After competing in more races than any other driver in the history of the Autobacs SUPER GT Series, Morio Nitta has announced that the two season-ending races this weekend at Mobility Resort Motegi will be his last as a driver.
Nitta, 59, announced today on social media that he would retire from racing in SUPER GT, only two weeks after he became the series’ oldest race winner in history with his victory in the Autopolis GT 3 Hour Race alongside K-tunes Racing and long-time co-driver Shinichi Takagi.
When the chequered flag falls for his final race at Motegi on Sunday, Nitta will have entered 241 championship races from his debut at Sportsland Sugo during the inaugural season of the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) in 1994 to today, the most of any driver in any category. Add in appearances in 10 non-championship events from 1996 to 2013 and Nitta will have competed in a total of 251 JGTC/SUPER GT races, across 32 out of the series’ 33 years – missing only the 1995 season. For his longevity, Nitta was inducted into SUPER GT’s inaugural class of ‘Graded Drivers’ in 2008 – as one of the first five drivers in series history to make 100 or more appearances.
Nitta is also the record holder for the most career race victories (23), podiums (62), and points scored (1,451) in GT300, and was the first driver to win three GT300 Drivers’ championships, claiming titles in 1996, 1999, and 2002. Since then, three other drivers (Tetsuya Yamano, Nobuteru Taniguchi, and Tatsuya Kataoka) have equalled Nitta’s record for most GT300 championships in series history.
Since his JGTC debut in 1994 at the wheel of a Porsche 911, Nitta has seen the evolution of the JGTC/SUPER GT’s second class from its humble origins to its modern, highly-professionalised state today. He co-authored the first win for a hybrid GT300 vehicle in 2013 when he drove apr’s Toyota Prius to victory at the Fuji 500km Golden Week race, and has spent the last few seasons driving the Lexus RC F GT3 – whose successor, the GR GT3, will make its world racing debut the same weekend that Nitta makes his final starts.
In a driving career that has spanned 40 years since his debut in the Fuji Freshman Series, Nitta has also won an All Japan Touring Car Championship (1990 Division 3), a top-class title in the Super Taikyu Series, overall victory in the Tokachi 24 Hours, back-to-back championships in the short-lived Japan Le Mans Challenge, and has also raced in the 24 Hours of Spa – and even the Safari Rally in Kenya. More recently, Nitta has competed in the SRO Japan Cup series for K-tunes Racing.
“I have decided to bring my career as a SUPER GT driver to a close at the end of this season,” Nitta wrote. “‘Perseverance is Power’: These are words I have held close to my heart ever since I was young. I believe that the reason I have been able to keep racing this far is not just because of my own strength, but because everyone around me has enabled me to continue.
“To the teams, the mechanics, our sponsors, the rivals I have competed against, and all our fans: Thank you so very much. I will give my all in both races at the final round in Motegi. I would be delighted if we could all enjoy these races together, right up until the very last lap.”
Nitta and Takagi’s victory at Autopolis ended a seven-year drought for both himself and the K-tunes Racing team, which dated back to May 2019 at Suzuka Circuit; likewise, Takagi had not won since 2019, the year he won his second GT300 title with ARTA. This is Nitta and Takagi’s 17th season as GT300 co-drivers, a partnership that lasted from 1999 to 2010, which was then reformed in 2022.
Nitta joins two-time GT300 Champion Manabu Orido as one of two distinguished drivers who will retire from SUPER GT at the end of the 2026 season.
Images © GTA, Honda Mobilityland, Toyota
