The 2024 Autobacs Super GT Series was a motor racing championship based in Japan for grand touring cars. The series sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and run by the GT Association (GTA). It was the thirty-second season of the JAF Super GT Championship, which includes the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship era, and the twentieth season under the Super GT name. It is also the forty-second overall season of a national JAF sportscar championship dating back to the All Japan Endurance/Sports Prototype Championship.
TGR Team au TOM'S and driver Sho Tsuboi entered the season as the defending champions of the GT500 class. Saitama Green Brave, formerly known as Saitama Toyopet Green Brave, and driver Hiroki Yoshida entered as the defending GT300 class champions.
This was the final season for four-time GT500 champion, Ronnie Quintarelli, who announced his retirement at the end of the season.
TGR Team au TOM'S won the championship in the GT500 class for a consecutive year, with Sho Tsuboi and Kenta Yamashita won the Drivers' Championship. In the GT300 class, JLOC, Takashi Kogure and Yuya Motojima won the Teams' and Drivers' Championship which were their first maiden title in the series.
Calendar A confirmed eight round provisional 2024 calendar was announced on 3 August 2023. On 3 October 2023, it was announced that the seventh round at Autopolis would be moved back two weeks to 19–20 October, in order to eliminate a clash of dates with the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix.
On 29 February 2024, distances for all rounds were confirmed. The Golden Week race at Fuji Speedway, the Spring race at Suzuka Circuit, and the penultimate race at Autopolis will be three-hour timed races, the first championship races to be run to a timed format. The Summer races at Fuji and Suzuka will be 350 kilometres long. On 28 August 2024, it was announced that the 2nd Suzuka round was postponed to 7–8 December due to the threat of Typhoon Shanshan, followed by an 21 October 2024 announcement the race will be reduced from 61 laps (350 km) to 52 laps (300 km)with an earlier (12.40) start featuring a time certain finish of 15.30 if the 52 laps cannot be completed by then.
Round Race Circuit Location Support bill Dates Map 1 Okayama GT 300 km Race Okayama International Circuit Mimasaka, Okayama Prefecture 14 April 2 Fuji GT 3 Hours Race Fuji Speedway Oyama, Shizuoka Prefecture F4 Japanese ChampionshipPorsche Carrera Cup Japan 4 May 3 Suzuka GT 3 Hours Race Suzuka Circuit Suzuka, Mie Prefecture F4 Japanese Championship 2 June 4 Fuji GT 350 km Race Fuji Speedway Oyama, Shizuoka Prefecture F4 Japanese ChampionshipPorsche Carrera Cup Japan 4 August 5 Sugo GT 300 km Race Sportsland Sugo Murata, Miyagi Prefecture F4 Japanese Championship 22 September 6 Autopolis GT 3 Hours Race Autopolis Hita, Oita Prefecture F4 Japanese Championship 20 October 7 Motegi GT 300 km Race Mobility Resort Motegi Motegi, Tochigi Prefecture F4 Japanese Championship 3 November 8 Suzuka GT 300 km Race Suzuka Circuit Suzuka, Mie Prefecture F4 Japanese Championship 8 December
Regulation changes The GTA confirmed several changes for the 2024 Super GT season.
Aggregate qualifying format Super GT introduced a new aggregate qualifying system on 9 February, replacing the knockout format which had been used since 2013.
Under the new format, the grids in GT500 and GT300 will be determined by the combined Q1 and Q2 times of each team's two nominated drivers. Each team is only allowed to use one set of tyres throughout Q1 and Q2, and must start the race on the same set of tyres. Teams that don't participate in qualifying, fail to set a time in both qualifying sessions, or fail to meet the 107% minimum time after Q2 will have to start the race from the pits. Points will now be awarded to the top three qualifiers in each class. The pole-winning team and drivers now earn three points, while second place earns two points and third place earns one point. Pole position will be credited to both drivers on the pole-winning team that run in qualifying.
On 12 March, a follow-up bulletin would detail the changes made to GT300 qualifying:
Similar to recent years, the GT300 field would be split into two groups for Q1 based on the most recent Teams' Championship standings, with odd number-ranked teams in Group A and even number-ranked teams in Group B. A pre-event lottery would determine which group goes first in Q1. After both Q1 groups have run, the cars would be regrouped for Q2. The top eight cars in each Q1 group will go into Q2 Group 1, and the cars that finished outside the top eight in each group would go into Q2 Group 2. Once Group 2 and Group 1 have run, the final grid order will be determined based on these final groupings: Positions 1-12: Top 12 combined times in Q2 Group 1. Positions 13-20: Combined times of the top four in Q2 Group 2 and bottom four in Q2 Group 1. Positions 21-27: Combined times of the remaining cars that finished fifth or lower in Q2 Group 2. In the event of rain, the GT300 grid will be determined from Q2 times only.
Other changes Beginning in 2024, GT300 teams will use 50 percent renewable carbon-neutral synthetic fuel supplied by ETS Racing Fuels.
Teams will only be allocated four sets of dry tyres for 300 kilometre races, down from five sets in 2023. Five sets of dry tyres will be available for 350 km events, and six sets of tyres will be available in three-hour timed events.
GT300 success ballast has been reduced to a maximum of 100 kilogrammes to just 80 kg. GT300 teams will now receive two kilogrammes of Success Weight per drivers' championship point scored from rounds one through six. There is a limit of 50 points (100 kg).
To reduce cornering speeds, the GTA implemented new technical directives in both class. In GT500, the minimum ride height has been raised by 5 millimetres by increasing the thickness of the skid block. In GT300, all cars will carry a predetermined amount of additional ballast weight, between 33 and 52 kg. This additional weight is distinct from the weight assigned to each car as part of the balance of performance.
Teams and drivers
GT500 Team Make Car Engine Drivers Tyre Rounds NISMO NDDP Nissan Nissan Z NISMO GT500 Nissan NR4S24 2.0 L Turbo I4 3 Mitsunori Takaboshi All Atsushi Miyake NISMO 23 Katsumasa Chiyo All Ronnie Quintarelli ARTA Honda Honda Civic Type R-GT Honda HR-420E 2.0 L Turbo I48 Tomoki Nojiri All Nobuharu Matsushita16 Hiroki Otsu All Ren Sato Team Impul Nissan Nissan Z NISMO GT500 Nissan NR4S24 2.0 L Turbo I412 Kazuki Hiramine All Bertrand Baguette TGR Team ENEOS ROOKIE Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT500 Toyota RI4BG 2.0 L Turbo I4 14 Kazuya Oshima All Nirei Fukuzumi Astemo Real Racing Honda Honda Civic Type R-GT Honda HR-420E 2.0 L Turbo I4 17 Koudai Tsukakoshi All Kakunoshin Ohta TGR Team WedsSport Bandoh Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT500 Toyota RI4BG 2.0 L Turbo I419 Yuji Kunimoto All Sena Sakaguchi Kondo Racing Nissan Nissan Z NISMO GT500 Nissan NR4S24 2.0 L Turbo I424 Tsugio Matsuda All Teppei Natori TGR Team au TOM'S Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT500 Toyota RI4BG 2.0 L Turbo I436 Sho Tsuboi All Kenta Yamashita TGR Team Deloitte TOM'S37 Ukyo Sasahara All Giuliano Alesi TGR Team KeePer Cerumo Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT500 Toyota RI4BG 2.0 L Turbo I438 Hiroaki Ishiura All Toshiki Oyu TGR Team SARD Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT500 Toyota RI4BG 2.0 L Turbo I439 Yuhi Sekiguchi All Yuichi Nakayama Modulo Nakajima Racing Honda Honda Civic Type R-GT Honda HR-420E 2.0 L Turbo I4 64 Takuya Izawa All Riki Okusa Stanley Team Kunimitsu Honda Honda Civic Type R-GT Honda HR-420E 2.0 L Turbo I4 100 Naoki Yamamoto All Tadasuke Makino
GT300 Team Make Car Engine Drivers Tyre Rounds muta Racing INGING Toyota GR Toyota GR86 GT300 Toyota 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8 2 Yuui Tsutsumi All Hibiki Taira Goodsmile Racing & TeamUKYO 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 Kiyoto Fujinami All Yusuke Shiotsu Team LeMans Ferrari Ferrari 296 GT3 Ferrari F163CE 3.0 L Twin Turbo V6 6 Yoshiaki Katayama All Roberto Merhi Muntan BMW M Team Studie × CRS BMW BMW M4 GT3 BMW P58 3.0 L Twin Turbo I6 7 Seiji Ara All Niklas Krütten Bruno Spengler 2–4, 6, 8 Pacific Racing Team Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8 9 Ryohei Sakaguchi All Yusuke Tomibayashi Yuta Fujiwara 2–4, 6, 8 GAINER Nissan Nissan Fairlady Z GT300 (RZ34) Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 11 Ryuichiro Tomita All Keishi Ishikawa Kazuki Oki 8 PONOS Racing Ferrari Ferrari 296 GT3 Ferrari F163CE 3.0 L Twin Turbo V6 45 Kei Cozzolino All Lilou Wadoux Team UpGarage Honda Honda NSX GT3 Evo22 Honda JNC1 3.5 L Twin Turbo V6 18 Takashi Kobayashi All Syun Koide Yusuke Mitsui 2–4, 6, 8 SHADE Racing Toyota GR Toyota GR86 GT300 Toyota 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8 20 Katsuyuki Hiranaka All Eijiro Shimizu R'Qs Motor Sports Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8 22 Hisashi Wada All Masaki Kano 1–2, 6, 8 Masaki Jyonai 2–3, 5, 7 Miki Koyama 3–4, 6 Anest Iwata Racing with Arnage Lexus Lexus RC F GT3 Lexus 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8 50 Igor Omura Fraga All Yuga Furutani Hoppy Team Tsuchiya Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT300 Toyota 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8 25 Takamitsu Matsui All Togo Suganami 1–4, 6–8 Kimiya Sato 2–6, 8 apr Toyota GR Toyota GR86 GT300 Toyota 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8 30 Rikuto Kobayashi All Hiroaki Nagai 1–6, 8 Manabu Orido 2–4, 6–8 Lexus Lexus LC 500h GT300 Lexus 2UR-GSE 5.4 L Hybrid V8 31 Kazuto Kotaka All Jin Nakamura Yuki Nemoto 2–4, 6, 8 NILZZ Racing Nissan Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 48 Taiyo Ida All Yusaku Shibata 1–3, 5–7 Takumi Sanada 2–4, 6, 8 Takashi Ito 4, 8 Saitama Green Brave Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT300 Toyota 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8 52 Hiroki Yoshida All Seita Nonaka Kondo Racing Nissan Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 56 Daiki Sasaki 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 Reimei Ito 8 R&D Sport Subaru Subaru BRZ GT300 (ZD8) Subaru EJ20 2.0 L Turbo F4 61 Takuto Iguchi All Hideki Yamauchi HELM Motorsports Nissan Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 62 Kohei Hirate All Yuya Hiraki Reiji Hiraki 2–4, 6, 8 K2 R&D LEON Racing Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8 65 Naoya Gamou All Takuro Shinohara Haruki Kurosawa 2–4, 6, 8 JLOC Lamborghini Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 Lamborghini DGF 5.2 L V10 87 Kosuke Matsuura All Natsu Sakaguchi Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 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 1–7 Takuya Otaki 1–6, 8 Rin Arakawa 2–4, 7–8 Atsushi Tanaka 6, 8 D'station Racing Aston Martin Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo Aston Martin AMR16A 4.0 L Twin Turbo V8 777 Tomonobu Fujii All Marco Sørensen 1 Charlie Fagg 2–8
Vehicle changes GT500 Honda Racing Corporation introduced the new Civic Type R-GT in 2024, replacing the second-generation NSX-GT that has run for 7 years. Nissan Motorsports & Customizing introduced a new version of the Nissan Z GT500, the Nissan Z NISMO GT500, based on its road-going production variant.
GT300 Team LeMans entered a new Ferrari 296 GT3, replacing its previous Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II which had raced for three seasons. GAINER developed a new version of the Nissan Fairlady Z built to the GTA-GT300 vehicle regulations, replacing the number 11 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 that had raced since 2018. The car was revealed ahead of the opening round at Okayama and made its race debut at the Fuji 3 Hours. The former number 10 GAINER Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 was replaced by the number 45 Ferrari 296 GT3 entered by PONOS Racing. (see Entrant changes below).
Entrant changes