SUPER GT Amends Sporting Regulations Following Suzuka

The GT Association (GTA) published updated Sporting Regulations for the Autobacs SUPER GT Series, concerning pit stop rules and obligations, following some unusual developments in the first three rounds including last month’s Suzuka GT 450km Race.

The SUPER GT Sporting Regulations now state that if a race ends under a Safety Car or red flag with at least 75 percent distance completed, any car which fails to complete the required number of pit stops in a race, or exceeds the maximum two-thirds’ distance for an individual driver, will receive a one-lap penalty after the race (listed in Articles 35 and 38.8 of the SUPER GT Sporting Regulations). This penalty will not apply if less than 75 percent of the original race distance is completed before the race is declared complete under a Safety Car or red flag (SpR Article 38.8).

Should the race end under a chequered flag as normal, any car that does not make the required number of pit stops will be disqualified from the race (SpR Article 38.7).

These clarifications were made in the wake of a confusing finish to the third round of the season. Following a severe accident, NDDP Racing and drivers Katsumasa Chiyo and Mitsunori Takaboshi were provisionally declared the winners. But after the race, ten teams protested the outcome, and the #3 Niterra Motul Nissan Z was given a 60-second time penalty for not making its two required pit stops.

NDDP Racing, Nissan, and NISMO opted not to go ahead with a counter-protest on the promise that the GTA would clarify these rules concerning pit stop obligations in case another race ends under a red flag or Safety Car. TGR Team WedsSport Bandoh, Yuji Kunimoto, and Sena Sakaguchi were officially declared the winners a week after the race.

Concerning the two-thirds’ maximum drive time rule, if a driver change cannot be made due to the deployment of a Safety Car or Full Course Yellow (FCY), any team may come to the pits and complete the change – but it must be completed on the lap that the Safety Car is withdrawn or the FCY is lifted by Race Control (SpR Article 35).

In the interest of safety, the GTA has also amended the rules for pit stops during Safety Car interventions under Appendix 3, Section 16.

Teams are now allowed to pit in to change from dry tyres to rain tyres within two laps of the Safety Car being deployed. This pit stop will not be counted towards the number of required pit stops to be completed before the end of the race, and no other pit work is allowed during these stops (Section 16.1).

This change was made in response to the season-opening Okayama GT 300km Race, where some cars were caught out due to changing weather conditions and were subject to lengthy stop-and-go penalties for changing to wet tyres when the Safety Car came out.

Once the field is sorted during the middle of the Safety Car period and all cars are lined up behind the Safety Car and the “Pit Lane Open” message is displayed on the monitor, GT500 cars only may pit in from the lap after the “Pit Lane Open” message is displayed – in an effort to ease pit lane congestion. GT300 cars will only be permitted to come in during the next lap (Section 16.2).

During this time, all pit work except for driver changes may be performed.

The SUPER GT Series returns next month with round four of the 2023 season, the Fuji GT 450km Race (not to be confused with the Fuji GT 450km Race from May) on 6 August.

Images © GTA