2011 GT500 champions, #46 S-Road MOLA Nissan GT-R.
2011 GT300 champions, #4 Goodsmile Hatsune Miku BMW Z4 GT3.

The 2011 Autobacs Super GT Series was the nineteenth season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship including the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era and the seventh season as the Super GT series. It also marked the twenty-ninth season of a JAF-sanctioned sports car racing championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. It is a series for Grand Touring race cars divided into two categories: GT500 and GT300. The season began on May 1 and ended on November 13, 2011 after 8 races and 1 non-championship race. The season was due to start on April 2, but the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami caused its postponement.

In the GT500 class, MOLA won the championship in their first ever season in the GT500 class. The MOLA drivers also scored some notable achievements with this title victory: Masataka Yanagida, who had won the GT300 title in 2003 and 2010, becomes the first (and so far only) driver to win both the GT500 and the GT300 class, while Ronnie Quintarelli would win his first out of four GT500 titles in this season. In the GT300 class, Goodsmile Racing & Studie shocked everyone by winning the championship with the Hatsune Miku itasha-liveried BMW Z4 GT3, giving series veteran Nobuteru Taniguchi and Taku Bamba their first title in this series. It also marked the first championship title for FIA GT3-specification cars in this series.

Schedule

The provisional calendar was released on 8 August 2010. The Autopolis round which was absent the previous season was added to the calendar while the Suzuka race was reduced to a 700 km Endurance race only. Like the previous season, the non-Super GT pointed race JAF Grand Prix was to be raced as a conclusion to the season.[1]

However, due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on March 11, a large part of the season was modified to cope with the situation.

The calendar was updated on 15 April 2011.

Round Race Circuit Date
1 Okayama GT Japan Okayama International Circuit May 22[2]
2 Fuji GT 1 Japan Fuji Speedway May 1
3 Super GT International Series Malaysia
Malaysia Sepang International Circuit June 19
4 Sugo GT Japan Sportsland SUGO July 30
5 40th Pokka GT Summer Special
Japan Suzuka Circuit August 21
6 Fuji GT 2 Japan Fuji Speedway September 11
7 Autopolis GT Japan Autopolis October 2
8 Motegi GT Japan Twin Ring Motegi October 16
NC All Star Series Japan Fuji Speedway November 12
November 13

Impact of Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami

As a response of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the racing calendar and regulations were given a lot of modifications as a response to the national policy of energy conservation.

  • The Okayama GT event, originally to be held on April 2 was postponed to 22 May despite damage to the Okayama International Circuit being minimal.[2] The GT Association would still consider it as the 1st Round. The postponement of the Fuji Round was put under consideration as well.
  • All race distances will be trimmed from 300 km to 250 km, other than the first Fuji race will change from 500 km to 300 km, and the Suzuka round from 700 km to 500 km. In addition, the Suzuka round will be only run in day sessions.
  • Pitworks at nights are limited to a shorter period of time. Overnight works are not allowed between qualifying and the race.

Drivers and teams

GT500

Team Make Car Engine # Drivers Tyre Round
Japan Weider Honda Racing Honda Honda HSV-010 GT Honda HR10EG 3.4 L V8 1 Japan Takashi Kogure B All
France Loïc Duval All
Japan Lexus Team LeMans ENEOS Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus RV8KG 3.4 L V8 6 Japan Daisuke Itō B All
Japan Kazuya Oshima All
Japan Autobacs Racing Team Aguri Honda Honda HSV-010 GT Honda HR10EG 3.4 L V8 8 Japan Hideki Mutoh B All
Japan Takashi Kobayashi All
Japan Team Impul Nissan Nissan GT-R GT500 Nissan VRH34A 3.4 L V8 12 Japan Tsugio Matsuda B All
Brazil João Paulo de Oliveira All
Japan Keihin Real Racing Honda Honda HSV-010 GT Honda HR10EG 3.4 L V8 17 Japan Toshihiro Kaneishi B All
Japan Koudai Tsukakoshi All
Japan Lexus Team WedsSport BANDOH Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus RV8KG 3.4 L V8 19 Japan Tatsuya Kataoka Y All
Japan Seiji Ara All
Japan Nismo Nissan Nissan GT-R GT500 Honda HR10EG 3.4 L V8 23 Japan Satoshi Motoyama B All
France Benoît Tréluyer All
Japan Kondō Racing Nissan Nissan GT-R GT500 Honda HR10EG 3.4 L V8 24 Japan Hironobu Yasuda Y All
Sweden Björn Wirdheim All
Japan Nakajima Racing Honda Honda HSV-010 GT Honda HR10EG 3.4 L V8 32 Japan Ryo Michigami D All
Japan Yuhki Nakayama All
Japan Lexus Team Kraft Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus RV8KG 3.4 L V8 35 Japan Juichi Wakisaka B All
Portugal André Couto All
Japan Lexus Team Petronas TOM'S Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus RV8KG 3.4 L V8 36 Germany André Lotterer B All
Japan Kazuki Nakajima All
Japan Lexus Team ZENT Cerumo Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus RV8KG 3.4 L V8 38 Japan Yuji Tachikawa B All
Japan Kohei Hirate All
Japan Lexus Team SARD Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus RV8KG 3.4 L V8 39 Japan Hiroaki Ishiura M All
Japan Takuto Iguchi All
Japan MOLA Nissan Nissan GT-R GT500 Nissan VRH34A 3.4 L V8 46 Japan Masataka Yanagida M All
Italy Ronnie Quintarelli All
Japan Team Kunimitsu Honda Honda HSV-010 GT Honda HR10EG 3.4 L V8 100 Japan Takuya Izawa B All
Japan Naoki Yamamoto All

GT300

Team Make Car Engine No. Drivers Tyre Round
Japan Cars Tokai Dream28 Mooncraft Mooncraft Shiden Toyota 1UZ-FE 4.4 L V8 2 Japan Kazuho Takahashi Y All
Japan Hiroki Katoh All
Japan Goodsmile Racing & Studie with Team Ukyo BMW BMW Z4 GT3 BMW P65B44 4.4 L V8 4 Japan Nobuteru Taniguchi Y All
Japan Taku Bamba All
Japan Team Mach Vemac Vemac RD320R Porsche M97/77 3.6 L F6 5 Japan Haruki Kurosawa Y 2–8
Japan Tetsuji Tamanaka 2–3, 5–8
Japan Katsuhiko Tsutsui 4
Japan Direction Racing Porsche Porsche 911 GT3 R Porsche M97/79 4.0 L F6 7 Japan Akira Mizutani Y 4–6
Netherlands Carlo van Dam 4–6
Japan You Yokomaku 5
Japan Gainer Ferrari Ferrari F430 GT2 Ferrari F136E 4.3 L V8 10 Japan Masayuki Ueda Y 6–8
Japan Masataka Kawaguchi 6–8
Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 Ferrari F136F 4.5 L V8 11 Japan Tetsuya Tanaka D All
Japan Katsuyuki Hiranaka All
Singapore Team SG Changi Lexus Lexus IS350 Lexus RV8J 3.4 L V8 14 Japan Ryo Orime Y All
Switzerland Alexandre Imperatori 1–2, 4–8
Japan Tsubasa Abe 3
Japan Naoya Yamano NC
Japan Team Art Taste Porsche Porsche 911 GT3 R Porsche M97/79 4.0 L F6 15 Germany Tim Bergmeister Y 5–8, NC
Japan Yasuhiro Shimizu 5–8, NC
Japan R'Qs Motorsports Vemac Vemac RD350R Zytek ZV348 4.0 L V8 22 Japan Hisashi Wada Y 1–5, 7, NC
Japan Masaki Jyonai 1–5, 7, NC
Japan Team Tsuchiya Porsche Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche M97/81 4.0 L F6 25 Japan Takeshi Tsuchiya Y 1–8
Japan Akihiro Tsuzuki 1–8
Japan Team Taisan Porsche Porsche 996 GT3 Porsche M96/77 3.6 L F6 26 Japan Kyosuke Mineo Y 1–7, NC
Japan Hideshi Matsuda 1–3, 6, 8, NC
Japan Junichiro Yamashita 4–5, 7–8
Japan Shogo Mitsuyama 5
Ferrari Ferrari F430 GT2 Ferrari F136GT 4.3 L V8 41 Japan Shinichi Yamaji 1–2, 4–6, 8, NC
Japan Hiroshi Koizumi 1–2, 4–6
Japan Kyosuke Mineo 8
Japan Junichiro Yamashita NC
France LMP Motorsport Ferrari Ferrari F430 GT2 Ferrari F136GT 4.3 L V8 27 Japan Yutaka Yamagishi Y All
Japan Hideki Yamauchi 1–6, NC
Netherlands Carlo van Dam 7–8
Japan apr Toyota Toyota Corolla Axio apr GT Toyota 2GR-FSE 3.5 L V6 31 Japan Koki Saga Y All
Japan Yuki Iwasaki All
74 Japan Morio Nitta All
Japan Yuji Kunimoto All
Japan Hankook KTR Porsche Porsche 911 GT3 R Porsche M97/79 4.0 L F6 33 Japan Masami Kageyama H All
Japan Tomonobu Fujii All
Porsche 997 GT3 RS Porsche M97/81 4.0 L F6 34 Japan Hiroshi Takamori 1–2, 5–6
United States Michael Kim 1–2, 5–6
Japan Naoya Gamou 2, 5
Japan Autobacs Racing Team Aguri ASL ASL ARTA Garaiya Nissan VQ35DE 3.5 L V6 43 Japan Shinichi Takagi B All
Japan Kosuke Matsuura All
Japan R&D Sport Subaru Subaru Legacy B4 Subaru EJ20 2.0 L Turbo F4 62 Japan Kota Sasaki Y All
Japan Tetsuya Yamano All
Japan A speed Aston Martin Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2 Aston Martin AJ37 4.7 L V8 66 Japan Hiroki Yoshimoto Y All
Japan Kazuki Hoshino All
Singapore ThunderAsia Racing Mosler Mosler MT900M Judd XV675 3.5 L V8 69 Japan Hiroki Yoshida Y 1–8
Singapore Melvin Choo 1–3, 5–8
Japan Naoki Yokomizo 4–5
Japan JLOC Lamborghini Lamborghini Gallardo RG-3 Lamborghini 07L1 5.2 L V10 86 Japan Takayuki Aoki Y All
Japan Yuya Sakamoto All
87 Japan Manabu Orido All
Japan Atsushi Yogo All
88 Japan Hiroyuki Iiri All
Japan Yuhi Sekiguchi All
Japan Tomei Sports Callaway Callaway Corvette Z06.R GT3 Callaway LS7.R 7.0 L V8 360 Japan Atsushi Tanaka Y 1–2, 4, 7
Japan Kazuyoshi Okamura 1–2, 4
Japan Masahiro Matsunaga 7

Team Movements

GT500

GT300

  • RE Amemiya, a regular GT300 entrant in the class since the 1995 JGTC season, has withdrawn from the series completely. While 2008 and 2009 GT300 Champion Team MOLA and Racing Project Bandoh both moved up to the GT500 class respectively. 2010 GT300 Champion Hasemi Motorsport also withdrawn the series in early April. Making both Nissan and Mazda car absent in the GT300 lineup this year, for the first time since 1995.
  • Jim Gainer Team, which was using the Ferrari F430 in the 2010 season, switched 1 of their 2 cars to a Ferrari F458 GTC. Ferrari stated they are not likely to supply F458's to any of the Super GT teams. Team Mach also showed interest in using an F458 this season but due to the reason above, the plan was not implemented and they had to drive with a Vemac.
  • Studie, which used a BMW Z4 (E86) in the 2008 and 2009 seasons, returned to the series with a BMW Z4 GT3, previously the #76 car used by Schubert Motorsport (Team Need for Speed) in the 2010 FIA GT3 European Championship season. They have hired former F1 driver Ukyo Katayama as their sporting director and former RE Amemiya driver Nobuteru Taniguchi as their driver.
  • Team COX left the series after just one season in the series. Goodsmile Racing would later merge with Studie, bringing Taku Bamba to the team as well.
  • Chevrolet cars, which previously appeared in Super GT in the 2007 season also returned to the series, with Tomei Sports replacing their 996 type Porsche 911 GT3 with a Corvette Z06-R.
  • Porsche supplied two new 2010 specification Porsche 911 GT3Rs to Direction Racing and Team Art Taste, the latter team, which was a regular entrant of Super Taikyu series, also marked their debut season in Super GT. The 2010 specification Porsche 911 GT3R which was used by Team COX last season was given to the Hankook KTR team.
  • Team SG Changi, which uses a Lexus IS350 with former RE Amemiya driver Ryo Orime and Alexandre Imperatori is participating in the series for the first time.
  • Kazuki Hoshino, the driver's Champion of GT300 last year, moved from Hasemi Motorsport to A Speed (using an Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2), replacing Hideshi Matsuda. Hasemi Motorsport was later to announce their withdrawal from the series.

Calendar

Round Circuit Date Pole Position GT500 Winner GT300 Winner
2 Japan Fuji Speedway1 1 May No. 39 Lexus Team SARD No. 23 Nismo No. 33 Hankook KTR
Japan Takuto Iguchi
Japan Hiroaki Ishiura
Japan Satoshi Motoyama
France Benoît Tréluyer
Japan Tomonobu Fujii
Japan Masami Kageyama
12 Japan Okayama International Circuit 22 May No. 17 Keihin Real Racing No. 12 Team Impul No. 66 A speed
Japan Toshihiro Kaneishi
Japan Koudai Tsukakoshi
Japan Tsugio Matsuda
Brazil João Paulo de Oliveira
Japan Kazuki Hoshino
Japan Hiroki Yoshimoto
3 Malaysia Sepang International Circuit 19 June No. 1 Weider Honda Racing No. 1 Weider Honda Racing No. 4 GSR&Studie with TeamUKYO
France Loïc Duval
Japan Takashi Kogure
France Loïc Duval
Japan Takashi Kogure
Japan Taku Bamba
Japan Nobuteru Taniguchi
4 Japan Sportsland SUGO 31 July No. 46 MOLA No. 46 MOLA No. 14 Team SG CHANGI
Italy Ronnie Quintarelli
Japan Masataka Yanagida
Italy Ronnie Quintarelli
Japan Masataka Yanagida
Switzerland Alexandre Imperatori
Japan Ryo Orime
53 Japan Suzuka Circuit
Report
21 August No. 46 MOLA No. 1 Weider Honda Racing No. 62 R&D Sport
Italy Ronnie Quintarelli
Japan Masataka Yanagida
France Loïc Duval
Japan Takashi Kogure
Japan Tetsuya Yamano
Japan Kota Sasaki
6 Japan Fuji Speedway 11 September No. 39 Lexus Team SARD No. 38 Lexus Team ZENT Cerumo No. 4 GSR&Studie with TeamUKYO
Japan Hiroaki Ishiura
Japan Takuto Iguchi
Japan Yuji Tachikawa
Japan Kohei Hirate
Japan Taku Bamba
Japan Nobuteru Taniguchi
7 Japan Autopolis 2 October No. 39 Lexus Team SARD No. 23 Nismo No. 62 R&D Sport
Japan Hiroaki Ishiura
Japan Takuto Iguchi
Japan Satoshi Motoyama
France Benoît Tréluyer
Japan Tetsuya Yamano
Japan Kota Sasaki
8 Japan Twin Ring Motegi 16 October No. 46 MOLA No. 23 Nismo No. 4 GSR&Studie with TeamUKYO
Italy Ronnie Quintarelli
Japan Masataka Yanagida
Japan Satoshi Motoyama
France Benoît Tréluyer
Japan Taku Bamba
Japan Nobuteru Taniguchi
NC Japan Fuji Speedway 12 November No. 46 MOLA No. 46 MOLA No. 4 GSR&Studie with TeamUKYO
Italy Ronnie Quintarelli Italy Ronnie Quintarelli Japan Nobuteru Taniguchi
13 November No. 46 MOLA No. 100 Team Kunimitsu No. 4 GSR&Studie with TeamUKYO
Japan Masataka Yanagida Japan Takuya Izawa Japan Taku Bamba

Notes:

  • ^1 – Race stopped early due to bad weather, full points awarded.
  • ^2 – The Okayama round was still considered Round 1.
  • ^3 – Race stopped early due to energy curfew, full points awarded.

Standings

GT500 Drivers

Scoring system
Position1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th
Points2015118654321
Rank Driver OKA
Japan
FUJ
Japan
SEP
Malaysia
SUG
Japan
SUZ
Japan
FUJ
Japan
AUT
Japan
MOT
Japan
PTS
1 Japan Masataka Yanagida
Italy Ronnie Quintarelli
6 10 2 1 2 7 2 2 90
2 Japan Satoshi Motoyama
France Benoît Tréluyer
5 1 14 12 4 6 1 1 79
3 Japan Takashi Kogure
France Loïc Duval
7 13 1 Ret 1 4 11 6 57
4 Japan Toshihiro Kaneishi
Japan Koudai Tsukakoshi
3 8 3 6 12 3 6 7 50
5 Japan Tsugio Matsuda
Brazil João Paulo de Oliveira
1 14 15 13 3 2 10 9 49
6 Japan Yuji Tachikawa
Japan Kohei Hirate
8 5 5 11 13 1 3 10 47
7 Japan Hiroaki Ishiura
Japan Takuto Iguchi
13 6 13 2 5 8 15 3 40
8 Germany André Lotterer
Japan Kazuki Nakajima
4 4 6 9 6 15 4 8 39
9 Japan Takuya Izawa
Japan Naoki Yamamoto
2 12 7 7 Ret 5 14 4 37
10 Japan Hironobu Yasuda
Sweden Björn Wirdheim
9 7 4 4 10 11 5 12 29
11 Japan Daisuke Ito
Japan Kazuya Oshima
11 2 8 5 8 10 13 15 28
12 Japan Ryo Michigami
Japan Yuhki Nakayama
10 15 12 3 13 12 8 5 21
13 Japan Seiji Ara
Japan Tatsuya Kataoka
15 3 11 8 11 13 7 11 18
14 Japan Juichi Wakisaka
Portugal Andre Couto
14 11 10 Ret 7 9 9 14 9
15 Japan Hideki Mutoh
Japan Takashi Kobayashi
12 9 9 10 9 9 12 13 9
Rank Driver OKA
Japan
FUJ
Japan
SEP
Malaysia
SUG
Japan
SUZ
Japan
FUJ
Japan
AUT
Japan
MOT
Japan
PTS
ColourResult
GoldWinner
SilverSecond place
BronzeThird place
GreenPoints finish
BlueNon-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
PurpleRetired (Ret)
RedDid not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
BlackDisqualified (DSQ)
WhiteDid not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

GT300 Drivers

Scoring system
Position1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th
Points2015118654321
Rank Driver OKA
Japan
FUJ
Japan
SEP
Malaysia
SUG
Japan
SUZ
Japan
FUJ
Japan
AUT
Japan
MOT
Japan
PTS
1 Japan Nobuteru Taniguchi
Japan Taku Bamba
4 5 1 6 5 1 9 1 87
2 Japan Tetsuya Tanaka
Japan Katsuyuki Hiranaka
2 2 2 7 4 22 2 3 83
3 Japan Masami Kageyama
Japan Tomonobu Fujii
14 1 9 5 2 11 17 2 58
4 Japan Tetsuya Yamano
Japan Kota Sasaki
8 18 8 Ret 1 6 1 6 56
5 Japan Ryo Orime 15 16 Ret 1 8 2 3 Ret 49
6 Switzerland Alexandre Imperatori 15 16 1 8 2 3 Ret 49
7 Japan Yuji Kunimoto
Japan Morio Nitta
6 7 6 2 7 12 8 9 38
8 Japan Kazuki Hoshino
Japan Hiroki Yoshimoto
1 Ret Ret 8 12 9 11 4 33
9 Japan Takeshi Tsuchiya
Japan Akihiro Tsuzuki
Ret 3 Ret 4 9 5 5 19 33
10 Japan Kazuho Takahashi
Japan Hiroki Katoh
7 Ret 10 13 6 3 4 8 32
11 Japan Manabu Orido
Japan Atsushi Yogo
3 14 7 16 3 19 16 16 26
12 Japan Shinichi Takagi
Japan Kosuke Matsuura
20 6 5 3 20 12 13 7 26
13 Japan Yuhi Sekiguchi
Japan Hiroyuki Iiri
Ret 8 4 15 10 4 12 5 26
14 Japan Yutaka Yamagishi 5 11 3 Ret 11 7 10 14 22
15 Japan Hideki Yamauchi 5 11 3 Ret 11 7 21
16 Japan Koki Saga
Japan Yuki Iwasaki
12 4 11 Ret 13 13 7 11 12
17 Japan Takayuki Aoki
Japan Yuya Sakamoto
10 Ret 14 15 10 8 6 12 10
18 Japan Shinichi Yamaji 9 9 12 17 21 Ret 4
19 Japan Hiroshi Koizumi 9 9 12 17 21 4
20 Japan Haruki Kurosawa 19 12 9 Ret 17 21 16 2
21 Japan Katsuhiko Tsutsui 9 2
22 Japan Hiroshi Takamori
Japan Michael Kim
17 10 Ret Ret 1
23 Japan Yasuhiro Shimizu
Germany Tim Bergmeister
16 10 15 13 1
24 Netherlands Carlo van Dam DNQ 14 Ret 16 10 14 1
25 Japan Junichiro Yamashita 12 11 14 20 10 1
26 Japan Hideshi Matsuda 11 12 13 15 10 1
Rank Driver OKA
Japan
FUJ
Japan
SEP
Malaysia
SUG
Japan
SUZ
Japan
FUJ
Japan
AUT
Japan
MOT
Japan
PTS
ColourResult
GoldWinner
SilverSecond place
BronzeThird place
GreenPoints finish
BlueNon-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
PurpleRetired (Ret)
RedDid not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
BlackDisqualified (DSQ)
WhiteDid not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

References

  1. "8 rounds for 2011 SUPER GT season, Autopolis back in the calendar!". supergt.net. Super GT. 2010-08-08. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
  2. 1 2 "Super GT Okayama will be held in 21–22 May". as-web.jp. i-dea. 2010-03-24. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
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