NDDP graduate Katsumasa Chiyo as their pro driver to partner amateur driver Hiroshi Takamori. Dijon Racing would continue to enter their Callaway Corvette Z06.R GT3 in select races with the number 96, driven by Masaki Tanaka and Keiichi Inoue. Team a Speed withdrew from the series after the 2012 season. Arnage Racing, the garage responsible for vehicle maintenance, took over the programme under their own name, fielding the number 50 Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 for drivers Masaki Kano and Hideto Yasuoka. Cars Tokai Dream28 changed vehicles from the Mooncraft Shiden to the newest McLaren MP4-12C GT3. Gainer switched allegiances from Audi to Mercedes-Benz, and expanded back to a two-car team with two SLS AMG GT3s. The all-pro number 11 car added former GT500 driver Björn Wirdheim as team mate to Katsuyuki Hiranaka, while Tetsuya Tanaka moved to the pro-am number 10 car alongside Masayuki Ueda. LEON Racing spun off from Shift after the 2012 season. Operated by K2 R&D Co. Ltd., LEON Racing fielded the number 62 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 for Haruki Kurosawa and Masanobu Kato. Shift would partner with Okinawa-IMP (International Motorsports Project), fielding the number 52 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG for team founder Hironori Takeuchi and Takeshi Tsuchiya. R'Qs Motor Sports changed vehicles from the Vemac RD320R to the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3.