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2013 Super GT Series

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2013 Super GT Series

The 2013 Autobacs Super GT Series was the 20th season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship including the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era, and the 9th season under the name Super GT. It was the final year of the GT500 regulations introduced in 2010 as the 2014 season would see unified technical regulations with the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. The season began on April 7 and ended on November 17, 2013 after 8 regular races and 1 non championship event.

Contents

Apart the series' 8 points-scoring races, the 3 Hours of Fuji, a part of 2013 Asian Le Mans Series organized by Automobile Club de l'Ouest, also counted for points towards the GT300 class.

Schedule

An updated provisional calendar was released on November 1, 2012.

Notes:

  • There was originally a non-championship race to be held at the Korea International Circuit scheduled for May 19 but was postponed and not held during the season.
  • ^1  — The 3 Hours of Fuji is an optional points-scoring round that is only open to teams competing in the GT300 class, held as a part of the 2013 Asian Le Mans Series season, where the cars were reclassified as "SGT". Points and success ballast were to be counted if points were awarded to the top 10 finishers in the SGT class; no penalty was to be imposed on success ballast reduction if entrants miss the race.
  • ^2  — Originally scheduled for November 16 and 17 but rescheduled to November 23 and 24.

    • Team transfers

  • Naoki Yamamoto, who competed with Team Kunimitsu last year, swapped seats with Weider Honda Racing's Takashi Kogure.
  • Team Mugen's Daisuke Nakajima was promoted to the GT500 class, replacing Yuhki Nakayama at Nakajima Racing. Nakayama will drive for Mugen instead.
  • Takashi Kobayashi and Kosuke Matsuura of Autobacs Racing Team Aguri switched classes; Kobayashi moved to the GT300 class, while Matsuura moved to GT500.

    • Joining Super GT

  • Frédéric Makowiecki joined Weider Honda Racing, replacing Carlo van Dam.
  • James Rossiter, Force India's test driver, joined TOM'S, replacing Loïc Duval.
  • Jörg Müller from Team BMW RLL will race for Goodsmile Racing as the team's third driver in the Suzuka 1000 km.

    • Mid-season changes

  • Ryo Orime was replaced by Yuji Ide at Bonds Racing after the first race of the season.
  • Tsubasa Kurosawa joined his brother Haruki at Leon Racing, replacing Masanobu Kato from race three onwards.
  • Igor Sushko joined apr following their switch from an Audi R8 LMS ultra to a Nissan GT-R GT3, replacing Fairuz Fauzy.

    • GT500

    Honda
  • With new technical regulations being introduced for the 2014 Super GT season, Honda announced 2013 will be the final year for the Honda HSV-010 GT. For the 2014 season, Honda will base their cars on the Honda NSX.
  • Weider Honda Racing will switch to running Michelin tyres for the 2013 season.
    • Lexus
  • TOM'S expanded to two cars, with the acquisition of Team Kraft's machinery.
  • After two seasons competing on Michelin tyres, Lexus Team SARD will compete on Bridgestone tyres for the 2013 season.
    • Nissan
  • The Nismo team will switch to Michelin tyres for 2013.

    • GT300

  • New technical regulations were in effect for the 2013 season; as a result, LM-GTE class machinery and racing prototypes were no longer eligible, making FIA-GT3 and JAF-GT – based on vehicles currently in production – were the only eligible machinery. This resulted in a switchout of machinery for many teams. Team SGC and Team LMP Motorsports withdrew from the series, as they could not acquire eligible machinery for the class.
  • After three seasons, A speed announced their withdrawal from the series. Their team was later formally taken over by Arnage, the mechanics of A speed.
  • After participating with the Mooncraft Shiden since 2006, Cars Tokai Dream28 would switch to race a McLaren MP4-12C GT3 for 2013.
  • Gainer expanded their team to two cars, switching their Audi R8 LMS ultra for two Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3s.
  • Green Tec & Leon with Shift, who utilised a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 in 2012, split up into three separate teams: Green Tec, Leon Racing, and Team Shift. With Green Tec backing the R'Qs Motorsports and the other two teams operating separately, the three teams all used a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3.
  • Autobacs Racing Team Aguri will switch from running a Garaiya to a Honda CR-Z in their GT300 entry.
  • R&D Sport switched to Michelin tyres for the 2013 season.
  • Goodsmile Racing scaled back from two cars to a single BMW Z4 GT3 for the 2013 season.
  • JLOC scaled back from four cars to three cars, with their JAF-GT specification Lamborghini Gallardo RG-3 becoming no longer eligible for Super GT.
  • Team Kraft, a regular Toyota/Lexus GT500 participant since Super GT's establishment, pulled out from GT500 competition at the end of the 2012 season. They will participate in GT300 under Bonds Racing, using a Nissan GT-R GT3.
  • Tomei Sports would switch their Callaway Corvette Z06.R GT3 to race with a Nissan GT-R GT3.
  • Dijon Racing expanded their team to two cars, racing with both a Nissan GT-R GT3 and a Callaway Corvette Z06.R GT3.
  • After a season's absence, Direction Racing will return to GT300 in 2013, with a Porsche 911 GT3R.

    • Mid-season changes

  • Team Mach replaced their Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 with a Nissan GT-R GT3 from the Suzuka 1000 km onwards.
  • apr replaced their Audi R8 LMS ultra with a Nissan GT-R GT3 from the Sugo round onwards.

    • GT500 Drivers

    Scoring system

    GT300 Drivers

    Scoring system

    References

    2013 Super GT Series Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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