Entry List Revealed For 2023 SUPER GT Finale At Motegi
The GT Association (GTA) has published the entry list for the eighth and final round of the 2023 Autobacs SUPER GT Series, the Motegi GT 300km Race Grand Final which takes place on 5 November from Mobility Resort Motegi.
There are no changes in the GT500 class, where three teams will go into the final round with a chance at the championship: The #36 au TOM’s Toyota GR Supra (Sho Tsuboi/Ritomo Miyata), the #3 CraftSports Motul Z (Katsumasa Chiyo/Mitsunori Takaboshi), and the #16 ARTA Mugen Honda NSX-GT (Nirei Fukuzumi/Hiroki Otsu). Success Ballast is no longer a factor in this final round.
The Motegi Grand Final will also be the final race for three-time GT500 Drivers’ Champion, Yuji Tachikawa, and for the second-generation Honda NSX-GT, both of which are retiring at the end of the season.
Iori Kimura will get his second start at Team Kunimitsu, in relief of Naoki Yamamoto who is still recovering from a neck injury sustained at Sportsland Sugo.
| Class | No. | Vehicle/Registered Name | Drivers | Entrant | Tyres |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GT500 | 1 | Nissan Z GT500 Marelli Impul Z | Kazuki Hiramine Bertrand Baguette | Team Impul | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 3 | Nissan Z GT500 Niterra Motul Z | Katsumasa Chiyo Mitsunori Takaboshi | NDDP Racing | Michelin |
| GT500 | 8 | Honda NSX-GT ARTA Mugen NSX-GT | Tomoki Nojiri Toshiki Oyu | ARTA | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 14 | Toyota GR Supra GT500 Eneos X Prime GR Supra | Kazuya Oshima Kenta Yamashita | TGR Team Eneos ROOKIE | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 16 | Honda NSX-GT ARTA Mugen NSX-GT | Nirei Fukuzumi Hiroki Otsu | ARTA | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 17 | Honda NSX-GT Astemo NSX-GT | Koudai Tsukakoshi Nobuharu Matsushita | Astemo Real Racing | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 19 | Toyota GR Supra GT500 WedsSport Advan GR Supra | Yuji Kunimoto Sena Sakaguchi | TGR Team WedsSport Bandoh | Yokohama |
| GT500 | 23 | Nissan Z GT500 Motul Autech Z | Tsugio Matsuda Ronnie Quintarelli | NISMO | Michelin |
| GT500 | 24 | Nissan Z GT500 Realize Corporation Advan Z | Daiki Sasaki Kohei Hirate | Kondo Racing | Yokohama |
| GT500 | 36 | Toyota GR Supra GT500 au TOM's GR Supra | Sho Tsuboi Ritomo Miyata | TGR Team au TOM's | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 37 | Toyota GR Supra GT500 Deloitte TOM's GR Supra | Ukyo Sasahara Giuliano Alesi | TGR Team Deloitte TOM's | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 38 | Toyota GR Supra GT500 ZENT Cerumo GR Supra | Yuji Tachikawa Hiroaki Ishiura | TGR Team ZENT Cerumo | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 39 | Toyota GR Supra GT500 Denso Kobelco SARD GR Supra | Yuhi Sekiguchi Yuichi Nakayama | TGR Team SARD | Bridgestone |
| GT500 | 64 | Honda NSX-GT Modulo NSX-GT | Takuya Izawa Kakunoshin Ohta | Modulo Nakajima Racing | Dunlop |
| GT500 | 100 | Honda NSX-GT Stanley NSX-GT | Tadasuke Makino Iori Kimura | Team Kunimitsu | Bridgestone |
Among the 25 GT300 entries, there are a couple of significant changes to report. First, Kazuto Kotaka and Yuki Nemoto will drive the #31 apr Lexus LC500h after scoring the car’s first podium at Autopolis.
Nemoto, who has split time between SUPER GT and GT World Challenge Europe effectively this season, will replace Koki Saga in the lineup. Saga will remain with the team in a supporting role, but the veteran driver’s 14-year streak of consecutive races behind the wheel of the apr #31 will come to an end.
Meanwhile, Tomei Sports has brought back Yusaku Shibata to partner Takayuki Aoki in the #360 RunUp Rivaux Nissan GT-R. Shibata, the six-time national gymkhana champion and owner of Arvou tuning shop, recently competed in this year’s World Time Attack Challenge at Sydney Motorsports Park.
Only two teams still remain mathematically eligible for the GT300 championship, but the #52 Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave Toyota GR Supra (Hiroki Yoshida/Kohta Kawaai) can clinch the championship during Saturday afternoon’s Qualifying session if the second-ranked #2 muta Racing Toyota GR86 (Yuui Tsutsumi/Hibiki Taira) doesn’t win the pole position. Even then, Yoshida and Kawaai only need to finish in the top ten to clinch the championship.
| Class | No. | Vehicle/Registered Name | Drivers | Entrant | Tyres |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GT300 | 2 | Toyota GR86 GT300 muta Racing GR86 GT | Yuui Tsutsumi Hibiki Taira | muta Racing INGING | Bridgestone |
| GT300 | 4 | Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Goodsmile Hatsune Miku AMG | Nobuteru Taniguchi Tatsuya Kataoka | Goodsmile Racing & TeamUKYO | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 5 | Dome MC86 Mach Syaken Air Buster MC86 Mach Go | Yusuke Tomibayashi Takamitsu Matsui | Team Mach | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 6 | Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II Dobot Audi R8 LMS | Yoshiaki Katayama Roberto Merhi Muntan | Team LeMans | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 7 | BMW M4 GT3 Studie BMW M4 | Seiji Ara Bruno Spengler | BMW M Team Studie x CRS | Michelin |
| GT300 | 9 | Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Pacific VSpo NAC AMG | Ryohei Sakaguchi Liang Jiatong | Pacific Racing Team | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 10 | Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 Ponos Gainer GT-R | Hironobu Yasuda Riki Okusa | Gainer | Dunlop |
| GT300 | 11 | Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 Gainer TanaX GT-R | Ryuichiro Tomita Keishi Ishikawa | Gainer | Dunlop |
| GT300 | 18 | Honda NSX GT3 Evo UPGarage NSX GT3 | Takashi Kobayashi Syun Koide | Team UPGarage | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 20 | Toyota GR86 GT300 SHADE Racing GR86 GT | Katsuyuki Hiranaka Eijiro Shimizu | SHADE Racing | Dunlop |
| GT300 | 22 | Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo R'Qs AMG GT3 | Hisashi Wada Masaki Jyonai | R'Qs Motor Sports | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 27 | Honda NSX GT3 Evo Yogibo NSX GT3 | Yugo Iwasawa Reimei Ito | Yogibo Racing | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 30 | Toyota GR86 GT300 apr GR86 GT | Hiroaki Nagai Manabu Orido | apr | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 31 | Lexus LC500h GT300 apr LC500h GT | Kazuto Kotaka Yuki Nemoto | apr | Bridgestone |
| GT300 | 48 | Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 Shokumou K's Frontier GT-R | Taiyo Ida Yuki Tanaka | NILZZ Racing | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 50 | Lexus RC F GT3 Anest Iwata Racing RC F GT3 | Igor Omura Fraga Yuga Furutani | Anest Iwata Racing with Arnage | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 52 | Toyota GR Supra GT300 Saitama Toyopet GB GR Supra GT | Hiroki Yoshida Kohta Kawaai | Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave | Bridgestone |
| GT300 | 56 | Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 Realize Nissan Mechanic Challenge GT-R | João Paulo de Oliveira Teppei Natori | Kondo Racing | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 60 | Toyota GR Supra GT300 Syntium LMcorsa GR Supra GT | Hiroki Yoshimoto Shunsuke Kohno | LM corsa | Dunlop |
| GT300 | 61 | Subaru BRZ GT300 Subaru BRZ R&D Sport | Takuto Iguchi Hideki Yamauchi | R&D Sport | Dunlop |
| GT300 | 65 | Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo LEON Pyramid AMG | Naoya Gamou Takuro Shinohara | K2 R&D LEON Racing | Bridgestone |
| GT300 | 87 | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Bamboo Airways Lamborghini GT3 | Kosuke Matsuura Natsu Sakaguchi | JLOC | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 88 | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 JLOC Lamborghini GT3 | Takashi Kogure Yuya Motojima | JLOC | Yokohama |
| GT300 | 96 | Lexus RC F GT3 K-tunes RC F GT3 | Morio Nitta Shinichi Takagi | K-tunes Racing | Dunlop |
| GT300 | 360 | Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 RunUp Rivaux GT-R | Takayuki Aoki Yusaku Shibata | Tomei Sports | Yokohama |
The Motegi GT GT300 Race Grand Final starts on 5 November at 13:00 JST / 4:00 GMT / 5:00 CET / midnight EST.
Images © GTA
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