Suzuka Circuit and the GT Association (GTA) have announced the postponement of this weekend’s Autobacs SUPER GT Series 350-kilometre race due to an inbound typhoon that will make landfall in Japan this weekend.
The Suzuka GT 350km Race will be moved to 7/8 December, making the event the new season finale.
“Round 5 of the SUPER GT series, originally scheduled to be held on August 31st and September 1st will be postponed due to the approaching Typhoon No. 10, out of concern for the safety of anyone coming to the circuit and all the personnel involved and the likelihood of major related disruption of public transportation to the venue due to the typhoon. We also announce that the decision has been made to postpone the Round 5 event until December 7th and 8th,” the series said in a statement.
“Concerning this unavoidable postponement, we ask for the kind understanding of all the fans who were looking forward to seeing the event this coming weekend and all of the people involved.”
Suzuka Circuit has also stated that information on ticket refunds and sales for the postponed event will be issued on their official website on Monday, 9 December.
It will be the first time that the SUPER GT Series will hold its championship finale in December. The only other time that SUPER GT has run a non-championship event in December was the 2004 JGTC All-Star Race at California Speedway, 20 years ago.
Once synonymous with staging championship deciders in Formula One, Suzuka last held the final round of the SUPER GT Series championship in 2005.
Typhoon No. 10, also known as Typhoon Shanshan, is set to strike the Kyushu region Thursday morning and is then expected to move through central and eastern Japan, bringing the risk of high waves, flooding, and wind gusts that may exceed 200 kilometres per hour.
Feature image © GTA
