After a successful first season with three longer-distance 450 kilometre rounds, the 2023 Autobacs SUPER GT Series calendar will feature two more rounds with the semi-endurance format.
GT Association (GTA) Chairman Masaaki Bandoh first announced intentions to lengthen two of the series’ eight races last week at the annual Osaka Auto Messe event, and reconfirmed those plans in an interview with auto sport today.
Both rounds at Suzuka Circuit will now be 450km in length, including the third round of the 2023 season on 3-4 June in addition to the fifth round on 26-27 August which was already confirmed at that distance.
The other race taking on the longer format with two compulsory pit stops is the penultimate round at Autopolis International Racing Course, on 14-15 October.
Meanwhile, the opening round at Okayama International Circuit, the sixth round at Sportsland Sugo, and the final round at Mobility Resort Motegi will retain the more traditional 300km “sprint” format with one regulation pit stop.
These updated race distances are expected to be announced officially by SUPER GT in the coming days.
In alignment with the goals of the SUPER GT Green Project 2030 that were outlined last year, which includes encouraging the series tyre manufacturers to develop more durable tyres, Chairman Bandoh also confirmed a one-set reduction in the amount of dry tyres available to each car: Five sets for the 300km races, and six sets for the 450km races.
2023 Autobacs SUPER GT Series Calendar (updated 17 February 2023)
- 16 April – Okayama International Circuit (300km)
- 4 May – Fuji Speedway (450km)
- 4 June – Suzuka Circuit (450km)
- 6 August – Fuji Speedway II (450km)
- 27 August – Suzuka Circuit II (450km)
- 17 September – Sportsland SUGO (300km)
- 15 October – Autopolis International Racing Course (450km)
- 5 November – Mobility Resort Motegi (300km)
There have been changes to the 2023 sporting regulations concerning slow-moving vehicles on track, in an effort to avoid the circumstances which led to Mitsunori Takaboshi’s severe accident in the Fuji GT 450km Race last year.
A full report of the investigation process and a suggested prevention plan that was delivered at last year’s Suzuka 300km round can be read here. The following changes have now been written into the sporting regulations:
Article 18.3 now reads, “During all practice sessions and the race, in the event of an unavoidable slowdown due to vehicle trouble, etc., the driver shall notify the following cars by flashing the hazard or blinker and take safety measures so as not to obstruct other cars on the track.”
Under the Driving Moral Hazard Prevention System, the following items have been added to the list of Definitions of Dangerous Driving/Behaviour: Article 3.3.6, “Failure to take safety measures when driving slowly due to vehicle trouble, putting other vehicles in a dangerous situation,” and article 3.3.7, “Following closely behind a vehicle that has indicated its intention to make a pit stop or is running slowly due to trouble.”
There has also been a clarification on Full Course Yellow (FCY) protocol.
Article 2.1 under Appendix 4 now reads, “Once FCY is declared, all posts will show a waving Yellow Flag. From this moment on overtaking is prohibited, and drivers must check the safety of their surroundings and prepare to slow down.” Article 2.2 now reads, “10 seconds after FCY has been declared, the FCY board will be displayed at all posts. From this moment on all cars will be closely monitored as the maximum speed on the track must not exceed 80km/h.”
This clarification was made after the realisation that two GT500 cars had overtaken other vehicles during the ten-second FCY countdown in Autopolis, one of which was the winning GT500 car, the #17 Astemo Honda NSX-GT of Koudai Tsukakoshi and Nobuharu Matsushita.
In addition, any lap times set in practice and qualifying where a driver exceeds track limits will be deleted, and any lap times set in qualifying during a yellow flag period will also be deleted – under articles 29.7 and 29.8 respectively.
Images © GTA
