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
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.
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.
Katsumasa Chiyo stepped up to the GT500 class for 2016 driving for MOLA, after helping GAINER [fr; ja] 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.
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
Championship standings
Scoring system
Drivers' championships
GT500
GT300
References
^ a b"スーパーGT第8戦もてぎの週末2レースは、どちらも250kmでの争いに". 2016-07-01. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
^ a b c d"Nissan announces 2016 motorsports activities". Nismo. February 26, 2016. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
^ a b c d e"Toyota GAZOO Racing Outlines 2016 Motorsports Activities". Toyota Global Newsroom. Toyota. February 4, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
^ a b c d e"Honda 2016 Motorsports Program Overview". Honda. February 12, 2016. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa"2016 Teams and Drivers". Super GT Teams and Drivers. Super GT. March 3, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
^"鈴鹿1000km第3ドライバー決定". BMW Team Studie. 2016-06-22. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
^"VivaC 86 MC、鈴鹿1000kmで山下健太を起用へ。メーカーテストで初ドライブ | F1、スーパーGT、SF etc. モータースポーツ総合サイト AUTOSPORT web（オートスポーツweb）". AUTO SPORT web（オートスポーツweb）. 2016-06-09. Retrieved 2016-06-14.
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