Autumn is here, and with it, the 2026 Autobacs SUPER GT Series draws closer to what could be an explosive double-header championship finale at Mobility Resort Motegi on 7/8 November. But first, the field of 43 cars and 98 drivers will have to get through the formidable challenge that is Autopolis International Racing Course, located in Japan’s western island of Kyushu, near Mount Aso.
This weekend’s race will be held as a support event to benefit victims of the deadly 28 July earthquake which struck the nearby city of Kumamoto, killing 38 people, injuring hundreds, and leaving thousands more without a home. Earlier this year, SUPER GT and its teams and sponsors banded together to give much-needed supplies to earthquake victims, and this weekend, fundraising efforts for earthquake relief will continue on-site.
Autopolis, a circuit which has endured its own difficulties throughout its history, stands as the heart of motor racing in Kyushu.
As has been the case since the start of the season, the #36 au TOM’S Toyota GR Supra GT500 of Sho Tsuboi and Kenta Yamashita leads the GT500 championship, 13 points ahead – but once again having to contend with not only the field, but with the maximum Success Weight in this final “full weight” race of the year. They face another challenge this weekend to come away with valuable championship points, and last year’s Autopolis 3H was the only time last year that Tsuboi and Yamashita failed to score thanks to an overheating issue.
In fact, eight out of 14 GT500 cars are carrying more than 50 kilogrammes of Success Weight, including reduced engine fuel flow limits, or Success Refuelling Restrictors. This includes the three Honda teams that now sit second, third, and fourth in the standings: The #17 Astemo Honda HRC Prelude-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi/Yuto Nomura) that won at Sugo, the #100 Stanley Prelude-GT (Naoki Yamamoto/Tadasuke Makino) that won the summer race at Fuji, and the Suzuka-winning #16 ARTA Mugen Prelude-GT (Tomoki Nojiri/Ren Sato).
Yamamoto and Makino led a Honda podium sweep of last year’s Autopolis 3 Hours thanks to savvy pit strategy, but Honda faces a difficult task to try and win this year’s race and take the Honda HRC Prelude-GT’s fourth consecutive GT500 victory. The #64 Modulo Prelude-GT (Riki Okusa/Igor Fraga) has failed to crack the top ten all year despite two front-row starts at Suzuka and Sugo, and this could be their last chance at a meaningful result in 2026.
All eyes then could be on Nissan, which not only needs one of its cars to get a win to stay in the title race, but to potentially avoid the humiliation of a first winless season since 2002. NISMO does get a boost this weekend: Katsumasa Chiyo has been cleared to return to the #23 Motul Autech Nissan Z NISMO GT500, where he’ll rejoin Mitsunori Takaboshi after injuring his foot just before the race in Sugo.
Sena Sakaguchi (#19 WedsSport Bandoh GR Supra) is also set to compete after missing last weekend’s Super Formula races in Fuji due to an eye injury.
| Class | No. | Vehicle/Registered Name | Drivers | Entrant | Tyres |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GT500 | 8 | Honda HRC Prelude-GT #8 ARTA Mugen HRC Prelude-GT | Kakunoshin Ohta Hiroki Otsu | Team HRC ARTA Mugen | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 12 | Nissan Z NISMO GT500 TRS Impul with SDG Z | Kazuki Hiramine Bertrand Baguette | Team Impul | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 14 | Toyota GR Supra GT500 ENEOS X Prime GR Supra | Nirei Fukuzumi Kazuya Oshima | TGR Team ENEOS ROOKIE | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 16 | Honda HRC Prelude-GT #16 ARTA Mugen HRC Prelude-GT | Tomoki Nojiri Ren Sato | ARTA Mugen | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 17 | Honda HRC Prelude-GT Astemo HRC Prelude-GT | Koudai Tsukakoshi Yuto Nomura | Astemo Real Racing | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 19 | Toyota GR Supra GT500 WedsSport Bandoh GR Supra | Yuji Kunimoto Sena Sakaguchi | TGR Team WedsSport Bandoh | Yokohama |
| GT500 | 23 | Nissan Z NISMO GT500 Motul Niterra Z | Katsumasa Chiyo Mitsunori Takaboshi | NISMO | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 24 | Nissan Z NISMO GT500 Realize Corporation Z | Teppei Natori Atsushi Miyake | Kondo Racing | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 36 | Toyota GR Supra GT500 au TOM'S GR Supra | Sho Tsuboi Kenta Yamashita | TGR Team au TOM'S | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 37 | Toyota GR Supra GT500 Deloitte TOM'S GR Supra | Ukyo Sasahara Giuliano Alesi | TGR Team Deloitte TOM'S | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 38 | Toyota GR Supra GT500 KeePer Cerumo GR Supra | Toshiki Oyu Rikuto Kobayashi | TGR Team KeePer Cerumo | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 39 | Toyota GR Supra GT500 Denso Kobelco SARD GR Supra | Yuhi Sekiguchi Sacha Fenestraz | TGR Team SARD | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 64 | Honda HRC Prelude-GT Modulo HRC Prelude-GT | Riki Okusa Igor Omura Fraga | Modulo Nakajima Racing | Dunlop |
| GT500 | 100 | Honda HRC Prelude-GT Stanley HRC Prelude-GT | Naoki Yamamoto Tadasuke Makino | Stanley Team Kunimitsu | Bridgestone |
Over in GT300, the championship picture experienced a seismic shift at Sugo. João Paulo de Oliveira and Iori Kimura finished second in the #56 Realize/Nissan Mechanic Challenge GT-R, enough to pull out a massive 21-point gap as other challengers faltered big time.
The #777 D’station Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo (Tomonobu Fujii/Charlie Fagg) finished outside the points, while the #7 CarGuy Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo (Zak O’Sullivan/Kiyoshi Umegaki/Reimei Ito) ran out of fuel on the final lap and dropped down further after a post-race penalty. They’re not out of hope yet, but these top three cars in the standings are all contending with the maximum in terms of Success Ballast and Success Refuelling Restrictors this weekend, so they’ll have to be creative with strategy to gain an advantage and outperform expectations this weekend.
Ironically, one car that seems to be hitting its stride at the perfect moment just happens to be the team that won last year. seven x seven Racing snapped Porsche’s unfathomable 13-year winless drought in SUPER GT last year when Harry King and Kiyoto Fujinami won at Autopolis. This year, the #666 Porsche 911 GT3 R has different drivers, both as capable: Sven Müller has had a consistent year, and rookie Taichi Watarai is finding top form after just two starts in the series. They could be among the favourites to win again this year.
The #60 Syntium LM corsa Lexus LC500 (Hiroki Yoshimoto/Shunsuke Kohno) will also be worth following as they attempt to follow up their win at Sugo with another strong showing.
Kumamoto Prefecture native Hiroki Yoshida (#52 Saitama Green Brave Toyota GR Supra) has won at his home circuit twice and will have plenty of support from the crowd, along with Fukuoka Prefecture’s Takuto Iguchi (#61 Subaru BRZ R&D Sport), Yuya Motojima (#87 Open House Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2), and the #5 Mach Syaken/Air Buster MC86 from Team Mach.
With this being the second long-distance race of the year, 12 cars including the #7 CarGuy Ferrari will have three-driver line-ups. Among them are two fresh faces worth following in GT300. Yes, technically it’s not a SUPER GT debut for Yusuke Mitsui – who’d made five practice-only appearances in 2024. But it’s the first time that the 24-year-old former Honda junior has the chance to make an impact for his team: This year’s Super Formula Lights runner-up will drive the #26 Anest Iwata Racing Nissan Fairlady Z, a car that has yet to finish in the top 20 this year.
The other newcomer is 21-year-old Kento Omiya, one of PONOS Racing’s single-seater drivers who now gets a shot to drive their #45 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo. He finished third in Formula Regional Japan this year with more wins than any other driver.
Other third drivers in the field include CarGuy MKS Racing’s Ito, JLOC’s Kohta Kawaai and Natsu Sakaguchi, Manabu Orido and Charlie Wurz for apr, Rintaro Kubo for Pacific Racing Team, and local Bronze driver Atsushi Tanaka (Tomei Sports) who greatly contributed to the recent round of earthquake relief efforts.
| Class | No. | Vehicle/Registered Name | Drivers | Entrant | Tyres |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GT300 | 2 | Toyota GR86 GT300 Hyper Water INGING GR86 GT | Yuui Tsutsumi Kazuhisa Urabe | Hyper Water Racing INGING | Bridgestone |
| GT300 | 4 | Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO Goodsmile Hatsune Miku AMG | Nobuteru Taniguchi Tatsuya Kataoka | Goodsmile Racing & TeamUKYO | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 5 | Toyota (Dome) 86 MC Mach Syaken Air Buster MC86 Mach Go | Yusuke Shiotsu Souta Arao | Team Mach | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 6 | Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo Uni-Robo Bluegrass Ferrari | Yoshiaki Katayama Niklas Krütten | Velorex | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 7 | Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo CarGuy Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo | Zak O'Sullivan Kiyoshi Umegaki Reimei Ito | CarGuy MKS Racing | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 9 | BMW M4 GT3 EVO Pacific Umamusume NAC BMW | Yusuke Tomibayashi Yuta Fujiwara Rintaro Kubo | Pacific Racing Team | Michelin |
| GT300 | 11 | Nissan Fairlady Z GT300 Gainer Tanax Z | Ryuichiro Tomita Kazuki Oki | Gainer | Dunlop |
| GT300 | 18 | Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO UpGarage AMG GT3 | Takashi Kobayashi Kotaro Shimbara | Team UpGarage | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 20 | Lexus RC F GT3 SHADE Racing RC F GT3 | Katsuyuki Hiranaka Eijiro Shimizu | SHADE Racing | Michelin |
| GT300 | 22 | Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO R'Qs AMG GT3 | Masaki Kano Hisashi Wada Yuma Shoji | R'Qs Motor Sports | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 25 | Toyota GR Supra GT300 Hoppy Schatz GR Supra GT | Takamitsu Matsui Ryota Horachi | Hoppy Team Tsuchiya | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 26 | Nissan Fairlady Z GT300 Anest Iwata Gainer Z | Hironobu Yasuda Lee Jungwoo Yusuke Mitsui | Anest Iwata Racing | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 30 | Toyota GR86 GT300 apr GR86 GT | Hiroaki Nagai Hibiki Taira Manabu Orido | apr | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 31 | Lexus LC500h GT300 apr LC500h GT | Kazuto Kotaka Miki Koyama Charlie Wurz | apr | Bridgestone |
| GT300 | 32 | Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO ENEOS X Prime AMG GT3 | Hiroaki Ishiura Tokiya Suzuki | Team ENEOS ROOKIE | Bridgestone |
| GT300 | 45 | Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo PONOS Ferrari 296 Evo | Takuro Shinohara Shintaro Kawabata Kento Omiya | PONOS Racing | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 48 | Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 Kenkō K's Frontier WM NILZZ GT-R | Taiyo Ida James Pull Daiki Fujiwara | NILZZ Racing | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 52 | Toyota GR Supra GT300 Green Brave GR Supra GT | Hiroki Yoshida Seita Nonaka | Saitama Green Brave | Bridgestone |
| GT300 | 56 | Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 Realize Nissan Mechanic Challenge GT-R | João Paulo de Oliveira Iori Kimura | Kondo Racing | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 60 | Lexus LC500 GT300 Syntium LM corsa LC500 GT | Hiroki Yoshimoto Shunsuke Kohno | LM corsa | Dunlop |
| GT300 | 61 | Subaru BRZ GT300 Subaru BRZ R&D Sport | Takuto Iguchi Hideki Yamauchi | R&D Sport | Dunlop |
| GT300 | 62 | Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 HELM Motorsports GT-R | Yuya Hiraki Reiji Hiraki | HELM Motorsports | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 65 | Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO LEON Pyramid AMG | Naoya Gamou Togo Suganami Haruki Kurosawa | K2 R&D LEON Racing | Bridgestone |
| GT300 | 87 | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 Open House Lamborghini GT3 | Yuya Motojima Kosuke Matsuura Kohta Kawaai | JLOC | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 88 | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 Venteny Lamborghini GT3 | Takashi Kogure Daniil Kvyat Natsu Sakaguchi | JLOC | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 96 | Lexus RC F GT3 K-tunes RC F GT3 | Morio Nitta Shinichi Takagi | K-tunes Racing | Bridgestone |
| GT300 | 360 | Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 RunUp x SOL GT-R | Rin Arakawa Yu Kanamaru Atsushi Tanaka | Tomei Sports | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 666 | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2) seven x seven Porsche GT3R EVO | Sven Müller Taichi Watarai | seven x seven Racing | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 777 | Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 D'station Vantage GT3 | Tomonobu Fujii Charlie Fagg | D'station Racing | Dunlop |
Qualifying for the Autopolis 3 Hour Race starts Saturday at 2:30 PM JST (local time), and the three-hour feature race goes green Sunday at 1:00 PM JST.
English-language race coverage in North America will be live on RACER Network and RACER+, with Speed City Broadcasting’s Jonathan Green and Jon Massengale commentating alongside DSC’s RJ O’Connell.
Images © GTA