2008 Super GT Series explained

The 2008 Autobacs Super GT Series was the sixteenth season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship including the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era and the fourth season as the Super GT series. It marked as well as the twenty-sixth season of a JAF-sanctioned sports car racing championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. It is a series for Grand Touring race cars divided into two categories: GT500 and GT300. This was the first season for the new R35 GT-R, replacing the Z which had been used for all GT500 Nissan teams from 2004-2007. The season began on March 15 and ended on November 9, 2008 after 9 races.

Drivers and teams

GT500

Team	Make	Car	Engine		Drivers	Tyre	Rounds
Autobacs Racing Team Aguri	Honda	Honda NSX GT500	Honda C32B 3.5 L V6	1	Ralph Firman		All
					Takuya Izawa	All
Hasemi Motorsport	Nissan	Nissan GT-R GT500	Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8	3	Ronnie Quintarelli		All
					Naoki Yokomizo	All
ENEOS Toyota Team LeMans	Lexus	Lexus SC430 GT500	Lexus 3UZ-FE 4.5 L V8	6	Daisuke Ito		1–4, 9
					Björn Wirdheim	All
					Akira Iida	5–8
					Roberto Streit	6
Team Impul	Nissan	Nissan GT-R GT500	Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8	12	Tsugio Matsuda		1–4, 6–9
					Sébastien Philippe	All
					Dominik Schwager	5
Real Racing with Leon	Honda	Honda NSX GT500	Honda C32B 3.5 L V6	17	Katsutomo Kaneishi		All
					Toshihiro Kaneishi	All
					Koudai Tsukakoshi	6
Dome Racing Team	Honda	Honda NSX GT500	Honda C32B 3.5 L V6	18	Ryo Michigami		All
					Takashi Kogure	All
Nismo	Nissan	Nissan GT-R GT500	Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8	22	Michael Krumm		All
					Masataka Yanagida	All
					Dominik Schwager	6
				23	Satoshi Motoyama	All
					Benoît Tréluyer	All
					Fabio Carbone	6
Kondo Racing	Nissan	Nissan GT-R GT500	Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8	24	João Paulo de Oliveira		All
					Seiji Ara	All
Toyota Team Tsuchiya	Lexus	Lexus SC430 GT500	Lexus 3UZ-FE 4.5 L V8	25	Takeshi Tsuchiya		All
					Hiroaki Ishiura	All
Nakajima Racing	Honda	Honda NSX GT500	Honda C32B 3.5 L V6	32	Loïc Duval		All
					Katsuyuki Hiranaka	All
Houzan Toyota Team Kraft	Lexus	Lexus SC430 GT500	Lexus 3UZ-FE 4.5 L V8	35	Peter Dumbreck		All
					Tatsuya Kataoka	All
					Shigekazu Wakisaka	6
Petronas Toyota Team TOM'S	Lexus	Lexus SC430 GT500	Lexus 3UZ-FE 4.5 L V8	36	Juichi Wakisaka		All
					André Lotterer	All
					Carlo van Dam	6
ZENT Toyota Team Cerumo	Lexus	Lexus SC430 GT500	Lexus 3UZ-FE 4.5 L V8	38	Yuji Tachikawa		All
					Richard Lyons	All
Toyota Team SARD	Lexus	Lexus SC430 GT500	Lexus 3UZ-FE 4.5 L V8	39	Toranosuke Takagi		All
					André Couto	All
					Koki Saga	6
Team Kunimitsu	Honda	Honda NSX GT500	Honda C32B 3.5 L V6	100	Yuji Ide		All
					Shinya Hosokawa	All
					Kosuke Matsuura	6

GT300

Team	Make	Car	Engine		Drivers	Tyre	Rounds
Cars Tokai Dream28	Mooncraft	Mooncraft Shiden	Toyota 1UZ-FE 4.4 L V8	2	Kazuho Takahashi	align=center rowspan=3		All
					Hiroki Katoh	All
					Hiroki Yoshimoto	6
Team Uematsu Nova	Vemac	Vemac RD320R	Honda C32B 3.4 L V6	4	Ryohei Sakaguchi		All
					Masaki Matsushita	All
					Tadao Uematsu	6
		Vemac RD350R	Zytek ZV348 3.9 L V8	16	Tadao Uematsu	1, 3, 9
					Katsuhiko Tsutsui	1, 3, 9
Team Mach	Vemac	Vemac RD320R	Honda C32B 3.4 L V6	5	Tetsuji Tamanaka		All
					Naoya Yamano	1–7, 9
					Katsuhiko Tsutsui	6, 8
RE Amemiya Racing	Mazda	Mazda RX-7	Mazda RE20B 2.0 L 3-rotor	7	Hiroyuki Iiri		All
					Ryo Orime	All
					Hiroyuki Matsumura	6
A&S Racing	Chevrolet	Chevrolet Corvette	Chevrolet LS1 6.0 L V8	9	Tatsuya Tanigawa		3, 6, 8
					Hirofumi Takei	3, 6, 8
					Takayuki Matsumoto	6
Jim Gainer Racing	Ferrari	Ferrari F430	Ferrari F136E 4.3 L V8	11	Tetsuya Tanaka		All
					Masayuki Ueda	All
Racing Project Bandoh	Toyota	Toyota Celica	Toyota 3S-GTE 2.0 L Turbo I4	19	Manabu Orido		1–3
					Tsubasa Abe	1–3
	Lexus	Lexus IS350	Lexus RV8J 3.4 L V8		Manabu Orido	4–9
					Tsubasa Abe	4–9
					Yuhi Sekiguchi	6
Team Taisan with Nishizawa	Porsche	Porsche 996 GT3-RS	Porsche M96/77 3.6 L F6	26	Nobuteru Taniguchi		All
					Shinichi Yamaji	1–8
					Keita Sawa	6
					Dominik Farnbacher	9
Team Shadow	Porsche	Porsche 996 GT3-RSR	Porsche M96/73 3.6 L F6	27	Takashi Inoue		1, 3, 6–7, 9
					Hwang Jin Woo	1, 3, 6–7
					Yasuhiro Takasaki	6
					Koji Aoyama	9
apr	Toyota	Toyota MR-S	Toyota 2GR-FSE 3.5 L V6	31	Kyosuke Mineo		1–5, 7–9
					Yuya Sakamoto	1–5, 7–9
				95	Kohei Hirate	1–5, 8–9
					Keisuke Kunimoto	All
					Yuya Sakamoto	6
					Kazuya Oshima	6
					Hideki Yamauchi	7
Hankook KTR	Porsche	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	Porsche M97/80 3.8 L F6	33	Mitsuhiro Kinoshita		All
					Masami Kageyama	All
Autobacs Racing Team Aguri	ASL	ASL ARTA Garaiya	Nissan VQ35DE 3.5 L V6	43	Morio Nitta		All
					Shinichi Takagi	All
					Kyosuke Mineo	6
MOLA	Nissan	Nissan Fairlady Z	Nissan VQ35DE 3.5 L V6	46	Kazuki Hoshino		All
					Hironobu Yasuda	All
Team Takeuchi with Shift	Lexus	Lexus IS350	Lexus RV8J 3.4 L V8	52	Takuya Kurosawa		3–9
					Takuto Iguchi	3–9
					Hideki Yamauchi	6
Willcom R&D Sport	Vemac	Vemac RD408R	Mugen MF458S 4.5 L V8	62	Shinsuke Shibahara		1, 5–9
					Haruki Kurosawa	All
					Shogo Mitsuyama	2–4, 6
JLOC	Lamborghini	Lamborghini Murciélago RG-1	Lamborghini L535 6.0 L V12	66	Koji Yamanishi		All
					Atsushi Yogo	All
		Lamborghini Gallardo RG-3	Lamborghini 07L1 5.0 L V10	87	Hisashi Wada	All
					Muneyuki Kurihara	All
					Yoshihisa Namekata	6
				88	Hideshi Matsuda	All
					Naohiro Furuya	All
					Yuya Sakamoto	6
Team Gaikokuya	Porsche	Porsche 996 GT3-RS	Porsche M96/77 3.6 L F6	70	Takehide Maeda		1
					Yutaka Yamagishi	1–7, 9
					Akazame Oyaji	2–3
					Yoshimi Ishibashi	4–7
					Kazuyoshi Takamizawa	6, 9
Cusco Racing	Subaru	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	Subaru EJ20 2.0 L Turbo F4	77	Tetsuya Yamano		All
					Kota Sasaki	1–7
					Carlo van Dam	8–9
Team Daishin	Nissan	Nissan Fairlady Z	Nissan VQ35DE 3.5 L V6	81	Takayuki Aoki		All
					Tomonobu Fujii	All
Arktech Motorsports	Porsche	Porsche 986 Boxster	Porsche M96/77 3.6 L F6	110	Hidetoshi Mitsusada		All
					Daisuke Ikeda	All
				111	Hiroshi Koizumi	1–6
					Guts Jyonai	1
					Tsubasa Kurosawa	2–6
					Paul Ip	6
Tomei Sports	Porsche	Porsche 996 GT3-RS	Porsche M96/77 3.6 L F6	118	Takashi Miyamoto		1, 3, 6–9
					Takashi Ohi	1
					Masayuki Kurihara	3, 6–7
					Guts Jyonai	6, 8–9
Avanzza Rosso	Vemac	Vemac RD320R	Honda C32B 3.5 L V6	666	Shogo Suho		1–3, 5–9
					Junichiro Yamashita	1–3, 5–9
					Takamori.com	6
Studie & Glad with Asada Racing	BMW	BMW Z4 M Coupe	BMW S62B50 4.9 L V8	808	Yasushi Kikuchi		6–7, 9
					Shozo Tagahara	6–7, 9

Schedule

Round	Race	Circuit	Date
1	Suzuka GT 300 km	Suzuka Circuit	March 16
2	Okayama GT 300 km	Okayama International Circuit	April 13
3	Fuji GT 500 km	Fuji Speedway	May 4
4	Super GT International Series Malaysia	Sepang International Circuit	June 22
5	SUGO GT 300 km	Sportsland SUGO	July 27
6	International POKKA 1000km	Suzuka Circuit	August 24
7	Motegi GT 300 km	Twin Ring Motegi	September 14
8	Autopolis GT 300 km	Autopolis	October 19
9	Fuji GT 300 km	Fuji Speedway	November 9

Season Winners

Rd	Circuit	GT500 Winning Team	GT300 Winning Team
		GT500 Winning Drivers	GT300 Winning Drivers
1	Suzuka	#23 Xanavi Nismo GT-R	#7 ORC Amemiya SGC-7
		Satoshi Motoyama Benoît Tréluyer	Hiroyuki Iiri Ryo Orime
2	Okayama	#23 Xanavi Nismo GT-R	#43 ARTA Garaiya
		Satoshi Motoyama Benoît Tréluyer	Morio Nitta Shinichi Takagi
3	Mt. Fuji	#38 ZENT Cerumo SC430	#95 Lightning McQueen apr MR-S
		Yuji Tachikawa Richard Lyons	Kohei Hirate Keisuke Kunimoto
4	Kuala Lumpur	#24 Woodone ADVAN Clarion GT-R	#77 Cusco Dunlop Subaru Impreza
		João Paulo de Oliveira Seiji Ara	Tetsuya Yamano Kouta Sasaki
5	Sportsland SUGO	#18 Takata DOME NSX	#43 ARTA Garaiya
		Ryo Michigami Takashi Kogure	Morio Nitta Shinichi Takagi
6	Suzuka Report	#12 Calsonic IMPUL GT-R	#46 MOLA LEOPALACE Z
		Tsugio Matsuda Sebastien Philippe	Kazuki Hoshino Hironobu Yasuda
7	Motegi	#3 Yellow Hat YMS Tomica GT-R	#19 WedsSport IS350
		Ronnie Quintarelli Naoki Yokomizo	Manabu Orido Tsubasa Abe
8	Autopolis	#23 Xanavi Nismo GT-R	#81 Daishin Advan Z
		Satoshi Motoyama Benoît Tréluyer	Takayuki Aoki Tomonobu Fujii
9	Mt. Fuji	#12 Calsonic IMPUL GT-R	#26 Yunker-Power Taisan Porsche 996 GT3
		Tsugio Matsuda Sebastien Philippe	Nobuteru Taniguchi Dominik Farnbacher

Standings

GT500 Drivers

Scoring system:

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th
Points	20	15	11	8	6	5	4	3	2	1
Qualifying	3	2	1
Fastest Lap	1	1	1

• Only the best four results in the first six races would be counted for the championship.
• There were no points awarded for pole position and fastest lap in the final race.

Rank Driver SUZ OKA FUJ SEP SUG SUZ MOT AUT FUJ PTS 1(#23 Xanavi Nismo GT-R) Satoshi Motoyama Benoît Tréluyer 1 1 14 13 14 8 12 1 9 76 2(#38 ZENT Toyota Team Cerumo SC430) Yuji Tachikawa Richard Lyons 4 7 1 Ret 3 9 9 4 2 72 3(#36 Petronas Toyota Team TOM'S SC430) Juichi Wakisaka André Lotterer 3 4 2 7 10 3 3 8 7 63 4(#12 Calsonic Team Impul Nismo GT-R) Sébastien Philippe Ret 2 9 14 12 1 11 10 1 61 5(#12 Calsonic Team Impul Nismo GT-R) Tsugio Matsuda(Only attempted rounds 1–4, 6–9) Ret 2 9 14 1 11 10 1 61 6(#18 Takata Dome Honda NSX) Ryo Michigami Takashi Kogure 7 12 3 3 1 12 8 7 14 60 7(#22 Motul Nismo GT-R) Michael Krumm Masataka Yanagida 2 15 15 2 13 4 7 5 11 57 8(#1 Autobacs Racing Team Aguri Honda NSX) Ralph Firman Takuya Izawa 14 3 Ret 11 15 13 2 3 12 49 9(#35 Houzan Toyota Team Kraft Lexus SC430) Peter Dumbreck Tatsuya Kataoka 6 6 5 10 2 10 6 15 6 45 10(#32 Nakajima Racing Epson Honda NSX) Loïc Duval Katsuyuki Hiranaka 10 5 7 Ret Ret 11 5 2 4 43 11(#100 Team Kunimitsu Raybrig Honda NSX) 13 9 4 5 5 2 16 9 Ret 41 12(#3 Hasemi Motorsport Yellow Hat YMS Tomica Nismo GT-R) Ronnie Quintarelli Naoki Yokomizo 15 10 15 9 11 5 1 6 13 39 13(#6 ENEOS Toyota Team LeMans Lexus SC430) Björn Wirdheim 9 13 6 8 7 6 4 14 3 39 14(#24 Kondo Racing Clarion Nismo GT-R) João Paulo de Oliveira Seiji Ara 5 8 11 1 8 7 14 16 15 34 15(#25 Toyota Team Tsuchiya Lexus SC430) Takeshi Tsuchiya Hiroaki Ishiura 11 11 8 4 4 14 10 12 8 23 16(#6 ENEOS Toyota Team LeMans Lexus SC430) Daisuke Ito(Only attempted round 1–4, 9) 9 13 6 8 3 21 17(#6 ENEOS Toyota Team LeMans Lexus SC430) Akira Iida(only attempted rounds 5–8) 7 6 4 14 20 18(#100 Team Kunimitsu Raybrig Honda NSX) Kosuke Matsuura(only attempted round 6) 2 19 19(#17 Real Racing with Leon Honda NSX) Katsutomo Kaneishi Toshihiro Kaneishi 8 16 10 6 9 Ret 15 11 Ret 16 20(#36 Petronas Toyota Team TOM'S SC430) Carlo van Dam(only attempted round 6) 3 11 21(#39 Toyota Team SARD Lexus SC430) Toranosuke Takagi André Couto 12 14 13 12 6 15 13 13 5 11 22(#12 Calsonic Team Impul Nismo GT-R) Dominik Schwager(only attempted round 5) 12 4 10 23(#6 ENEOS Toyota Team LeMans Lexus SC430) Roberto Streit(only attempted round 6) 6 5 24(#23 Xanavi Nismo GT-R) Fabio Carbone(only attempted round 6) 8 3 25(#23 Real Racing with Leon Honda NSX) Koudai Tsukakoshi(only attempted round 6) Ret 1 Rank Driver SUZ OKA FUJ SEP SUG SUZ MOT AUT FUJ PTS

Teams' standings

Rank^[1] ^[2]	Team	No.	SUZ	OKA	FUJ	SEP	SUG	SUZ	MOT	AUT	FUJ	Pts.
1	Petronas Toyota Team TOM'S	36	3	4	2	7	10	3	3	8	7	94
2	ZENT Toyota Team Cerumo	38	4	7	1	Ret	3	9	9	4	2	93
3	Nismo	23	1	1	14	13	14	8	12	1	9	86
4	Team Impul	12	Ret	2	9	14	12	1	11	10	1	78
5	Dome Racing Team	18	7	12	3	3	1	12	8	7	14	75
6	Nismo	22	2	15	12	2	13	4	7	5	11	69
7	Houzan Toyota Team Kraft	35	6	6	5	10	2	10	6	15	6	68
8	Eneos Toyota Team LeMans	6	9	13	6	8	7	6	4	14	3	64
9	Team Kunimitsu	100	13	9	4	5	5	2	16	9	Ret	60
10	Nakajima Racing	32	10	5	7	Ret	Ret	11	5	2	4	60
11	Kondo Racing	24	5	8	11	1	8	7	14	16	15	56
12	Autobacs Racing Team Aguri	1	14	3	Ret	11	15	13	2	3	12	54
13	Hasemi Motorsport	3	15	10	15	9	11	5	1	6	13	53
14	Toyota Team Tsuchiya	25	11	11	8	4	4	14	10	12	8	44
15	Real Racing with LEON	17	8	16	10	6	9	Ret	15	11	10	30
16	Toyota Team SARD	39	12	14	13	12	6	15	13	13	5	29
Rank	Team	No.	SUZ	OKA	FUJ	SEP	SUG	SUZ	MOT	AUT	FUJ	Pts.

GT300 Class (Top 3)

Drivers

Rank	width=160	Drivers	width=200	Number/Team	Points	Wins
1	Kazuki Hoshino Hironobu Yasuda	46 MOLA LEOPALACE Z	78	1
2	Morio Nitta Shinichi Takagi	43 ARTA Garaiya	77	2
3	Nobuteru Taniguchi	26 Yunker-Power Taisan Porsche	71	1

Teams

Rank	width=220	Number/Team	width=160	Car	Points
1	46 MOLA	MOLA Leopalace Z	104
2	43 Autobacs Racing Team Aguri	ARTA Garaiya	89
3	81 Team Daishin	Daishin ADVAN Z	85

External links

• Super GT official website

Notes and References

1. Web site: SUPERGT.net Race Archive . 2023-07-13 . supergt.net.
2. Web site: Magazine . Speedsport . Super GT & All Japan GT: Overview of seasons . 2023-07-13 . www.speedsport-magazine.com . en.