The 2008 Autobacs Super GT Series was the sixteenth season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship including the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era and the fourth season as the Super GT series. It marked as well as the twenty-sixth season of a JAF-sanctioned sports car racing championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. It is a series for Grand Touring race cars divided into two categories: GT500 and GT300. This was the first season for the new R35 GT-R, replacing the Z which had been used for all GT500 Nissan teams from 2004-2007. The season began on March 15 and ended on November 9, 2008 after 9 races.
Drivers and teams
GT500 Team Make Car Engine Drivers Tyre Rounds Autobacs Racing Team Aguri Honda Honda NSX GT500 Honda C32B 3.5 L V6 1 Ralph Firman All Takuya Izawa All Hasemi Motorsport Nissan Nissan GT-R GT500 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 3 Ronnie Quintarelli All Naoki Yokomizo AllENEOS Toyota Team LeMans Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus 3UZ-FE 4.5 L V8 6 Daisuke Ito 1–4, 9 Björn Wirdheim All Akira Iida 5–8 Roberto Streit 6 Team Impul Nissan Nissan GT-R GT500 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 12 Tsugio Matsuda 1–4, 6–9 Sébastien Philippe All Dominik Schwager 5 Real Racing with Leon Honda Honda NSX GT500 Honda C32B 3.5 L V6 17 Katsutomo Kaneishi All Toshihiro Kaneishi All Koudai Tsukakoshi 6 Dome Racing Team Honda Honda NSX GT500 Honda C32B 3.5 L V6 18 Ryō Michigami All Takashi Kogure All Nismo Nissan Nissan GT-R GT500 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 22 Michael Krumm All Masataka Yanagida All Dominik Schwager 6 23 Satoshi Motoyama All Benoît Tréluyer All Fabio Carbone 6 Kondo Racing Nissan Nissan GT-R GT500 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 24 João Paulo de Oliveira All Seiji Ara All Toyota Team Tsuchiya Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus 3UZ-FE 4.5 L V8 25 Takeshi Tsuchiya All Hiroaki Ishiura AllNakajima Racing Honda Honda NSX GT500 Honda C32B 3.5 L V6 32 Loïc Duval All Katsuyuki Hiranaka AllHouzan Toyota Team Kraft Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus 3UZ-FE 4.5 L V8 35 Peter Dumbreck All Tatsuya Kataoka All Shigekazu Wakisaka 6Petronas Toyota Team TOM'S Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus 3UZ-FE 4.5 L V8 36 Juichi Wakisaka All André Lotterer All Carlo van Dam 6 ZENT Toyota Team Cerumo Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus 3UZ-FE 4.5 L V8 38 Yuji Tachikawa All Richard Lyons AllToyota Team SARD Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus 3UZ-FE 4.5 L V8 39 Toranosuke Takagi All André Couto All Koki Saga 6 Team Kunimitsu Honda Honda NSX GT500 Honda C32B 3.5 L V6 100 Yuji Ide All Shinya Hosokawa All Kosuke Matsuura 6
GT300 Team Make Car Engine Drivers Tyre Rounds Cars Tokai Dream28 Mooncraft Mooncraft Shiden Toyota 1UZ-FE 4.4 L V8 2 Kazuho Takahashi All Hiroki Katoh All Hiroki Yoshimoto 6 Team Uematsu Nova Vemac Vemac RD320R Honda C32B 3.4 L V6 4 Ryohei Sakaguchi All Masaki Matsushita All Tadao Uematsu 6Vemac RD350R Zytek ZV348 3.9 L V8 16 Tadao Uematsu 1, 3, 9 Katsuhiko Tsutsui 1, 3, 9 Team Mach Vemac Vemac RD320R Honda C32B 3.4 L V6 5 Tetsuji Tamanaka All Naoya Yamano 1–7, 9 Katsuhiko Tsutsui 6, 8 RE Amemiya Racing Mazda Mazda RX-7 Mazda RE20B 2.0 L 3-rotor 7 Hiroyuki Iiri All Ryo Orime All Hiroyuki Matsumura 6A&S Racing Chevrolet Chevrolet Corvette Chevrolet LS1 6.0 L V8 9 Tatsuya Tanigawa 3, 6, 8 Hirofumi Takei 3, 6, 8 Takayuki Matsumoto 6Jim Gainer RacingFerrariFerrari F430 Ferrari F136E 4.3 L V8 11 Tetsuya Tanaka All Masayuki Ueda AllRacing Project Bandoh Toyota Toyota Celica Toyota 3S-GTE 2.0 L Turbo I4 19 Manabu Orido 1–3 Tsubasa Abe 1–3 Lexus Lexus IS350 Lexus RV8J 3.4 L V8 Manabu Orido 4–9 Tsubasa Abe 4–9 Yuhi Sekiguchi 6Team Taisan with NishizawaPorschePorsche 996 GT3-RS Porsche M96/77 3.6 L F6 26 Nobuteru Taniguchi All Shinichi Yamaji 1–8 Keita Sawa 6 Dominik Farnbacher 9 Team ShadowPorschePorsche 996 GT3-RSR Porsche M96/73 3.6 L F6 27 Takashi Inoue 1, 3, 6–7, 9 Hwang Jin Woo 1, 3, 6–7 Yasuhiro Takasaki 6 Koji Aoyama 9apr Toyota Toyota MR-S Toyota 2GR-FSE 3.5 L V6 31 Kyosuke Mineo 1–5, 7–9 Yuya Sakamoto 1–5, 7–9 95 Kohei Hirate 1–5, 8–9 Keisuke Kunimoto All Yuya Sakamoto 6 Kazuya Oshima 6 Hideki Yamauchi 7 Hankook KTRPorschePorsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche M97/80 3.8 L F6 33 Mitsuhiro Kinoshita All Masami Kageyama AllAutobacs Racing Team Aguri ASL ASL ARTA Garaiya Nissan VQ35DE 3.5 L V6 43 Morio Nitta All Shinichi Takagi All Kyosuke Mineo 6MOLA Nissan Nissan Fairlady Z Nissan VQ35DE 3.5 L V6 46 Kazuki Hoshino All Hironobu Yasuda All Team Takeuchi with ShiftLexusLexus IS350 Lexus RV8J 3.4 L V8 52 Takuya Kurosawa 3–9 Takuto Iguchi 3–9 Hideki Yamauchi 6 Willcom R&D Sport Vemac Vemac RD408R Mugen MF458S 4.5 L V8 62 Shinsuke Shibahara 1, 5–9 Haruki Kurosawa All Shogo Mitsuyama 2–4, 6 JLOC Lamborghini Lamborghini Murciélago RG-1 Lamborghini L535 6.0 L V12 66 Koji Yamanishi All Atsushi Yogo AllLamborghini Gallardo RG-3Lamborghini 07L1 5.0 L V10 87 Hisashi Wada All Muneyuki Kurihara All Yoshihisa Namekata 6 88 Hideshi Matsuda All Naohiro Furuya All Yuya Sakamoto 6Team GaikokuyaPorschePorsche 996 GT3-RSPorsche M96/77 3.6 L F6 70 Takehide Maeda 1 Yutaka Yamagishi 1–7, 9 Akazame Oyaji 2–3 Yoshimi Ishibashi 4–7 Kazuyoshi Takamizawa 6, 9Cusco Racing Subaru Subaru Impreza WRX STI Subaru EJ20 2.0 L Turbo F4 77 Tetsuya Yamano All Kota Sasaki 1–7 Carlo van Dam 8–9Team Daishin Nissan Nissan Fairlady Z Nissan VQ35DE 3.5 L V6 81 Takayuki Aoki All Tomonobu Fujii AllArktech MotorsportsPorschePorsche 986 BoxsterPorsche M96/77 3.6 L F6 110 Hidetoshi Mitsusada All Daisuke Ikeda All 111 Hiroshi Koizumi 1–6 Guts Jyonai 1 Tsubasa Kurosawa2–6 Paul Ip6Tomei SportsPorschePorsche 996 GT3-RSPorsche M96/77 3.6 L F6 118 Takashi Miyamoto 1, 3, 6–9 Takashi Ohi 1 Masayuki Kurihara 3, 6–7 Guts Jyonai6, 8–9 Avanzza Rosso Vemac Vemac RD320R Honda C32B 3.5 L V6 666 Shogo Suho 1–3, 5–9 Junichiro Yamashita 1–3, 5–9 Takamori.com 6Studie & Glad with Asada Racing BMW BMW Z4 M Coupe BMW S62B50 4.9 L V8 808 Yasushi Kikuchi 6–7, 9 Shozo Tagahara 6–7, 9
Schedule Round Race Circuit Date 1 Suzuka GT 300 km Suzuka Circuit March 16 2 Okayama GT 300 km Okayama International Circuit April 13 3 Fuji GT 500 km Fuji Speedway May 4 4 Super GT International Series Malaysia Sepang International Circuit June 22 5 SUGO GT 300 km Sportsland SUGO July 27 6 International POKKA 1000km Suzuka Circuit August 24 7 Motegi GT 300 km Twin Ring Motegi September 14 8 Autopolis GT 300 km Autopolis October 19 9 Fuji GT 300 km Fuji Speedway November 9
Season Winners
Rd Circuit GT500 Winning Team GT300 Winning Team GT500 Winning Drivers GT300 Winning Drivers 1 Suzuka #23 Xanavi Nismo GT-R #7 ORC Amemiya SGC-7 Satoshi Motoyama Benoît Tréluyer Hiroyuki Iiri Ryo Orime 2 Okayama #23 Xanavi Nismo GT-R #43 ARTA Garaiya Satoshi Motoyama Benoît Tréluyer Morio Nitta Shinichi Takagi 3 Mt. Fuji #38 ZENT Cerumo SC430 #95 Lightning McQueen apr MR-S Yuji Tachikawa Richard Lyons Kohei Hirate Keisuke Kunimoto 4 Kuala Lumpur #24 Woodone ADVAN Clarion GT-R #77 Cusco Dunlop Subaru Impreza João Paulo de Oliveira Seiji Ara Tetsuya Yamano Kouta Sasaki 5 Sportsland SUGO #18 Takata DOME NSX #43 ARTA Garaiya Ryō Michigami Takashi Kogure Morio Nitta Shinichi Takagi 6 SuzukaReport #12 Calsonic IMPUL GT-R #46 MOLA LEOPALACE Z Tsugio Matsuda Sebastien Philippe Kazuki Hoshino Hironobu Yasuda 7 Motegi #3 Yellow Hat YMS Tomica GT-R #19 WedsSport IS350 Ronnie Quintarelli Naoki Yokomizo Manabu Orido Tsubasa Abe 8 Autopolis #23 Xanavi Nismo GT-R #81 Daishin Advan Z Satoshi Motoyama Benoît Tréluyer Takayuki Aoki Tomonobu Fujii 9 Mt. Fuji #12 Calsonic IMPUL GT-R #26 Yunker-Power Taisan Porsche 996 GT3 Tsugio Matsuda Sebastien Philippe Nobuteru Taniguchi Dominik Farnbacher
Standings
GT500 Drivers Scoring system Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Points 20 15 11 8 6 5 4 3 2 1 Qualifying 3 2 1 Fastest lap 1 1 1 Only the best four results in the first six races would be counted for the championship. There were no points awarded for pole position and fastest lap in the final race. RankDriverSUZOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZMOTAUTFUJPTS1 (#23 Xanavi Nismo GT-R) Satoshi Motoyama Benoît Tréluyer1114131481219762 (#38 ZENT Toyota Team Cerumo SC430) Yuji Tachikawa Richard Lyons471Ret3994272 3 (#36 Petronas Toyota Team TOM'S SC430) Juichi Wakisaka André Lotterer3427103387634 (#12 Calsonic Team Impul Nismo GT-R) Sébastien PhilippeRet29141211110161 5 (#12 Calsonic Team Impul Nismo GT-R) Tsugio Matsuda (Only attempted rounds 1–4, 6–9)Ret2914 111101616 (#18 Takata Dome Honda NSX) Ryō Michigami Takashi Kogure712331128714607 (#22 Motul Nismo GT-R) Michael Krumm Masataka Yanagida215152134751157 8 (#1 Autobacs Racing Team Aguri Honda NSX) Ralph Firman Takuya Izawa143Ret1115132312499 (#35 Houzan Toyota Team Kraft Lexus SC430) Peter Dumbreck Tatsuya Kataoka6651021061564510 (#32 Nakajima Racing Epson Honda NSX) Loïc Duval Katsuyuki Hiranaka1057RetRet115244311 (#100 Team Kunimitsu Raybrig Honda NSX) Yuji Ide Shinya Hosokawa 1394552169Ret4112 (#3 Hasemi Motorsport Yellow Hat YMS Tomica Nismo GT-R) Ronnie Quintarelli Naoki Yokomizo1510159115161339 13 (#6 ENEOS Toyota Team LeMans Lexus SC430) Björn Wirdheim913687641433914 (#24 Kondo Racing Clarion Nismo GT-R) João Paulo de Oliveira Seiji Ara58111871416153415 (#25 Toyota Team Tsuchiya Lexus SC430) Takeshi Tsuchiya Hiroaki Ishiura111184414101282316 (#6 ENEOS Toyota Team LeMans Lexus SC430) Daisuke Ito (Only attempted round 1–4, 9)9136832117 (#6 ENEOS Toyota Team LeMans Lexus SC430) Akira Iida (only attempted rounds 5–8)764142018 (#100 Team Kunimitsu Raybrig Honda NSX) Kosuke Matsuura (only attempted round 6) 2 1919 (#17 Real Racing with Leon Honda NSX) Katsutomo Kaneishi Toshihiro Kaneishi8161069Ret1511Ret1620 (#36 Petronas Toyota Team TOM'S SC430) Carlo van Dam (only attempted round 6)31121 (#39 Toyota Team SARD Lexus SC430) Toranosuke Takagi André Couto12141312615131351122 (#12 Calsonic Team Impul Nismo GT-R) Dominik Schwager (only attempted round 5)1241023 (#6 ENEOS Toyota Team LeMans Lexus SC430) Roberto Streit (only attempted round 6)6524 (#23 Xanavi Nismo GT-R) Fabio Carbone (only attempted round 6)8325 (#23 Real Racing with Leon Honda NSX) Koudai Tsukakoshi (only attempted round 6) Ret 1RankDriverSUZOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZMOTAUTFUJPTS
Teams' standings RankTeamNo.SUZOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZMOTAUTFUJPts. 1 Petronas Toyota Team TOM'S 363427103387 942 ZENT Toyota Team Cerumo 38471Ret39942 93 3 Nismo 231114131481219 864 Team Impul 12Ret291412111101 78 5 Dome Racing Team 18712331128714 756 Nismo 222151221347511 69 7 Houzan Toyota Team Kraft 35665102106156 68 8 Eneos Toyota Team LeMans 691368764143 64 9 Team Kunimitsu 1001394552169Ret 60 10 Nakajima Racing 321057RetRet11524 60 11 Kondo Racing 245811187141615 56 12 Autobacs Racing Team Aguri 1143Ret1115132312 5413 Hasemi Motorsport 315101591151613 53 14 Toyota Team Tsuchiya 2511118441410128 44 15 Real Racing with LEON 178161069Ret151110 3016 Toyota Team SARD391214131261513135 29RankTeamNo.SUZOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZMOTAUTFUJPts.
GT300 Drivers' championship