Autopolis SUPER GT – schedule, tips on how to watch, entry record

A complete of 40 vehicles, 15 in GT500 and 25 in GT300, are entered for the seventh spherical of the season, slated to start at 1.30pm native time on Sunday (GMT +9).

For the primary time ever, Autopolis will probably be internet hosting a 450km race, making SUPER GT’s annual go to to the island of Kyushu an actual step into the unknown. Groups should discover the best timing to make two obligatory pitstops over the course of 97 laps at a observe recognized for being powerful on tyres.

After a tumultuous race final month at Sugo, NDDP Nissan pair Katsumasa Chiyo and Mitsunori Takaboshi have a slender two-point lead within the GT500 drivers’ standings, however face the appreciable drawback of being the one drivers within the high class carrying a gas stream restrictor this weekend with success ballast halved.

That makes this weekend’s race a golden alternative for Chiyo and Takaboshi’s nearest rivals, TOM’S Toyota drivers Sho Tsuboi and Ritomo Miyata, to make up floor. However with no fewer than 9 crews sitting inside 20 factors of the leaders, it is anybody’s guess as to who will head to subsequent month’s Motegi season finale in one of the best place.

Honda squad Actual Racing (Koudai Tsukakoshi/Nobuharu Matsushita) received at Autopolis final yr and will probably be desirous to make up for the disqualification that price them victory at Sugo final day out, whereas ARTA will probably be hoping to maintain up its profitable streak after its #8 automotive (Tomoki Nojiri/Toshiki Oyu) revitalised its title hopes by choosing up the win at Sugo.

Explicit consideration will even be centered on the Staff Kunimitsu Honda crew as Iori Kimura makes his GT500 debut rather than Naoki Yamamoto, who’s out for the rest of the season following the accidents sustained in his nasty crash within the earlier race at Sugo.

Within the GT300 class, Toyota outfit Saitama Toyopet takes a 10-point lead into the penultimate spherical of the season after victory at Sugo, the place Hiroki Yoshida and Kohta Kawaai have been pipped to the end by the Staff UpGarage Honda after working out of gas nearly in sight of the chequered flag, solely to be awarded the win once more when the UpGarage automotive failed post-race technical inspection.

Yoshida and Kawaai are joined aboard the #52 Toyota GR Supra GT300 this weekend by Toyota junior Seita Nonaka, who has been sidelined for the reason that fireplace at Fuji in August that introduced the Tsuchiya Engineering squad’s season to a untimely finish.

Subaru’s hopes of a late title fightback have been boosted by the elimination of the additional 15kg of Stability of Efficiency weight that the works BRZ was handed for Sugo, however Hideki Yamauchi and Takuto Iguchi nonetheless face an uphill activity to shut the 19-point deficit to the championship leaders.

SUPER GT time schedule for Autopolis Spherical 7

Occasions are Native/UK time (GMT+1)/EDT/PDT 

Saturday October 14

Free apply (1h45 minutes) – 9.25am/1.25am/8.25pm (Friday)/5.25pm (Friday)

Qualifying – 3pm/7am/2am/11pm (Friday)

Sunday October 15

Heat-up – 12pm/4am/11pm (Saturday)/8pm (Saturday)

Race (97 laps) – 1.30pm/5.30am/12.30am/9.30pm (Saturday)

Do not see your timezone listed? Try our SUPER GT schedule web page to see the session occasions in your native timezone

How can I watch SUPER GT at Autopolis?

Motorsport.television will as soon as once more offer full protection of each qualifying and the race for each spherical of the 2023 SUPER GT season (subscription required, obtainable worldwide besides Japan).

Commentary will probably be offered by Jake Sanson and Motorsport.com’s personal skilled Japanese racing analyst Jamie Klein.

Click on right here for additional info, and to get your subscription now

SUPER GT entry record for Autopolis Spherical 7

GT500 class: