The 2022 Autobacs Super GT Series was a motor racing championship based in Japan for grand touring cars, sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and run by the GT Association (GTA). It was the thirtieth season of the JAF Super GT Championship which includes the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship era, and the eighteenth season under the Super GT name. It was also the fortieth overall season of a national JAF sportscar championship dating back to the All Japan Endurance/Sports Prototype Championship.
Team Impul won the GT500 championship for the first time since 1995, as Kazuki Hiramine and Bertrand Baguette won the Drivers' Championship. It was the first Teams' Championship for Impul since the inaugural 1994 season, and the first championship for the new Nissan Z GT500 which made its debut this season. In GT300, Kondo Racing, Kiyoto Fujinami, and João Paulo de Oliveira won their second set of Drivers' and Teams' Championships in three years.
Calendar
A confirmed eight round provisional 2022 calendar was announced on 6 August 2021. The calendar was updated on 20 October 2021, with the sixth round at Sportsland Sugo moving from the weekend of 10–11 September to 17–18 September, avoiding a clash of dates with the 2022 FIA WEC 6 Hours of Fuji. Distances for all events were confirmed on 5 March 2022: Rounds two and four at Fuji Speedway, and round five at Suzuka Circuit, were 450 kilometre races, while all other rounds were 300 kilometres.
Round Race Circuit Dates1Okayama GT 300 km RaceOkayama International Circuit16–17 April2FAV Hotel Fuji GT 450 km RaceFuji Speedway3–4 May3Takanokono Hotel Suzuka GT 300 km RaceSuzuka Circuit28–29 May4Fujimaki Group Fuji GT 100 Lap RaceFuji Speedway 6–7 August5Fujimaki Group Suzuka GT 450 km RaceSuzuka Circuit 27–28 August6Sugo GT 300 km RaceSportsland Sugo 17–18 September7FAV Hotel Autopolis GT 300 km RaceAutopolis1–2 October8Motegi GT 300 km RaceMobility Resort Motegi5–6 November
Teams and drivers All teams competed under a Japanese license.
GT500 TeamMakeCarEngineDriversTyreRounds NDDP Racing Nissan Nissan Z GT500 Nissan NR4S21 2.0 L Turbo I4 3 Katsumasa Chiyo All Mitsunori Takaboshi NISMO 23 Tsugio Matsuda All Ronnie QuintarelliARTA Honda Honda NSX-GT Honda HR-420E 2.0 L Turbo I4 8 Tomoki Nojiri All Nirei Fukuzumi Team Impul Nissan Nissan Z GT500 Nissan NR4S21 2.0 L Turbo I4 12 Kazuki Hiramine All Bertrand Baguette TGR Team Eneos ROOKIE Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT500 Toyota RI4AG 2.0 L Turbo I4 14 Kazuya Oshima All Kenta Yamashita Team Red Bull Mugen Honda Honda NSX-GT Honda HR-420E 2.0 L Turbo I4 16 Ukyo Sasahara All Toshiki Oyu Astemo REAL Racing Honda Honda NSX-GT Honda HR-420E 2.0 L Turbo I4 17 Koudai Tsukakoshi All Nobuharu Matsushita TGR Team WedsSport Bandoh Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT500 Toyota RI4AG 2.0 L Turbo I4 19 Yuji Kunimoto All Sena Sakaguchi Kondo Racing Nissan Nissan Z GT500 Nissan NR4S21 2.0 L Turbo I4 24 Daiki Sasaki All Kohei Hirate TGR Team au TOM'S Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT500 Toyota RI4AG 2.0 L Turbo I4 36 Sho Tsuboi All Giuliano Alesi TGR Team KeePer TOM'S 37 Sacha Fenestraz All Ritomo Miyata TGR Team ZENT Cerumo Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT500 Toyota RI4AG 2.0 L Turbo I4 38 Yuji Tachikawa All Hiroaki Ishiura TGR Team SARD Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT500 Toyota RI4AG 2.0 L Turbo I4 39 Yuhi Sekiguchi All Yuichi Nakayama Modulo Nakajima Racing Honda Honda NSX-GT Honda HR-420E 2.0 L Turbo I4 64 Takuya Izawa All Hiroki Otsu Team Kunimitsu Honda Honda NSX-GT Honda HR-420E 2.0 L Turbo I4 100 Naoki Yamamoto All Tadasuke Makino
GT300 TeamMakeCarEngineDriversTyreRounds muta Racing INGING Toyota GR Toyota GR86 GT300 Toyota 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8 2 Hiroki Katoh All Yuui Tsutsumi 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 Yusuke Tomibayashi All Reiji Hiraki Motoyama Racing with Team LeMans Audi Audi R8 LMS Evo II Audi DAR 5.2 L V10 6 Satoshi Motoyama 1 Yoshiaki Katayama 1 Team LeMans 2–8 Roberto Merhi Muntan 2–8 Shintaro Kawabata 2 BMW Team Studie × CSL BMW BMW M4 GT3 BMW P58 3.0 L Twin Turbo I6 7 Seiji Ara All Augusto Farfus 1–2, 4–6, 8 Tsubasa Kondo 2–3, 5, 7 Pacific CarGuy Racing Ferrari Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Twin Turbo V8 9 Kei Cozzolino All Naoki Yokomizo 1, 5 Takeshi Kimura2–4, 6–8 Shintaro Kawabata 4 GAINER Nissan Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 10 Riki Okusa All Ryuichiro Tomita 1–6, 8 Yusuke Shiotsu 2, 4–5, 7 11 Hironobu Yasuda All Keishi Ishikawa Team UpGarage Honda Honda NSX GT3 Evo22 Honda JNC1 3.5 L Twin Turbo V6 18 Takashi Kobayashi All Kakunoshin Ohta ARTA 55 Hideki Mutoh All Iori Kimura SHADE Racing Toyota GR Toyota GR86 GT300 Toyota 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8 20 Katsuyuki Hiranaka All Eijiro Shimizu Shinnosuke Yamada 5 R'Qs Motor SportsArnage Racing Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8 22 Hisashi Wada 1–2, 4–8 Masaki Jyonai Toyota Toyota 86 MC GT300 GTA V8 4.5 L V8 50 Ryohei Sakaguchi All Masaki Kano 1–2, 4–7 Takeshi Suehiro2, 4–5 Ryosei Yamashita 3, 8 Hoppy Team Tsuchiya Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT300 Toyota 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8 25 Takamitsu Matsui 1–3, 5–8 Seita Nonaka Max Racing 244 Kimiya Sato 2–8 Atsushi Miyake apr Toyota GR Toyota GR86 GT300 Toyota 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8 30 Manabu Orido All Hiroaki Nagai 1–4, 6–8 Hibiki Taira2, 4–5 Yuta Kamimura5 Toyota GR Sport Prius PHV apr GT Toyota 2UR-GSE 5.4 L Hybrid V8 31 Koki Saga All Yuhki Nakayama Kazuto Kotaka 4–5 Busou Drago Corse Nissan Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 34 Masataka Yanagida 1–3 Yuji Ide NILZZ Racing Nissan Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 48 Taiyo Ida All Yuki Tanaka 1–2, 4–8 Yuya Hiraki 3 Masaya Kohno 4–5 Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT300 Toyota 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8 52 Kohta Kawaai All Hiroki Yoshida 1, 3–8 Togo Suganami 2 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 Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT300 Toyota 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8 60 Hiroki Yoshimoto All Shunsuke Kohno R&D Sport Subaru Subaru BRZ GT300 (ZD8) Subaru EJ20 2.0 L Turbo F4 61 Takuto Iguchi All Hideki Yamauchi K2 R&D LEON Racing Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8 65 Naoya Gamou All Takuro Shinohara JLOC Lamborghini Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo Lamborghini DGF 5.2 L V10 87 Kosuke Matsuura All Natsu Sakaguchi 88 Takashi Kogure All Yuya Motojima K-tunes Racing Lexus Lexus RC F GT3 Lexus 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8 96 Morio Nitta All Shinichi Takagi Tomei Sports Nissan Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 360 Takayuki Aoki All Atsushi Tanaka 1–2, 4–5, 7 Yusaku Shibata 2–6 Teppei Natori 8
Vehicle changes GT500 Class After 14 seasons, Nissan replaced the Nissan GT-R Nismo GT500 with the new Nissan Z GT500 (RZ34). Nissan last used the Fairlady Z as their flagship GT500 vehicle from 2004 to 2007. Honda updated their NSX-GT race car, which is now styled after the limited edition Honda NSX Type S model.
GT300 Class Tsuchiya Engineering constructed their own version of the Toyota GR Supra to GT300 regulations, replacing their previous Porsche 911 GT3-R. apr launched the Toyota GR86 GT, constructed to GT300 specifications and based on the second-generation Toyota 86 (ZN8) model. apr's number 30 team and series newcomers SHADE Racing each field the car in 2022. Subsequently, muta Racing INGING announced that they also field the new Toyota GR86 GT, replacing their previous Lotus Evora MC. The new BMW M4 GT3 (G82) makes its Japanese racing debut via BMW Team Studie x CSL. Arnage Racing changed vehicles from the Mercedes-AMG GT3, to the Dome-constructed Toyota MC86. Drago Corse with their new collaboration with Busou (see Entrant Changes below), changed vehicles to the Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3. ARTA and Team UPGarage entered the upgraded Honda NSX GT3 Evo22. Team LeMans (Motoyama Racing with Team LeMans in Round 1) have the upgraded Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II.
Entrant changes
GT500 Class
Toyota: Toyota Gazoo Racing announced their GT500 class driver line-ups on 6 December 2021. Reigning GT500 champion Yuhi Sekiguchi transferred to TGR Team SARD, replacing 2016 champion Heikki Kovalainen, who announced on 30 November 2021 that he would not return to the series in 2022. Giuliano Alesi stepped up to GT500 and replaced Sekiguchi at TGR Team au TOM's. 2017 GT500 champion Ryo Hirakawa left the series after eight years to compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar with Toyota Gazoo Racing. To replace Hirakawa, Ritomo Miyata transferred to TGR Team KeePer TOM's after two seasons at TGR Team WedsSport Bandoh. Sena Sakaguchi, who split time between GT500 and GT300 classes in 2021, replaced Miyata at Team WedsSport Bandoh. Honda: Honda announced their Super GT driver line-ups on 14 January. Nobuharu Matsushita, who made his GT500 debut with Nissan in 2021, rejoined Honda as a factory driver and signed with Astemo Real Racing. Matsushita replaced Bertrand Baguette, who announced his departure from Honda on 1 December 2021. Nissan: NISMO announced their GT500 class drivers on 25 January 2022. Bertrand Baguette transferred to Nissan and joined Team Impul, taking the place of Honda-bound Nobuharu Matsushita. Mitsunori Takaboshi transferred from Kondo Racing to NDDP Racing, who were now wholly operated by NISMO. In exchange, two-time GT500 champion Kohei Hirate moved to Kondo Racing. GT300 Class
Audi Team Hitotsuyama and Toyota Team Thailand, who competed as arto Team Thailand in 2021, both announced that they would not take part in the 2022 Super GT season. Super Taikyu Series team SHADE Racing entered Super GT for the first time, with a Toyota GR86 GT300 riding on Dunlop tyres. Three-time GT300 championship runner-up Katsuyuki Hiranaka who had spent the previous 13 seasons at GAINER, and F4 Japanese Championship graduate Eijiro Shimizu were announced as the team's driver line-up. Takuro Shinohara transferred from Audi Team Hitotsuyama to K2 R&D LEON Racing, taking the place of Togo Suganami who switch to Super Formula Lights with B-Max Racing Team. ARTA saw two-time GT300 champion Shinichi Takagi and Ren Sato left the team, as Takagi moved to K-tunes Racing and Sato focus on Super Formula career. The team signed 2013 GT300 champion Hideki Mutoh, and Japanese F4 graduate Iori Kimura. Another Japanese F4 graduate, Kakunoshin Ohta, joined Team UpGarage, replacing reigning Super Formula Lights champion Teppei Natori. GAINER saw Kazuki Hoshino and Katsuyuki Hiranaka leaves the team as Hoshino retires and become Team Impul team principal, and Hiranaka moves to new team Shade Racing. The team signed Ryuichiro Tomita who previously raced for the team between 2015 and 2017 and Formula Regional Japanese Championship graduate Riki Okusa to drive their number 10 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3. Formula Regional Japan driver Yusuke Shiotsu signed as the number 10 team's third driver. Keishi Ishikawa moved into their number 11 Nissan. Two-time GT300 champion Shinichi Takagi joined K-tunes Racing from ARTA, replacing GT500-bound Sena Sakaguchi. Takagi reuniting with three-time GT300 champion Morio Nitta in a driver pairing for the first time since 2010. BMW Team Studie × CSL changed to Michelin tyres for the 2022 season, the first GT300 team to use Michelin tyres since 2020. Studie announced BMW factory driver Augusto Farfus as one of their main drivers for 2022. GT300 race winner and reigning Super Taikyu ST-X class champion Tsubasa Kondo was signed as a third driver for the 450 km races, and replaced Farfus for the third round at Suzuka and at Autopolis. Yuui Tsutsumi, a first time race winner in 2021, transferred from Max Racing to muta Racing INGING. Reigning FIA F4 Japanese Champion, Seita Nonaka, joined Hoppy Team Tsuchiya in their new Toyota GR Supra.