2020 Super GT Series

2020 Super GT Series

GT500 Drivers' Champion:
Naoki Yamamoto & Tadasuke Makino
GT500 Teams' Champion:
Team Kunimitsu
GT300 Drivers' Champion:
Kiyoto Fujinami & João Paulo de Oliveira
GT300 Teams' Champion:
Kondo Racing

Previous

2019

Next

2021

Sister series:
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
Support series:
F4 Japanese Championship

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 Fuji 500 mile  [ ja ] 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. ^[1] A finalised calendar with the dates for both overseas rounds was revealed during the 2019 Motegi GT 250 km weekend. ^{[2] [3]}

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. ^[4] On March 30, 2020, the second and third rounds at Fuji Speedway and Suzuka Circuit were each postponed. ^[5] 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. ^[6] 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. ^[7] 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. ^[8] The first event format was announced on June 29, with the first race at Fuji being held at a 300 kilometre distance. ^[9]

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.

Round	Race	Circuit	Date
1	Takanokono Hotel Fuji GT 300 km Race [9]	Fuji Speedway	July 18–19
2			August 8–9
3	Fujimaki Group Suzuka GT 300 km Race	Suzuka Circuit	August 22–23
4	Fujimaki Group Motegi GT 300 km Race	Twin Ring Motegi	September 12–13
5	Takanokono Hotel Fuji GT 300 km Race	Fuji Speedway	October 3–4
6	Fujimaki Group Suzuka GT 300 km Race	Suzuka Circuit	October 24–25
7	Fujimaki Group Motegi GT 300 km Race	Twin Ring Motegi	November 7–8
8	Takanokono Hotel Fuji GT 300 km Race	Fuji Speedway	November 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

Team	Make	Car	Engine	No.	Drivers	Tyre	Rounds
NDDP Racing with B-Max [10]	Nissan	Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 [10]	Nissan NR20B 2.0 L Turbo I4	3	Kohei Hirate [10]	M	All
					Katsumasa Chiyo [10]
ARTA [11]	Honda	Honda NSX-GT [11]	Honda HR-420E 2.0 L Turbo I4	8	Tomoki Nojiri [11]	B	All
					Nirei Fukuzumi [11]
Team Impul [10]	Nissan	Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 [10]	Nissan NR20B 2.0 L Turbo I4	12	Daiki Sasaki [10]	B	All
					Kazuki Hiramine [10]
TGR Team Wako's ROOKIE [12] [13]	Toyota GR	Toyota GR Supra GT500 [12]	Toyota RI4AG 2.0 L Turbo I4	14	Kazuya Oshima [13]	B	All
					Sho Tsuboi [13]
TGR Team ZENT Cerumo [12]				38	Yuji Tachikawa [13]	B	All
					Hiroaki Ishiura [13]
Team Red Bull Mugen [11]	Honda	Honda NSX-GT [11]	Honda HR-420E 2.0 L Turbo I4	16	Hideki Mutoh [11]	Y	All
					Ukyo Sasahara [11]
Keihin REAL Racing [11]	Honda	Honda NSX-GT [11]	Honda HR-420E 2.0 L Turbo I4	17	Koudai Tsukakoshi [11]	B	All
					Bertrand Baguette [11]
TGR Team WedsSport Bandoh [13]	Toyota GR	Toyota GR Supra GT500 [13]	Toyota RI4AG 2.0 L Turbo I4	19	Yuji Kunimoto [13]	Y	All
					Ritomo Miyata [13]
NISMO [10]	Nissan	Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 [10]	Nissan NR20B 2.0 L Turbo I4	23	Tsugio Matsuda [10]	M	All
					Ronnie Quintarelli [10]
Kondo Racing [10]	Nissan	Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 [10]	Nissan NR20B 2.0 L Turbo I4	24	Mitsunori Takaboshi [10]	Y	All
					Jann Mardenborough [10]
TGR Team au TOM'S [13]	Toyota GR	Toyota GR Supra GT500 [13]	Toyota RI4AG 2.0 L Turbo I4	36	Yuhi Sekiguchi [13]	B	All
					Sacha Fenestraz [13]
TGR Team KeePer TOM'S [13]				37	Ryō Hirakawa [13]	B	All
					Nick Cassidy [13]		1–6
					Kenta Yamashita [13]		7–8
TGR Team SARD [13]	Toyota GR	Toyota GR Supra GT500 [13]	Toyota RI4AG 2.0 L Turbo I4	39		B	1
					Yuichi Nakayama [13]		All
					Sena Sakaguchi [14]		2
					Heikki Kovalainen [13] [15]		3–8
Modulo Nakajima Racing [11]	Honda	Honda NSX-GT [11]	Honda HR-420E 2.0 L Turbo I4	64	Takuya Izawa [11]	D	All
					Hiroki Otsu [11]
Team Kunimitsu [11]	Honda	Honda NSX-GT [11]	Honda HR-420E 2.0 L Turbo I4	100	Naoki Yamamoto [11]	B	All
					Tadasuke Makino [11]

GT300

Team	Make	Car	Engine	No.	Drivers	Tyre	Rounds
Cars Tokai Dream28	Lotus	Lotus Evora MC GT300	GTA V8 4.5 L V8	2	Hiroki Katoh [16]	Y	All
					Masataka Yanagida [16]
Goodsmile Racing & Team UKYO [17]	Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo [17]	Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8	4	Nobuteru Taniguchi [17]	Y	All
					Tatsuya Kataoka [17]
Team Mach [18]	Toyota	Toyota 86 MC GT300 [18]	GTA V8 4.5 L V8	5	Natsu Sakaguchi [18]	Y	All
					Yuya Hiraki [18]
Advics muta Racing INGING [18]	Toyota	Toyota 86 MC GT300 [18]	GTA V8 4.5 L V8	6	Ryohei Sakaguchi [18]	B	All
					Kazuto Kotaka [18]		1–6, 8
					Yuui Tsutsumi [19]		7
BMW Team Studie × CSL [18]	BMW	BMW M6 GT3 [18]	BMW S63B44 4.4 L Twin Turbo V8	7	Seiji Ara [18]	Y	All
					Tomohide Yamaguchi [18]
Pacific - D'station Racing AMR [20]	Aston Martin	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 [20]	Aston Martin M177 4.0 L Twin Turbo V8	9	Tomonobu Fujii [20]	M	All
					Kei Cozzolino		1–4, 6–7
					Takuro Shinohara		5, 8
GAINER	Nissan	Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 [18]	Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6	10	Kazuki Hoshino [18]	Y	All
					Keishi Ishikawa [18]
				11	Katsuyuki Hiranaka [18]	D	All
					Hironobu Yasuda [18]
Team UpGarage [a] [11]	Honda	Honda NSX GT3 Evo [11]	Honda JNC1 3.5 L Twin Turbo V6	18	Takashi Kobayashi [11]	Y	All
					Kosuke Matsuura [11]
ARTA [a] [11]				55	Toshiki Oyu [11]	B	All
					Shinichi Takagi [11]		1–6
					Nobuharu Matsushita		7–8
Audi Team Hitotsuyama [18]	Audi	Audi R8 LMS Evo [18]	Audi DAR 5.2 L V10	21	Shintaro Kawabata [18]	Y	All
					Tsubasa Kondo [18]
R'Qs Motor Sports [18]	Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG GT3 [18]	Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8	22	Hisashi Wada [18]	Y	1–4, 6–8
					Masaki Jyonai [18]
Arnage Racing [18]				50	Masaki Kano [18]	Y	All
					Ryosei Yamashita [18]		1–4
					Kizuku Hirota		5, 7
					Hideto Yasuoka		6, 8
Hoppy Team Tsuchiya [21] [b] Max Racing [13] [b]	Porsche	Porsche 911 GT3 R [21]	Porsche M98/80 4.2 L F6	25	Takamitsu Matsui [21]	Y	All
					Kimiya Sato [21]
	Lexus	Lexus RC F GT3 [13]	Lexus 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8	244	Rintaro Kubo [13]	Y	All
					Atsushi Miyake [13]
apr [13]	Toyota	Toyota GR Sport Prius PHV apr GT [13]	Toyota 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8	30	Hiroaki Nagai [13]	Y	All
					Manabu Orido [13]
			Toyota 2UR-GSE 5.4 L Hybrid V8	31	Koki Saga [13]	B	All
					Yuhki Nakayama [13]
X Works [18]	Audi	Audi R8 LMS Evo [18]	Audi DAR 5.2 L V10	33	Shaun Thong [18]	Y	All
					Takuro Shinohara [18]		1
					Hiroyuki Matsumura [19]		2
					Takeshi Kimura [15]		3–4
					Kota Sasaki		5–8
Modulo Drago Corse [11]	Honda	Honda NSX GT3 Evo [11]	Honda JNC1 3.5 L Twin Turbo V6	34	Ryo Michigami [11]	Y	All
					Jake Parsons [11]
arto Ping An Team Thailand [13]	Lexus	Lexus RC F GT3 [13]	Lexus 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8	35	Masahiro Sasaki [19]	Y	2–5
					Yuui Tsutsumi [19]
					Sean Walkinshaw		6–8
					Mathias Beche
NILZZ Racing [18]	Nissan	Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 [18]	Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6	48	Taiyou Iida [18]	Y	All
					Yuki Tanaka [18]		1–5, 8
					Yusaku Shibata		6
					Ryuichiro Tomita		7
Saitama Toyopet Green Brave [22]	Toyota GR	Toyota GR Supra GT300 [22]	Toyota 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8	52	Hiroki Yoshida [22]	B	All
					Kohta Kawaai [22]
Kondo Racing [18]	Nissan	Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 [18]	Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6	56	Kiyoto Fujinami [18]	Y	All
					João Paulo de Oliveira [18]
LM Corsa [13]	Lexus	Lexus RC F GT3 [13]	Lexus 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8	60	Hiroki Yoshimoto [13]	M	All
					Shunsuke Kohno [13]
R&D Sport [18]	Subaru	Subaru BRZ R&D Sport [18]	Subaru EJ20 2.0 L Turbo F4	61	Takuto Iguchi [18]	D	All
					Hideki Yamauchi [18]
K2 R&D LEON Racing [18]	Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo [18]	Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8	65	Naoya Gamou [18]	B	All
					Togo Suganami [18]
JLOC [23]	Lamborghini	Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo [23]	Lamborghini DGF 5.2 L V10	87	Tsubasa Takahashi [23]	Y	All
					Shinnosuke Yamada [23]
				88	Takashi Kogure [23]	Y	All
					Yuya Motojima [23]
K-tunes Racing [13]	Lexus	Lexus RC F GT3 [13]	Lexus 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8	96	Morio Nitta [13]	D	All
					Sena Sakaguchi [13]		1,3–8
					Shigekazu Wakisaka [14]		2
Tomei Sports [18]	Nissan	Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 [18]	Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6	360	Takayuki Aoki [18]	Y	All
					Atsushi Tanaka [18]		1, 5, 8
					Yusaku Shibata [19]		2–4
					Takuya Otaki		6–7

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. ^[21]
• 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. ^[11]
  • 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.
  • Narain Karthikeyan who raced with Nakajima Racing, confirmed in January that he would not return to the series. Takuya Izawa moved to Nakajima Racing in an all-new driver lineup alongside fellow GT300 graduate, Hiroki Otsu.
  • Reigning GT300 Drivers' Champion, Nirei Fukuzumi, was promoted by Autobacs Racing Team Aguri (ARTA) to their GT500 car, replacing veteran
• Nissan: ^[10]
  • On December 7, 2019, Porsche factory driver Frédéric Makowiecki returned to the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship full-time in 2020, ruling him out for a full-time return to Super GT. His departure from Nissan was confirmed on January 10, 2020, along with that of James Rossiter, who has ended his career in Japan after seven seasons to focus on his role with the DS Techeetah Formula E Team.
  • Katsumasa Chiyo, who raced full-time in the Intercontinental GT Challenge for Nissan in 2019, returns to GT500 on a full-time basis at NDDP Racing with B-Max, replacing Makowiecki.
  • At Team Impul, Kazuki Hiramine steps up from the GT300 class after six seasons, to replace Rossiter.
• Toyota: Toyota Gazoo Racing announced their 2020 motorsport activities on February 7, 2020. ^[13]
  • 2019 GT500 Championship winners Team LeMans parted ways with Toyota Gazoo Racing at the end of the season. To replace their entry, a new team, "TGR Team Wako's Rookie," was announced for 2020. The new team is owned by KTR Co. Ltd, with vehicle maintenance being handled by TGR Team Cerumo. Wako Chemical, the title sponsor of Team Le Mans from 2016 to 2019, will be the title sponsor of the new team, and 2005 GT500 Drivers' Champion, Toranosuke Takagi, will be the Team Director. TGR Team Wako's Rookie will carry the number 14, and for the first time since 1998, the number one plate, reserved for the GT500 Champion team, will not be in use. The new TGR Team Wako's Rookie entry will feature 2019 GT500 Champion Kazuya Oshima and 2018 All-Japan Formula Three Champion Sho Tsuboi as its drivers. Kenta Yamashita will not return to the series in 2020, as they will focus solely on their roles in the FIA World Endurance Championship and Japanese Super Formula Championship.
  • Tsuboi's place at TGR Team WedsSport Bandoh will be taken by GT300 graduate and 2019 All-Japan F3 vice-champion Ritomo Miyata, the first person on the autism spectrum to race full-time in the premier class of Super GT. ^[24]
  • 2019 All-Japan F3 Champion, Sacha Fenestraz, also steps up to the GT500 class, driving for TGR Team au TOM's. Two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Kazuki Nakajima. Masanori Sekiya resigned as executive director of TGR Team TOM's, effective 31 March. ^[25]
  • Three-time GT500 Drivers' Champion Juichi Wakisaka, who was the Team Director at Team Le Mans from 2016 to 2019, now takes over the same position at TGR Team SARD.

GT300 Class

• On January 29, 2020, Tsuchiya Engineering announced an expanded partnership with title sponsor Hoppy Beverage Company, with Hoppy CEO Mina Ishiwatari purchasing a share of the team, and changed their name to "Hoppy Team Tsuchiya."
• Aston Martin Racing customer squad D'station Racing will partner with Pacific Racing under the new name "Pacific-D'station Racing" in 2020, and changed their number from 7 to 9. They will also be the first full-time GT300 entry to run on Michelin tyres since 2014. ^[20] 2014 Le Mans class winner and Aston Martin factory driver Nicki Thiim was scheduled to join Pacific-D'station Racing for 2020, alongside Tomonobu Fujii.
• Max Racing, who had competed in the Pirelli Super Taikyu Series' ST-X (FIA GT3) category from 2018 to 2019, announced that they will move up to the GT300 class of Super GT beginning in 2020. ^[13] Former Super GT driver Tetsuya Tanaka was appointed team director, and the aforementioned Tsuchiya Engineering will be in charge of vehicle maintenance. They will field a Lexus RC F GT3, running on Yokohama tyres. They appointed GT300 veteran Rintaro Kubo and FIA F4 Japanese Championship graduate Atsushi Miyake as their drivers.
• INGING Motorsport will return to the GT300 class as a stand-alone entry in 2020, fielding a Toyota 86 MC previously used by Panther arto Team Thailand. They will carry the number 6, the number which they had previously used in the 1998 All-Japan GT Championship and had since been used by Team Le Mans until their split from Toyota. Their 86 MC will run on Bridgestone Potenza tyres. The team appointed Toyota Gazoo Racing young driver Kazuto Kotaka and veteran Ryohei Sakaguchi as their full-time driver lineup, joined by third driver Yuui Tsutsumi, who replaced Kotaka for Round 7 at Twin Ring Motegi when Kotaka contracted a high fever.
• Togo Suganami who drove for K2 R&D LEON Racing for last 2 rounds, will race with the team as the full time driver. The 2018 driver champion Haruki Kurosawa will step back, and work with the team as the team director.
• Team LeMans announced that they will take over vehicle maintenance and operation for Audi Team Hitotsuyama beginning in 2020. Two-time Nürburgring 24 Hours winner Christopher Mies and former Team Taisan driver Shintaro Kawabata were announced at Audi Team Hitotsuyama, to replace 2004 GT500 Champion Richard Lyons, and Ryuchiro Tomita, who would join Audi Sport Team WRT in the SRO GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup.
• Lamborghini Squadra Corse driver Dennis Lind was scheduled to join JLOC in their number 87 entry alongside Yuya Motojima. 2010 GT500 Champion Takashi Kogure and 2015 GT300 Champion André Couto were announced in the number 88 car.
• With Kazuki Hiramine and Sacha Fenestraz's respective promotions to GT500, Kondo Racing announced a new lineup for their GT300 team, featuring 2010 Japanese Top Formula Champion João Paulo de Oliveira and two-time Fuji 24 Hours winner Kiyoto Fujinami.
• BMW Team Studie will enter the GT300 class for the first time since 2017 under the name "BMW Team Studie x CSL", using the current BMW M6 GT3. Kazumichi Goh, the owner of Team Goh Motorsports (who entered Super GT in 2019 as McLaren Customer Racing Japan), was appointed as the Representative Director of the team. BMW Team Studie x CSL welcomes 2004 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Seiji Ara back to the team, alongside rookie gentleman driver Tomohide Yamaguchi. BMW Works driver Augusto Farfus was announced as a third driver, but did not appear due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
• Two-time GT500 Champion Masataka Yanagida returned to Super GT full-time at Cars Tokai Dream28, replacing gentleman driver Kazuho Takahashi, who retired from racing in the series and will now focus on his role as team executive.
• All-Japan F3 and Euroformula Open race winner Toshiki Oyu replaced Nirei Fukuzumi at Autobacs Racing Team Aguri in their championship-winning Honda NSX GT3.
• Australian Jake Parsons returned to Super GT after a two-year absence, driving for Modulo Drago Corse alongside owner/driver Ryo Michigami.
• Lexus Customer Racing teams K-Tunes Racing and LM Corsa will change tyre suppliers for the 2020 season: K-Tunes Racing will switch from Bridgestone to Dunlop, and LM Corsa will switch from Dunlop to Michelin. ^[13] All-Japan F3 graduate Shunsuke Kohno replaced Ritomo Miyata at LM Corsa.
• Kohta Kawaai graduated from the FIA F4 Japanese Championship to drive for Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave.
• All-Japan F3 National Class race winner Kizuku Hirota joined Arnage Racing as a third driver.
• Panther arto Team Thailand was renamed arto Ping An Team Thailand, reflecting an increased sponsorship agreement from the Chinese insurance company.

Mid-season changes

Due to travel restrictions put into place as a result of the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic, several driver changes were necessitated, starting from the opening round at Fuji Speedway.

• Heikki Kovalainen was replaced at TGR Team SARD for Round 1 by 2019 GT500 Champion Kenta Yamashita. For Round 2, Kovalainen was replaced by Sena Sakaguchi, before Kovalainen returned to the team at Suzuka Circuit for Round 3. ^[26]
• On 2 November, TGR Team KeePer TOM's announced that Kenta Yamashita will replace Nick Cassidy for the final two races of the season, as Cassidy began preparations for his debut in the 2021 FIA Formula E World Championship.
• arto Ping An Team Thailand missed Round 1 due to several personnel being unable to enter Japan. Upon their return to the series at Round 2, arto Ping An Team Thailand appointed Masahiro Sasaki and Yuui Tsutsumi to drive for the next four rounds. Sean Walkinshaw and Mathias Beche replaced Sasaki and Tsutsumi from Round 6, after both drivers were cleared to cleared to enter Japan.
• Nicki Thiim was unable to race with Pacific-D'station Racing in 2020. He was replaced for the first four rounds by Kei Cozzolino. Cozzolino then split the last four races with TCR Japan Series driver Takuro Shinohara, who entered Rounds 5 and 8 at Fuji.
• Porsche Carrera Cup Japan champion Tsubasa Kondo replaced Christopher Mies at Audi Team Hitotsuyama for the full season.
• With André Couto and Dennis Lind unable to race with JLOC in 2020, JLOC moved Yuya Motojima to the number 88 car to partner Takashi Kogure. Tsubasa Takahashi and Shinnosuke Yamada were appointed as the new drivers of the number 87 car.
• X Works Racing hired multiple replacement drivers to partner Shaun Thong. Takuro Shinohara drove in Round 1. Ex-Formula Renault Eurocup driver Hiroyuki Matsumura was entered for Round 2, but failed to pass his rookie certification test during practice. Takeshi Kimura of CarGuy Racing then entered Rounds 3 & 4. Kota Sasaki, the 2005 GT300 Champion, was appointed for the remaining four rounds.
• After Sena Sakaguchi was called up to TGR Team SARD for Round 2, K-Tunes Racing appointed Shigekazu Wakisaka to replace him in the same event.
• After the fourth round of the season, Arnage Racing driver Ryosei Yamashita announced that he would be taking a hiatus from racing to focus on his family's business activities. Kizuku Hirota and Hideto Yasuoka split the remaining four races in place of Yamashita.
• FIA F4 Japanese Championship race winner Takuya Otaki joined Tomei Sports for Rounds 6 and 7.
• NILZZ Racing appointed Yusaku Shibata to drive in Round 6 at Suzuka Circuit. For Round 7, they appointed Ryuichiro Tomita, who had just completed his first GT World Challenge campaign in Europe.
• Defending GT300 Champion Shinichi Takagi was injured in a Pirelli Super Taikyu Series crash at Okayama International Speedway on 1 November. ^[27] FIA Formula 2 race winner Nobuharu Matsushita was announced as Takagi's replacement at Autobacs Racing Team Aguri for the final two rounds of the season. ^[28]

Results

Drivers credited with winning Pole Position for their respective teams are indicated in bold text.

Round	Circuit	Date	Class	Pole Position	Race Winner
1	Fuji Speedway	19 July	GT500	No. 37 TGR Team KeePer TOM'S	No. 37 TGR Team KeePer TOM'S
				Nick Cassidy Ryō Hirakawa	Nick Cassidy Ryō Hirakawa
			GT300	No. 65 K2 R&D LEON Racing	No. 52 Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave
				Naoya Gamou Togo Suganami	Kohta Kawaai Hiroki Yoshida
2		9 August	GT500	No. 8 ARTA	No. 17 Keihin REAL Racing
				Nirei Fukuzumi Tomoki Nojiri	Bertrand Baguette Koudai Tsukakoshi
			GT300	No. 6 Advics muta Racing INGING	No. 2 Cars Tokai Dream28
				Kazuto Kotaka Ryohei Sakaguchi	Hiroki Katoh Masataka Yanagida
3	Suzuka Circuit	23 August	GT500	No. 64 Modulo Nakajima Racing	No. 23 NISMO
				Takuya Izawa Hiroki Otsu	Tsugio Matsuda Ronnie Quintarelli
			GT300	No. 31 apr	No. 11 GAINER
				Yuhki Nakayama Koki Saga	Katsuyuki Hiranaka Hironobu Yasuda
4	Twin Ring Motegi	13 September	GT500	No. 38 TGR Team ZENT Cerumo	No. 17 Keihin REAL Racing
				Hiroaki Ishiura Yuji Tachikawa	Bertrand Baguette Koudai Tsukakoshi
			GT300	No. 360 Tomei Sports	No. 65 K2 R&D LEON Racing
				Takayuki Aoki Yusaku Shibata	Naoya Gamou Togo Suganami
5	Fuji Speedway	4 October	GT500	No. 8 ARTA	No. 39 TGR Team SARD
				Nirei Fukuzumi Tomoki Nojiri	Yuichi Nakayama Heikki Kovalainen
			GT300	No. 6 Advics muta Racing INGING	No. 56 Kondo Racing
				Kazuto Kotaka Ryohei Sakaguchi	Kiyoto Fujinami João Paulo de Oliveira
6	Suzuka Circuit	25 October	GT500	No. 8 ARTA	No. 23 NISMO
				Nirei Fukuzumi Tomoki Nojiri	Tsugio Matsuda Ronnie Quintarelli
			GT300	No. 96 K-Tunes Racing	No. 21 Audi Team Hitotsuyama
				Morio Nitta Sena Sakaguchi	Shintaro Kawabata Tsubasa Kondo
7	Twin Ring Motegi	8 November	GT500	No. 64 Modulo Nakajima Racing	No. 8 ARTA
				Takuya Izawa Hiroki Otsu	Nirei Fukuzumi Tomoki Nojiri
			GT300	No. 61 R&D Sport	No. 56 Kondo Racing
				Takuto Iguchi Hideki Yamauchi	Kiyoto Fujinami João Paulo de Oliveira
8	Fuji Speedway	29 November	GT500	No. 37 TGR Team KeePer TOM'S	No. 100 Team Kunimitsu
				Ryō Hirakawa Kenta Yamashita	Tadasuke Makino Naoki Yamamoto
			GT300	No. 52 Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave	No. 52 Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave
				Kohta Kawaai Hiroki Yoshida	Kohta Kawaai Hiroki Yoshida

Championship standings

Drivers' championships

Scoring system

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Pole
Points	20	15	11	8	6	5	4	3	2	1	1

GT500

Driver Ranking GT500 2020 Series [29] Rank Driver Team FUJ FUJ SUZ MOT FUJ SUZ MOT FUJ Points 1 Naoki Yamamoto Tadasuke Makino No. 100 Team Kunimitsu 6 5 2 5 5 Ret 3 1 69 2 Ryō Hirakawa No. 37 TGR Team KeePer TOM'S 1 4 7 6 4 Ret 6 2 67 3 Koudai Tsukakoshi Bertrand Baguette No. 17 Keihin REAL Racing Ret 1 8 1 10 10 5 4 59 4 Yuhi Sekiguchi Sacha Fenestraz No. 39 TGR Team au TOM'S 2 2 3 11 12 7 13 3 56 5 Tomoki Nojiri Nirei Fukuzumi No.8 ARTA 8 14 13 Ret 3 3 1 5 54 6 Tsugio Matsuda Ronnie Quintarelli No. 23 NISMO 11 9 1 8 11 1 7 9 51 7 Kazuya Oshima Sho Tsuboi No. 14 TGR Team Wako's Rookie 3 3 9 4 2 12 12 Ret 47 8 Nick Cassidy No. 37 TGR Team KeePer TOM'S 1 4 7 6 4 Ret 46 9 Yuichi Nakayama No. 39 TGR Team SARD 5 6 5 9 1 11 8 14 42 10 Yuji Tachikawa Hiroaki Ishiura No. 38 TGR Team ZENT Cerumo 4 7 Ret 2 9 5 10 8 40 11 Heikki Kovalainen No. 39 TGR Team SARD 5 9 1 11 8 14 31 12 Takuya Izawa Hiroki Otsu No. 64 Modulo Nakajima Racing 13 13 4 10 13 6 2 11 31 13 Kohei Hirate Katsumasa Chiyo No. 3 NDDP Racing with B-Max 7 8 6 7 Ret 4 15 6 29 14 Hideki Mutoh Ukyo Sasahara No. 16 Team Red Bull Mugen 12 10 Ret 3 6 13 4 12 25 15 Daiki Sasaki Kazuki Hiramine No. 12 Team Impul Ret 11 12 12 8 2 9 7 24 16 Kenta Yamashita No. 39 TGR Team SARD 5 [c] 21 [c] No. 37 TGR Team KeePer TOM'S 6 2 17 Yuji Kunimoto Ritomo Miyata No. 19 TGR Team WedsSport Bandoh 9 15 10 Ret 7 9 11 10 10 18 Sena Sakaguchi No. 39 TGR Team SARD 6 5 19 Mitsunori Takaboshi Jann Mardenborough No. 24 Kondo Racing 10 12 11 13 14 8 14 13 4 Rank Driver Team FUJ FUJ SUZ MOT FUJ SUZ MOT FUJ Points

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX)

GT300

Driver Ranking GT300 2020 Series ^[30]

Rank	Driver	Team	FUJ	FUJ	SUZ	MOT	FUJ	SUZ	MOT	FUJ	Points
1	Kiyoto Fujinami João Paulo de Oliveira	No. 56 Kondo Racing	4	5	9	20	1	16	1	2	71
2	Hiroki Yoshida Kohta Kawaai	No. 52 Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave	1	6	12	25	4	Ret	4	1	62
3	Naoya Gamou Togo Suganami	No. 65 K2 R&D LEON Racing	6	4	6	1	3	10	19	4	59
4	Toshiki Oyu	No. 55 ARTA	7	3	26	7	2	7	8	7	45
5	Takuto Iguchi Hideki Yamauchi	No. 61 R&D Sport	Ret	2	4	3	16	12	5	8	44
6	Katsuyuki Hiranaka Hironobu Yasuda	No. 11 GAINER	2	21	1	6	10	15	9	18	43
7	Shinichi Takagi	No. 55 ARTA	7	3	26	7	2	7			38
8	Nobuteru Taniguchi Tatsuya Kataoka	No. 4 Goodsmile Racing with Team UKYO	9	27	8	9	8	3	2	15	36
9	Ryohei Sakaguchi	No. 6 Advics muta Racing INGING	14	9	13	16	7	2	22	3	34
9	Kazuto Kotaka	No. 6 Advics muta Racing INGING	14	9	13	16	7	2		3	34
10	Hiroki Katoh Masataka Yanagida	No. 2 Cars Tokai Dream28	12	1	3	13	27	11	24	23	31
11	Shintaro Kawabata Tsubasa Kondo	No. 21 Audi Team Hitotsuyama	17	8	25	5	14	1	13	12	29
12	Kazuki Hoshino Keishi Ishikawa	No. 10 GAINER	5	10	5	11	12	21	7	6	22
13	Takashi Kogure Yuya Motojima	No. 88 JLOC	25	15	27	2	6	13	Ret	Ret	20
14	Natsu Sakaguchi Yuya Hiraki	No. 5 Team Mach	3	11	29	23	15	4	Ret	Ret	19
15	Takashi Kobayashi Kosuke Matsuura	No. 18 Team UpGarage	22	18	2	14	18	Ret	16	25	15
16	Morio Nitta	No. 96 K-tunes Racing	11	23	28	4	26	5	17	22	15
16	Sena Sakaguchi	No. 96 K-tunes Racing	11		28	4	26	5	17	22	15
17	Takayuki Aoki	No. 360 Tomei Sports	Ret	12	11	27	25	17	3	21	12
18	Koki Saga Yuhki Nakayama	No. 31 apr	27	14	7	15	5	18	27	10	12
19	Takuya Otaki	No. 360 Tomei Sports						17	3		11
20	Takamitsu Matsui Kimiya Sato	No. 25 Hoppy Team Tsuchiya	19	20	14	8	11	9	6	14	10
21	Tomonobu Fujii	No. Pacific - D'station Racing AMR	10	19	10	18	24	24	25	5	8
22	Ryo Michigami Jake Parsons	No. 34 Modulo Drago Corse	8	7	19	10	13	27	14	17	8
23	Nobuharu Matsushita	No. 55 ARTA							8	7	7
24	Takuro Shinohara	No. 33 X Works	18								6
		No. 9 Pacific - D'station Racing AMR					24			5
25	Tsubasa Takahashi Shinnosuke Yamada	No. 87 JLOC	26	25	16	Ret	17	6	26	Ret	5
26	Seiji Ara Tomohide Yamaguchi	No. 7 BMW Team Studie × CSL	15	22	21	Ret	9	8	18	19	5
27	Hiroki Yoshimoto Shunsuke Kohno	No. 60 LM Corsa	13	16	17	12	22	14	12	9	2
28	Kei Cozzolino	No. 9 Pacific - D'station Racing AMR	10	19	10	18	24	24	25		2
29	Hiroaki Nagai Manabu Orido	No. 30 apr	21	17	Ret	24	20	20	10	13	1
30	Yusaku Shibata	No. 360 Tomei Sports		12	11	27	25				1
		No. 48 NILZZ Racing						25
–	Yuki Tanaka	No. 48 NILZZ Racing	23	26	22	21	28	25	11	20	0
–	Ryuichiro Tomita	No. 48 NILZZ Racing							11		0
–	Rintaro Kubo Atsushi Miyake	No. 244 Max Racing	16	13	20	26	19	WD	15	24	0
–	Masahiro Sasaki Yuui Tsutsumi	No. 35 arto Ping An Team Thailand		Ret	15	19	21				0
–	Shaun Thong	No. 33 X Works	18	Ret	24	17	29	22	20	16	0
–	Masaki Kano	No. 50 Arnage Racing	20	24	18	22	23	23	21	11	0
–	Ryosei Yamashita	No. 50 Arnage Racing	20	24	18	22					0
–	Sean Walkinshaw Mathias Beche	No. 35 arto Ping An Team Thailand						19	23	26	0
–	Taiyou Iida	No. 48 NILZZ Racing	23	26	22	21	28			20	0
–	Shigekazu Wakisaka	No. 96 K-tunes Racing		23							0
–	Hisashi Wada Masaki Jyonai	No. 22 R'Qs Motor Sports	24	28	23	Ret		26	28	27	0
–	Atsushi Tanaka	No. 360 Tomei Sports	Ret				25				0
–	Hiroyuki Matsumura	No. 33 X Works		Ret							0
Rank	Driver	Team	FUJ	FUJ	SUZ	MOT	FUJ	SUZ	MOT	FUJ	Points

Notes

1. Car No. 18 entered as Team UpGarage, and car No. 55 entered as ARTA
2. Car No. 25 entered as Team Tsuchiya, and car No. 244 entered as Max Racing
3. Only points scored for TGR Team KeePer TOM'S were counted towards Yamashita's final championship standings. Per Article 7.6 of the SUPER GT Sporting Regulations: "When a driver races different cars (per car number) during the season, the Series points for this driver will be counted separately (per car raced) and the higher number or points will be selected when calculating the Championship drivers’ ranking."

References

1. "Super GT reveals 2020 calendar with two overseas races". www.motorsport.com. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
2. "Super GT Buriram & Sepang Dates Revealed, FCY To Be Introduced In 2020 – dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
3. "Thai race saved as Super GT firms up 2020 schedule". www.motorsport.com. 2 November 2019. Retrieved 2019-12-14.
4. "Super GT postpones Okayama opener after all". www.motorsport.com. 18 March 2020.
5. "Super GT indefinitely postpones Fuji, Suzuka races". www.motorsport.com. 30 March 2020.
6. "2020 SUPER GTシリーズ公式イベントの日程変更について | Super GT official website". supergt.net. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
7. "Revised 2020 Super GT Calendar Announced – dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
8. "Super GT Cancels Thailand Round, Season Finale Set For Fuji In November – dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
9. "オオノ・アソシエーツが開幕戦富士のラウンドパートナーに決定。大会名称は「たかのこのホテル FUJI GT 300km RACE」に | SUPER GT OFFICIAL WEBSITE". supergt.net. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
10. "Rossiter loses Super GT seat as Nissan reveals 2020 drivers". motorsport.com. 10 January 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
11. "Honda Announces 2020 Super GT Teams & Drivers". dailysportscar.com. 10 January 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
12. "Toyota Team Cerumo Adds Second GT500 Car For 2020 Super GT Series". dailysportscar.com. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
13. "Toyota Gazoo Racing Announces 2020 Super GT Programmes". dailysportscar.com. 7 February 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
14. "Sena Sakaguchi: Super GT rookie to replace Heikki Kovalainen". www.motorsport.com. 27 July 2020. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
15. "Heikki Kovalainen Returns To Japan For Super GT Round 3 At Suzuka – dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
16. "Cars Tokai Dream28に柳田真孝加入。加藤寛規とロータス・エヴォーラでスーパーGT300クラス参戦". autosport.web (in Japanese). 10 January 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
17. "Goodsmile Racing & Team UKYO Announce 2020 Programmes With New AMG GT3". dailysportscar.com. 22 December 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
18. "44 Cars On Entry List For Season-Opening Super GT Fuji 300km". dailysportscar.com. 7 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
19. "Last-Minute Entry List Updates For Round 2 At Fuji – dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
20. "Nicki Thiim Joins PACIFIC D'station Racing For Aston Martin Super GT Effort". dailysportscar.com. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
21. "Porsche Switch For Tsuchiya Engineering". dailysportscar.com. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
22. "Toyota GR Supra GT300 In Development – Set For 2020 Launch". dailysportscar.com. 26 December 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
23. "Team JLOC Completes 2020 Super GT Grid With Driver Announcements". dailysportscar.com. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
24. "Ritmo Miyata" (in Japanese). 6 March 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
25. "Masanori Sekiya Leaves TOM's Racing For Toyota Motorsports Club Presidency – dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
26. "Heikki Kovalainen Returns To Japan For Super GT Round 3 At Suzuka – dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
27. "Shinichi Takagi To Undergo Surgery Thursday For Broken Back, Wrist – dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
28. "Nobuharu Matsushita Replaces Injured Takagi at ARTA – dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
29. "Driver Ranking GT500". 株式会社GTアソシエイション. Retrieved 2017-04-13.
30. "Driver Ranking GT300". 株式会社GTアソシエイション. Retrieved 2017-04-18.

External links

• Super GT Official Website