The 2020 Autobacs Super GT Series was motor racing championship based in Japan for grand touring cars. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and run by the GT Association (GTA). It was the twenty-eighth season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship which includes the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era and the sixteenth season the series to compete under the Super GT name. It was the thirty-eighth overall season of a JAF national sportscar championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship.
Team Kunimitsu and drivers Naoki Yamamoto and Tadasuke Makino won the Drivers' and Teams' Championships in GT500 for Honda and their new NSX-GT with a front-engine layout. They clinched the championship in the final lap of the final race of the season, after championship rivals TGR Team KeePer TOM's and driver Ryo Hirakawa ran out of fuel at the final corner. Nissan customer racing team Kondo Racing and drivers Kiyoto Fujinami and João Paulo Lima de Oliveira won the GT300 class championships in the second-generation GT-R NISMO GT3.
Schedule
Initial 2020 schedule On July 26, 2019, the GTA announced the provisional calendar for the 2020 Super GT series, with the number of rounds remaining at 8, but with an increase in the number of overseas races, with the return of Chang International Circuit in Thailand, and for the first time since 2013 Super GT Series, a return to Sepang International Circuit, in Malaysia. Despite its absence in the calendar, Sepang had remained a popular choice for manufacturers when reviewing locations for testing, particularly during the winter months. At the time, dates for neither of the overseas rounds were revealed, although the races were expected to take place between June and August. The round, introduced to replace the 1000 km of Suzuka, was dropped to avoid a clash with the 2020 Summer Olympics, which would be held in Tokyo. A finalised calendar with the dates for both overseas rounds was revealed during the 2019 Motegi GT 250 km weekend.
Impact of coronavirus pandemic On March 18, 2020, the original opening round at Okayama International Circuit was postponed to an undetermined date due to the coronavirus pandemic. On March 30, 2020, the second and third rounds at Fuji Speedway and Suzuka Circuit were each postponed. On April 5, 2020, the series released its first revised calendar, which was scheduled to begin on July 12 at Okayama. With the 2020 Summer Olympics postponed, the Fuji Speedway round, traditionally scheduled for the Golden Week holiday of May 4, was moved to August 9.
On June 4, 2020, a second revision to the calendar was announced. The season was now scheduled to begin on July 19 at Fuji Speedway, the first of three confirmed races that were announced to be held at Fuji, with a fourth added later. Two rounds were scheduled to take place at Suzuka Circuit, with one scheduled for August 23, the date that was originally set for the cancelled 2020 Suzuka 10 Hours. Two rounds were scheduled to take place at Twin Ring Motegi. The rounds at Okayama International Circuit, Autopolis, and Sportsland Sugo in Japan, as well as the round at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia, were all cancelled for 2020. On June 8, 2020, it was confirmed that the eighth and final round would take place at Fuji Speedway on November 29, after the round at Chang International Circuit in Thailand, which was provisionally scheduled to take place on December 27, was cancelled. The first event format was announced on June 29, with the first race at Fuji being held at a 300 kilometre distance.
This season saw a number of corporate sponsors purchasing naming rights for individual rounds. Oono Associates purchased naming rights for all four rounds held at Fuji Speedway, under their Takanokono Hotel property based in Matsuyama, Japan. Steel manufacturer Fujimaki Group purchased naming rights for the two rounds held at Suzuka Circuit and Twin Ring Motegi.
RoundRaceCircuitDate1Takanokono Hotel Fuji GT 300 km Race Fuji SpeedwayJuly 18–192August 8–93Fujimaki Group Suzuka GT 300 km Race Suzuka CircuitAugust 22–234Fujimaki Group Motegi GT 300 km Race Twin Ring MotegiSeptember 12–135Takanokono Hotel Fuji GT 300 km Race Fuji SpeedwayOctober 3–46Fujimaki Group Suzuka GT 300 km Race Suzuka CircuitOctober 24–257Fujimaki Group Motegi GT 300 km Race Twin Ring MotegiNovember 7–88Takanokono Hotel Fuji GT 300 km Race Fuji SpeedwayNovember 28–29
Teams and drivers A total of 45 teams registered to take part in the 2020 Super GT season, 15 teams from the GT500 class, and 30 teams from the GT300 class.
GT500 TeamMakeCarEngineDriversTyreRounds NDDP Racing with B-Max Nissan Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 Nissan NR20B 2.0 L Turbo I4 3 Kohei Hirate All Katsumasa Chiyo ARTA Honda Honda NSX-GT Honda HR-420E 2.0 L Turbo I4 8 Tomoki Nojiri All Nirei Fukuzumi Team Impul Nissan Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 Nissan NR20B 2.0 L Turbo I4 12 Daiki Sasaki All Kazuki Hiramine TGR Team Wako's ROOKIE Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT500 Toyota RI4AG 2.0 L Turbo I4 14 Kazuya Oshima All Sho Tsuboi TGR Team ZENT Cerumo 38 Yuji Tachikawa All Hiroaki Ishiura Team Red Bull Mugen Honda Honda NSX-GT Honda HR-420E 2.0 L Turbo I4 16 Hideki Mutoh All Ukyo Sasahara Keihin REAL Racing Honda Honda NSX-GT Honda HR-420E 2.0 L Turbo I4 17 Koudai Tsukakoshi All Bertrand Baguette TGR Team WedsSport Bandoh Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT500 Toyota RI4AG 2.0 L Turbo I4 19 Yuji Kunimoto All Ritomo Miyata NISMO Nissan Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 Nissan NR20B 2.0 L Turbo I4 23 Tsugio Matsuda All Ronnie Quintarelli Kondo Racing Nissan Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 Nissan NR20B 2.0 L Turbo I4 24 Mitsunori Takaboshi All Jann Mardenborough TGR Team au TOM'S Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT500 Toyota RI4AG 2.0 L Turbo I4 36 Yuhi Sekiguchi All Sacha Fenestraz TGR Team KeePer TOM'S 37 Ryō Hirakawa All Nick Cassidy1–6 Kenta Yamashita7–8 TGR Team SARD Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT500 Toyota RI4AG 2.0 L Turbo I4 39 Yuichi Nakayama All Kenta Yamashita 1 Sena Sakaguchi2 Heikki Kovalainen3–8 Modulo Nakajima RacingHondaHonda NSX-GT Honda HR-420E 2.0 L Turbo I4 64 Takuya IzawaAll Hiroki Otsu Team Kunimitsu Honda Honda NSX-GT Honda HR-420E 2.0 L Turbo I4 100 Naoki Yamamoto All Tadasuke Makino
GT300 TeamMakeCarEngineDriversTyreRounds Cars Tokai Dream28 Lotus Lotus Evora MC GT300 GTA V8 4.5 L V8 2 Hiroki Katoh All Masataka Yanagida Goodsmile Racing & Team UKYO Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8 4 Nobuteru Taniguchi All Tatsuya Kataoka Team Mach Toyota Toyota 86 MC GT300 GTA V8 4.5 L V8 5 Natsu Sakaguchi All Yuya Hiraki Advics muta Racing INGING Toyota Toyota 86 MC GT300 GTA V8 4.5 L V8 6 Ryohei Sakaguchi All Kazuto Kotaka1–6, 8 Yuui Tsutsumi7 BMW Team Studie × CSL BMW BMW M6 GT3 BMW S63B44 4.4 L Twin Turbo V8 7 Seiji Ara All Tomohide Yamaguchi Pacific - D'station Racing AMR Aston Martin Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Aston Martin M177 4.0 L Twin Turbo V8 9 Tomonobu Fujii All Kei Cozzolino1–4, 6–7 Takuro Shinohara5, 8 GAINERNissanNissan GT-R Nismo GT3 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 10 Kazuki HoshinoAll Keishi Ishikawa 11 Katsuyuki Hiranaka All Hironobu Yasuda Team UpGarage Honda Honda NSX GT3 Evo Honda JNC1 3.5 L Twin Turbo V6 18 Takashi Kobayashi All Kosuke Matsuura ARTA 55 Toshiki Oyu All Shinichi Takagi1–6 Nobuharu Matsushita7–8 Audi Team Hitotsuyama Audi Audi R8 LMS Evo Audi DAR 5.2 L V10 21 Shintaro Kawabata All Tsubasa Kondo R'Qs Motor SportsMercedes-AMGMercedes-AMG GT3Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8 22 Hisashi Wada 1–4, 6–8 Masaki Jyonai Arnage Racing 50 Masaki KanoAll Ryohei Yamashita1–4 Kizuku Hirota5, 7 Hideto Yasuoka6, 8 Hoppy Team Tsuchiya Max Racing Porsche Porsche 911 GT3 R Porsche M97/80 4.2 L F6 25 Takamitsu Matsui All Kimiya SatoLexusLexus RC F GT3Lexus 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8 244 Atsushi Miyake All Rintaro Kubo 1–7 Yuui Tsutsumi 8 apr Toyota Toyota GR Sport Prius PHV apr GT Toyota 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8 30 Hiroaki Nagai All Manabu Orido Toyota 2UR-GSE 5.4 L Hybrid V8 31 Koki Saga All Yuhki Nakayama X Works Audi Audi R8 LMS Evo Audi DAR 5.2 L V10 33 Shaun Thong All Takuro Shinohara1 Hiroyuki Matsumura2 Takeshi Kimura3–4 Kota Sasaki5–8 Modulo Drago CorseHondaHonda NSX GT3 Evo Honda JNC1 3.5 L Twin Turbo V6 34 Ryo MichigamiAll Jake Parsons arto Ping An Team ThailandLexusLexus RC F GT3 Lexus 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V835 Masahiro Sasaki2–5 Yuui Tsutsumi Sean Walkinshaw 6–8 Mathias Beche NILZZ RacingNissanNissan GT-R Nismo GT3 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 48 Taiyou IidaAll Yuki Tanaka1–5, 8 Yusaku Shibata6 Ryuichiro Tomita7 Saitama Toyopet Green Brave Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT300 Toyota 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8 52 Hiroki YoshidaAll Kohta Kawaai Kondo Racing Nissan Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 56 Kiyoto Fujinami All João Paulo de Oliveira LM Corsa Lexus Lexus RC F GT3 Lexus 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8 60 Hiroki Yoshimoto All Shunsuke Kohno R&D Sport Subaru Subaru BRZ R&D Sport Subaru EJ20 2.0 L Turbo F4 61 Takuto Iguchi All Hideki Yamauchi K2 R&D LEON Racing Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG GT3 EvoMercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8 65 Naoya Gamou All Togo Suganami JLOC Lamborghini Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo Lamborghini DGF 5.2 L V10 87 Tsubasa Takahashi All Shinnosuke Yamada 88 Takashi KogureAll Yuya Motojima K-tunes RacingLexusLexus RC F GT3Lexus 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8 96 Morio NittaAll Sena Sakaguchi1,3–8 Shigekazu Wakisaka2 Tomei Sports Nissan Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 360 Takayuki Aoki All Atsushi Tanaka1, 5, 8 Yusaku Shibata2–4 Takuya Otaki6–7
Vehicle changes
GT500 Class All GT500 vehicles will be prepared to the unified Class One technical regulations created by the GTA and the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters' sanctioning body, the ITR. The cars will feature a standard engine control unit (ECU) manufactured by Bosch, who joined Super GT as a sponsor of the series from 2020. After being represented by the Lexus brand from 2006 to 2019, Toyota will field the fifth-generation GR Supra in the GT500 Class, beginning in 2020. The GR Supra will be powered by the same Toyota RI4A powerplant used in its predecessors, the Lexus RC F, and the Lexus LC 500. To reflect the change, all six of Toyota's GT500 entries will carry the "TGR Team" prefix in their team names. After a change in the GT500 technical regulations that state that the engine must be mounted in front of the cockpit, Honda announced that they will field a front-engined version of the traditionally mid-engined NSX-GT in 2020. It will be the first Honda GT500 car with a front-engine layout since the HSV-010 GT raced from 2010 to 2013. Nissan will field an updated version of the GT-R NISMO GT500 in 2020.
GT300 Class Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave will field the fifth-generation Toyota GR Supra in the GT300 Class from 2020. Built to JAF-GT GT300 regulations, the GT300 GR Supra will be powered by Toyota's 5.4 litre 2UR-GSE V8 engine. On December 6, 2019, Tsuchiya Engineering announced a customer racing partnership with Porsche to field the latest 911 GT3-R in the 2020 season. X Works Racing will change from the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 to the Audi R8 LMS GT3 in 2020.
Entrant changes GT500 Class Honda: On January 10, 2020, Honda announced their Super GT Program. On October 29, 2019, 2018 GT500 Drivers' Champion Jenson Button announced that he would not return to race in Super GT in 2020. Tadasuke Makino, who drove for Nakajima Racing, transferred to Team Kunimitsu in 2020, in place of Button. Team Mugen driver Daisuke Nakajima announced that he retire from racing after 2019 season. Reigning Formula 3 Asian Championship and Porsche Carrera Cup Japan Champion, Ukyo Sasahara, joined Team Mugen to replace Nakajima. Red Bull have become the title sponsor of Team Mugen, beginning in 2020.