The 2016 Autobacs Super GT Series was the twenty-fourth season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship including the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era, and the twelfth season under the name Super GT. It was the thirty-fourth overall season of a national JAF sportscar championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. The season began on April 10 and ended on November 13, after 8 races.
Schedule
Round Race Circuit Date 1 Okayama GT300 km Okayama International Circuit April 10 2 Fuji GT 500 km Fuji Speedway May 4 3 Sugo GT300 km Sportsland SUGO July 24 4 Fuji GT 300 km Fuji Speedway August 7 5 45th International Suzuka 1000km1000 km Suzuka Circuit August 28 6 Buriram United Super GT Race300 km Chang International Circuit October 9 7 Motegi GT250 km I Twin Ring Motegi November 12 8 Motegi GT250 km II November 13
Calendar changes The Super GT in Kyushu 300km at Autopolis was scheduled for May 22nd as the third round of the season but was subsequently cancelled in the aftermath of the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes. On May 20, series organizers announced that the final weekend at Twin Ring Motegi would host two 250 kilometer races, with the race on Saturday being promoted as "Round 3" of the championship as it replaces the Autopolis race. The SUGO GT 300km was brought forward to July from its previous date in September. The overseas round at Buriram, Thailand was moved from its 2015 date of June to October. The series first visited the circuit in October 2014.
Drivers and teams
GT500 Team Make Car Engine Drivers Tyre Rounds Nismo Nissan Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 Nissan NR20A 2.0 L Turbo I4 1 Tsugio Matsuda All Ronnie Quintarelli All Lexus Team LeMans Lexus Lexus RC F GT500 Lexus RI4AG 2.0 L Turbo I4 6 Andrea Caldarelli All Kazuya Oshima All Autobacs Racing Team Aguri Honda Honda NSX Concept-GT Honda HR-414E 2.0 L Turbo I4 8 Kosuke Matsuura All Tomoki Nojiri All Team Impul Nissan Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 Nissan NR20A 2.0 L Turbo I4 12 João Paulo de Oliveira All Hironobu Yasuda All Drago Modulo Honda Racing Honda Honda NSX Concept-GT Honda HR-414E 2.0 L Turbo I4 15 Hideki Mutoh All Oliver Turvey 1–2, 4–6 Tadasuke Makino 3, 7–8 Keihin Real Racing Honda Honda NSX Concept-GT Honda HR-414E 2.0 L Turbo I4 17 Takashi Kogure All Koudai Tsukakoshi All Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh Lexus Lexus RC F GT500 Lexus RI4AG 2.0 L Turbo I4 19 Yuji Kunimoto All Yuhi Sekiguchi All Kondo Racing Nissan Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 Nissan NR20A 2.0 L Turbo I4 24 Daiki Sasaki All Masataka Yanagida All Lexus Team TOM'S Lexus Lexus RC F GT500 Lexus RI4AG 2.0 L Turbo I4 36 Nick Cassidy All Daisuke Ito All 37 Ryō Hirakawa All James Rossiter All Lexus Team Cerumo Lexus Lexus RC F GT500 Lexus RI4AG 2.0 L Turbo I4 38 Hiroaki Ishiura All Yuji Tachikawa All Lexus Team SARD Lexus Lexus RC F GT500 Lexus RI4AG 2.0 L Turbo I4 39 Kohei Hirate All Heikki Kovalainen All Nissan Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 Nissan NR20A 2.0 L Turbo I4 46 Satoshi Motoyama All Katsumasa Chiyo 1–4, 6–8 Mitsunori Takaboshi 5 Nakajima Racing Honda Honda NSX Concept-GT Honda HR-414E 2.0 L Turbo I4 64 Bertrand Baguette All Daisuke Nakajima All Team Kunimitsu Honda Honda NSX Concept-GT Honda HR-414E 2.0 L Turbo I4 100 Takuya Izawa All Naoki Yamamoto All
GT300 Team Make Car Engine Drivers Tyre Rounds GAINER Nissan Nissan GT-R GT3 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 0 André Couto All Ryuichiro Tomita All Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG GT3 Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8 11 Katsuyuki Hiranaka All Björn Wirdheim All Lotus Lotus Evora MC GT300 GTA V8 4.5 L V8 2 Hiroki Katoh All Kazuho Takahashi All Tadasuke Makino6 NDDP Racing Nissan Nissan GT-R GT3 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 3 Kazuki Hoshino All Jann Mardenborough All Goodsmile Racing & Team Ukyo Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG GT3 Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8 4 Tatsuya Kataoka All Nobuteru Taniguchi All Team Mach Toyota Toyota 86 MC GT300 GTA V8 4.5 L V8 5 Tetsuji Tamanaka 1–3, 6, 8 Junichirō Yamashita 1–2, 4–6 Masami Kageyama 2, 3–6, 8 BMW Team Studie BMW BMW M6 GT3 BMW P63 4.4 L Twin Turbo V8 7 Seiji Ara All Jörg Müller All Augusto Farfus 6 Gulf Racing with Pacific Porsche Porsche 911 GT3 R Porsche M97/80 4.0 L F6 9 Ryohei Sakaguchi All Hiroki Yoshida All Dylan Derdaele 2 Team with Bandoh Toyota Toyota 86 MC GT300 GTA V8 4.5 L V8 18 Yuhki Nakayama All Shinnosuke Yamada All Audi Sport Team Hitotsuyama Audi Audi R8 LMS Audi DAR 5.2 L V10 21 Tomonobu Fujii All Richard Lyons All R'Qs Motor Sports Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 Mercedes-Benz M159 6.2 L V8 22 Masaki Jyonai All Hisashi Wada All Tohjirō Azuma6 VivaC Team Tsuchiya Toyota Toyota 86 MC GT300 GTA V8 4.5 L V8 25 Takamitsu Matsui All Takeshi Tsuchiya All Kenta Yamashita 6 Team Taisan SARD Audi Audi R8 LMS ultra (Rd. 1) Audi R8 LMS (Rd. 2-6, 8) Audi DAR 5.2 L V10 26 1–2, 4–6 Yuya Motojima 1–6, 8 Tsubasa Kondo3, 8 Shinji Nakano6 Vattana Motorsport BMW BMW M6 GT3 BMW P63 4.4 L Twin Turbo V8 28 7 Morgan Haber 7 apr Toyota Toyota Prius apr GT Toyota RV8KLM 3.4 L Hybrid V8 30 All Kōta Sasaki All 31 Yūichi Nakayama All Kōki Saga All Excellence Porsche Team KTR Porsche Porsche 911 GT3 R Porsche M97/80 4.0 L F6 33 All Jörg Bergmeister 1–3, 7–8 Tim Bergmeister 4 5–6 Toyota Team Thailand Toyota Toyota 86 MC GT300 GTA V8 4.5 L V8 35 Nattavude Charoensukhawatana 7 7 Dijon Racing Nissan Nissan GT-R GT3 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 48 Hiroshi Takamori 1-2, 4, 6 Masaki Tanaka 1–2, 6 Takayuki Aoki 2–6, 8 Mitsunori Takaboshi3, 5, 8 Arnage Racing Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 Mercedes-Benz M159 6.2 L V8 50 Rintaro Kubo All All Masaki Kanō 2 LM corsa Ferrari Ferrari 488 GT3 Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Twin Turbo V8 51 Morio Nitta All All Shigekazu Wakisaka 2, 6 Lexus Lexus RC F GT3 Lexus 2UR-GSE 5.3 L V8 60 Akira Iida All Hiroki Yoshimoto All Dominik Farnbacher6 Autobacs Racing Team Aguri BMW BMW M6 GT3 BMW P63 4.4 L Twin Turbo V8 55 Takashi Kobayashi All Shinichi Takagi All R&D Sport Subaru Subaru BRZ GT300 Subaru EJ20 2.0 L Turbo F4 61 Takuto Iguchi All Hideki Yamauchi All Lamborghini Team Direction Lamborghini Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Lamborghini DFJ 5.2 L V10 63 Naoki Yokomizo All Adrian Zaugg All K2 R&D LEON Racing Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG GT3 Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8 65 Naoya Gamou All Haruki Kurosawa All JLOC Lamborghini Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Lamborghini DFJ 5.2 L V10 87 All Kimiya Satō All Taiyō Iida 2, 6 88 Kazuki Hiramine All Manabu Orido All Lamborghini Team Direction ShiftLamborghiniLamborghini Huracán GT3 Lamborghini DFJ 5.2 L V10108 Kyosuke Mineo 1–3, 5–6, 8 Kei Cozzolino 1–2 Jono Lester5–6 Hironori Takeuchi3, 6, 8 Rn-sports Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG GT3 Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8 111 Kazuya Tsuruta All All Keishi Ishikawa6 Nissan Nissan GT-R GT3 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 360 Yusaku Shibata 1–6, 8 1–3, 5–6, 8 2, 4, 6
Driver changes
Vehicle changes Goodsmile Racing with Team UKYO, the number 11 GAINER, K2 R&D LEON Racing, and Rn-sports fielded the new Mercedes-AMG GT3. apr fielded two new Toyota Prius GTs, with the number 31 car on Bridgestone tyres, and the number 30 on Yokohama tyres. Audi Team Hitotsuyama debuted the second-generation Audi R8 LMS and switched from Yokohama to Dunlop Tyres. BMW Team Studie and Autobacs Racing Team Aguri used the new BMW M6 GT3 in 2016. ARTA switched to BMW after the retirement of their previous Honda CR-Z, while Studie received additional support from BMW. Excellence Porsche Team KTR fielded the new 911 GT3-R, and received additional support from Porsche. LM Corsa's number 51 team switched from BMW to the new Ferrari 488 GT3. The number 60 team continued to use the Lexus RC-F GT3. JLOC was one of two teams introducing the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 to Super GT in 2016.
Driver Changes GT500 Toyota: Petrochemical company WAKO's replaced Eneos as the title sponsor of Team Le Mans. Andrea Caldarelli switched from the KeePer TOM's team to the Wako's LeMans team. Three-time GT500 champion Juichi Wakisaka announced his retirement from racing at the Toyota Gazoo Racing press conference on February 4. He will stay in the series as the team principal of Lexus Team Wako's LeMans. Yuji Kunimoto moved over from Team LeMans to drive for the WedsSport BANDOH team fill the seat from Wakisaka. Two-time and defending 1000 km Suzuka winner James Rossiter switched from the Petronas TOM's team to the KeePer TOM's team. Reigning Japanese Formula 3 champion Nick Cassidy joined the number 36 TOM's team. He was the first driver from New Zealand to race in the series since Mark Porter in 1998. Au replaced Petronas as the title sponsor of the number 36 TOM'S RC-F. Honda: Takashi Kogure and Hideki Mutoh swapped seats within the Honda fleet. Mutoh moved to Drago Modulo Honda Racing alongside Oliver Turvey, while Kogure joined Koudai Tsukakoshi at Keihin Real Racing. Nissan: Katsumasa Chiyo stepped up to the GT500 class for 2016 driving for MOLA, after helping GAINER secure their first GT300 championship last season. Masataka Yanagida moved from MOLA to Kondo Racing, his third different team in four seasons. Forum Engineering took over from D'Station as the title sponsor of Kondo Racing. Former GT500 champion Michael Krumm had no plans to race in Super GT in 2016 after competing for Kondo Racing last season.
GT300 After participating in selected rounds last year, Ryuichiro Tomita became a full-time driver of the #0 GAINER Nissan GT-R. Kota Sasaki drove a second Toyota Prius GT for apr. Mitsunori Takaboshi left the series after a successful rookie season with NDDP to drive in Blancpain GT. However, he returned for the fourth race of the season at Fuji Speedway. GT Academy champion and Nissan factory driver Jann Mardenborough joined the NDDP team, partnering Kazuki Hoshino. Former Rolex 24 champion Jörg Bergmeister joined Excellence Porsche Team KTR on a full-time basis, after driving two rounds for the team in 2014. WEC LMP1 driver Pierre Kaffer drove for Audi Team Braille in his debut GT300 campaign. Porsche Carrera Cup Japan champion Yuya Motojima, as well as fellow PCCJ drivers Rintaro Kubo and Hiroaki Nagai, moved to GT300, driving for Team Taisan SARD, Arnage Racing, and apr respectively. Shinnosuke Yamada graduated from the F4 Japanese Championship to race for Team Upgarage with Bandoh. South African Adrian Zaugg and Japanese-Italian driver Kei Cozzolino made their Super GT debuts for Lamborghini Team Direction. Inaugural GT Academy champion Lucas Ordóñez returned to racing in Europe, competing in the Blancpain GT Series for NISMO RJN Motorsport. Alexandre Imperatori left Super GT to focus on his World Endurance Championship campaign with Rebellion Racing. Former 24h Nürburgring winner Christian Mamerow did not return to the series after running a partial campaign with Audi Team Racing Tech. EVA Racing became the primary sponsor of the Rn-sports AMG. Gulf Racing merged with Pacific Racing Team to form Gulf Racing with PACIFIC, fielding an all-new Porsche 911 GT3-R. Direction Racing changed their name to Lamborghini Team Direction, and also fielded two Huracán GT3s. Before the start of the season, an entry was announced for Audi Team Braille, with a new 2016 Audi R8 LMS and veteran World Endurance Championship driver Pierre Kaffer. However, the team never appeared in the 2016 season. After withdrawing from the 2015 season, Team Taisan returned to GT300 in alliance with SARD.
Mid-season changes From the second round, Team Taisan SARD switched to a 2016 model Audi R8 LMS.
Results