2017 Super GT Series


The 2017 Autobacs Super GT Series was the twenty-fifth season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship including the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship era, and the thirteenth season under the name Super GT. It was the thirty-fifth overall season of a national JAF sportscar championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. The season began on April 9 and ended on November 12, after 8 races.
In the GT500 class, the No. 37 Lexus Team KeePer TOM'S duo of Ryō Hirakawa and Nick Cassidy won their first-ever championship, narrowly beating the Nismo duo of Tsugio Matsuda and Ronnie Quintarelli for the championship. It was the first championship title for TOM'S since Juichi Wakisaka and André Lotterer's 2009 title win. In the GT300 class, in Good Smile Company and Hatsune Miku's 10th season of involvement in Super GT, Goodsmile Racing won their third GT300 title in just seven years after a closely fought championship battle between the No. 4 Hatsune Miku AMG and the No. 65 LEON CVSTOS AMG of K2 R&D LEON Racing. It was Nobuteru Taniguchi and Tatsuya Kataoka's third title, as well as Mercedes' first championship title in Super GT.

Schedule

RoundRaceCircuitDate
1Okayama GT
300 km

Calendar changes

  • The series returned to Autopolis for the first time since 2015. The race scheduled to be held there in 2016 was cancelled due to damage caused to the circuit and local infrastructure by the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes.
  • This was the last season that the Suzuka 1000km is included as a round of Super GT, as the current 1000 km format would be dropped in favour of a 10-hour timed race for 2018. The new race will be aimed primarily at FIA GT3 and GT300 machinery.

Drivers and teams

Vehicle changes

GT500

  • Lexus teams will race the new LC 500 machine, replacing the Lexus RC F which debuted in 2014. Nissan and Honda will continue to run the Nissan GT-R and Honda NSX-GT, modified to updated aerodynamic regulations. The updated NSX-GT will be based upon its newly launched production counterpart.

GT300

Entrant changes

[image:No.117 EIcars BENTLEY GT3 after SUZUKA 1000km THE FINAL.jpg|thumb|250px|The Bentley Continental GT3 made their debuts in the GT300 class this season.]
image:No.52 Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave MARK X MC afetr SUZUKA 1000km THE FINAL.jpg|thumb|250px|Toyota Mark X MC made their debuts in the GT300 class this season.

GT500

Lexus:

GT300

Mid-season changes

  • At the Suzuka 1000 km, former Formula 1 driver Kamui Kobayashi makes his Super GT debut in a one-off for Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh. 2009 Formula 1 champion Jenson Button also makes his Super GT debut in a one-off for Team Mugen.
  • Daisuke Ito drives at the second round of the championship at Fuji Speedway, replacing Kazuki Nakajima, who would instead compete in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
  • After André Couto was seriously injured during a round of the China GT Championship held at Zhuhai, D'Station Racing announced Yūya Motojima would replace Couto as substitute driver for Sven Muller, driving in Rounds 4 and 5.
  • K2 R&D LEON Racing will switch from Yokohama to Bridgestone tyres in 2017.
  • Excellence Porsche Team KTR changed their name to D'Station Racing following a change of ownership and title sponsors. Former baseball pitcher Kazuhiro Sasaki will serve as the team's general representative.
  • INGING Motorsport and Arnage Racing will enter under a unified banner in 2017, with the ex-LM Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 used last season.
  • Lamborghini Team Direction have suspended activities in Super GT for the 2017 season, leaving JLOC as the sole representative for Lamborghini in Super GT.

Championship standings

Drivers' championships

;Scoring system
Position1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10thPole
Points20151186543211
Suzuka251813108654321

Teams' championships

;Scoring system
Position1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th
Points2015118654321
Suzuka25181310865432