2026 SUPER GT Season Enters Final Stages With Autopolis 3 Hour Race

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.

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.

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