The 2020 Pirelli Super Taikyu Series was the twenty-ninth season of the Super Taikyu Series endurance racing championship. It began with the Fuji Super TEC 24 Hours at Fuji Speedway, which was postponed to 5-6 September due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. It ended on 13 December at Autopolis, after five out of six scheduled rounds.
Mercedes-AMG Team Hirix Racing won the championship in the series' GT3 category, known as ST-X, with a Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo. It was the team's first and only season in Super Taikyu.
This was the third and final year of Pirelli's contract as the series' official tyre supplier, to be replaced by Hankook Tire beginning in 2021.
The Super Taikyu Series announced its initial six-race calendar on 27 November 2019.[1] There were no significant changes from the 2019 schedule, which again featured one round at each of Japan's six major racing circuits.
Mobilityland Corporation, the owner of Suzuka Circuit, announced on 2 March that the opening round, originally scheduled for 21-22 March, had been postponed due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.[2] A new calendar was published on 10 June, confirming that the start of the season would be delayed to September.[3] Only the round at Okayama International Circuit, originally intended to host the season finale, would retain its initial date of 31 October-1 November.
| Round | Event | Race Length | Race Format | Circuit | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NAPAC Fuji SUPER TEC 24 Hours Race | 24 hours | 1 race | Fuji Speedway | 4–6 September 2020 | |
| 2 | Sugo Super Taikyu 3 Hour Race | 3 hours | 2 races | Sportsland Sugo | 10–11 October 2020 | |
| 3 | Super Taikyu Race in Okayama | 3 hours | 2 races | Okayama International Circuit | 31 October–1 November 2020 | |
| 4 | Motegi Super Taikyu 5 Hours Race | 5 hours | 1 race | Twin Ring Motegi | 21–22 November 2020 | |
| 5 | TKU Super Taikyu Race in Autopolis | 5 hours | 1 race | Autopolis | 12–13 December 2020 | |
| Suzuka S-Tai (Cancelled) | 5 hours | 1 race | Suzuka Circuit | 23–24 January 2021 |
58 cars entered throughout the course of the 2020 season. All entries were registered under a Japanese license.
| No | Entrant | Vehicle | Drivers |
|---|---|---|---|
| ST–X (FIA GT3 homologated vehicles) | |||
| 9 | MP Racing | Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 (MY18) |  Joe Shindo Yusaku Shibata Masami Kageyama Keiichi Inoue (Rd. 1-4) Tsugio Matsuda (Rd. 1) Yuki Tanaka (Rd. 1) Ryuichiro Tomita (Rd. 5) |
| 16 | Porsche Center Okazaki (Rd. 2-3) | Porsche 911 GT3 R (991) | Hiroaki Nagai Yuta Kamimura |
| 31 | apr | Lexus RC F GT3 | Hideki Nagai Koki Saga Kazuto Kotaka Yuta Kamimura (Rd. 1, 4) Hiroaki Nagai (Rd. 1, 5) Yuichi Nakayama (Rd. 1) |
| 81 | GTNET Motor Sports (Rd. 1, 3-5) | Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 (MY18) | Nobuyuki Oyagi Kiyoto Fujinami Kazuki Hoshino Ryuichiro Oyagi Natsu Sakaguchi (Rd. 1) Kazuki Hiramine (Rd. 1) |
| 777 | D'station Racing | Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 | Satoshi Hoshino Tomonobu Fujii Tsubasa Kondo Yuya Motojima (Rd. 1) |
| 888 | Mercedes-AMG Team HIRIX Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo | Daisuke Yamawaki Shaun Thong Shinichi Takagi (Rd. 1-3) Yuki Nemoto (Rd. 1, 4-5) |
| ST–Z (FIA GT4 homologated vehicles) | |||
| 2 | KTM Cars Japan | KTM X-Bow GT4 | Taiyo Iida Hiroki Katoh Kazuho Takahashi Masataka Yanagida (Rd. 1) Takashi Kobayashi (Rd. 1) |
| 3 | Endless Sports | Mercedes-AMG GT4 | Yudai Uchida Hideki Yamauchi Tsubasa Takahashi Shinnosuke Yamada (Rd. 1) Ryuichiro Tomita (Rd. 1) Togo Suganami (Rd. 4-5) |
| 19 | Birth Racing Project | Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR | Kohei Fukuda Takeshi Matsumoto Yusuke Shiotsu Koichi Okumura Shigetomo Shimono (Rd. 1) Kengo Ichijo (Rd. 1) |
| 20 | SS/YZ Racing with Studie Team São Tomé and Principe with Studie (Rd. 2-5) | BMW M4 GT4 (F82) | Hirokazu Suzuki Takayuki Kinoshita Jukuchou Sunako Seiji Ara (Rd. 1, 5) João Paulo de Oliveira (Rd. 1) |
| 21 | Takashi Kochiya Takumi Sanada Yuji Takahashi | ||
| 23 | TKRI (Rd. 2-5) | Mercedes-AMG GT4 | Yuya Motojima Takaaki Hamada (Rd. 2, 4-5) Tetsuya Moriyama (Rd. 3-5) |
| 47 | D'station Racing | Aston Martin Vantage GT4 | Tatsuya Hoshino Manabu Orido Takuro Shinohara Kenji Hama (Rd. 1-3, 5) Tsubasa Mekaru (Rd. 1) |
| 51 | BEND (Rd. 4) | Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport | Masamitsu Ishihara Atsushi Yogo Daisuke Ikeda |
| 500 | Team 5Zigen | Mercedes-AMG GT4 | Ryuichiro Otsuka Takayuki Aoki Kazuya Shimogaki (Rd. 1-3) Toshihiko Hachiro (Rd. 1) Toshihiro Kaneishi (Rd. 1) Shuma Hiroshima (Rd. 1) Yuya Sakamoto (Rd. 2-5) Takuya Otaki (Rd. 5) |
| 505 | Audi Team AS Sport (Rd. 1-2, 4) | Audi R8 LMS GT4 | Genki Nishimura Shozo Tagahara Takeshi Okamoto (Rd. 1-2) Yoshinari Fujiwara (Rd. 1) |
| ST–TCR (TCR homologated vehicles) | |||
| 22 | Waimarama Kizuna Racing Team | Audi RS 3 LMS TCR | Katsumasa Chiyo Hironobu Yasuda Riki Okusa Naoya Yamano (Rd. 1) Toshihiro Yoshida (Rd. 1) |
| 33 | Audi Driving Experience Japan (Rd. 4) | Audi RS 3 LMS TCR | Hideki Nakahara Ryuichiro Tomita Masataka Yanagida Yuki Fujii |
| 65 | Audi Team Mars | Audi RS 3 LMS TCR | Masanobu Kato Masato Shimoyama Toshiro Tsukada (Rd. 1-2, 5) Sakon Yamamoto (Rd. 1) Daisuke Hasegawa (Rd. 1) Hideaki Okajima (Rd. 1) Taketoshi Matsui (Rd. 2-5) Yosuke Yamazaki (Rd. 3-4) |
| 97 | Racer Dome Racing (Rd. 1, 4-5) | Honda Civic Type R TCR (FK7) | Mitsuhiro Endo Shinji Nakano Syun Koide Hiroki Otsu (Rd. 1, 4) Kenta Harada (Rd. 1) Ryusuke Matsumoto (Rd. 1) |
| 290 | Floral Racing with Uematsu | Honda Civic Type R TCR (FK7) | Tadao Uematsu Yuji Ide Shintaro Kawabata Tomoki Nojiri (Rd. 1) |
| ST–1 | |||
| 12 | Field Management Racing (Rd. 1) | Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR |  Mika Salo Kosuke Matsuura Max Salo Yuya Hiraki Katsuhisa Kumabayashi Masatoshi Uesugi |
| 28 | ROOKIE Racing (Rd. 1-3, 5) | Toyota GR Supra GT4 (3BA-DB42) Prototype | Naoya Gamou Daisuke Toyoda Yasuhiro Ogura Shunsuke Kohno Hisashi Yabuki (Rd. 1) Kazuya Oshima (Rd. 1) |
| 38 | Tracy Sports (Rd. 1, 3) | Lexus RC F (USC10) | Makoto Hotta Ryohei Sakaguchi Yuui Tsutsumi Sena Sakaguchi |
| ST–2 (2,001-3,500cc, front and all-wheel drive) | |||
| 6 | Shinryo Racing Team | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X (CZ4A) | Tomohiro Tomimasu Yasushi Kikuchi Masazumi Ohashi Takahiro Matsuzawa (Rd. 1) Takahisa Ohno (Rd. 1) Zene Okazaki (Rd. 1) |
| 7 | Masato Narisawa Keisuke Anzai Yoshiki Fujii Wataru Yamaki (Rd. 1) Shingo Imai (Rd. 1) Hirofumi Okumura (Rd. 1) | ||
| 17 | Team NOPRO (Rd. 1-4) | Mazda Axela Diesel Turbo (BM2FS) | Tatsuya Nogami Tobio Ohtani Toshihiko Nogami Hiroaki Yamamoto (Rd. 1, 4) Keita Sawa (Rd. 1) Hideyoshi Nishizawa (Rd. 1) |
| 32 | ROOKIE Racing | Toyota GR Yaris (GXPA16) Prototype | Takuto Iguchi Masahiro Sasaki Morizo Norihiko Katsuta (Rd. 1) Hiroaki Ishiura (Rd. 1) |
| 59 | TOWAINTEC Racing | Subaru WRX STI (VAB) | Manabu Osawa Hitoshi Gotoh Mizuki Ishizaka Yoshiyuki Tsuruga (Rd. 1) |
| 743 | Honda R&D Challenge (Rd. 4) | Honda Civic Type R (FK8) | Junichi Kidachi Hideki Kakinuma Tetsuaki Mochizuki Hitoshi Sezai |
| ST–3 (2,001-3,500cc, rear-wheel drive) | |||
| 15 | Okabe Jidosha Motorsport | Nissan Fairlady Z (Z34) | Masaaki Nagashima Kazuomi Komatsu Jun Tashiro Manabu Yamazaki (Rd. 1-4) Yuga Katsumata (Rd. 1) Masaya Kohno (Rd. 1) |
| 39 | Tracy Sports | Lexus RC 350 (GSC10) | Yusuke Tomibayashi Hirotaka Ishii Sesshu Kondo (Rd. 1) Hirohito Ito (Rd. 1) Yoshihiro Ito (Rd. 4) |
| 52 | Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave | Toyota Crown RS (ARS220) | Naoki Hattori Hiroki Yoshida Kohta Kawaai Takayuki Hiranuma (Rd. 1, 4-5) |
| 62 | HELM Motorsports (Rd. 2, 4) | Lexus RC 350 (GSC10) | Yuya Hiraki Reiji Hiraki Ai Miura (Rd. 2) Tomoki Takahashi (Rd. 4) |
| 244 | Max Racing | Nissan Fairlady Z (Z34) | Toru Tanaka Tetsuya Tanaka Atsushi Miyake Kimiya Sato (Rd. 1) |
| ST–4 (1,501-2,000cc) | |||
| 13 | Endless Sports (Rd. 1-4) | Toyota 86 (ZN6) | Ryo Ogawa Ritomo Miyata Takamitsu Matsui Masaya Hanazato (Rd. 1, 4) Togo Suganami (Rd. 1) |
| 18 | Asano Racing Service | Toyota 86 (ZN6) | Takeo Asano Daiki Fujiwara Takeshi Tsuchiya Masataka Inoue (Rd. 1-2, 4) Kazunori Nishimura (Rd. 1, 5) Toshikazu Shiba (Rd. 1) |
| 60 | Team G/Motion' | Honda Integra Type R (DC5) | Resshu Shioya Takuya Shiga Takao Seto Taro Matsunami (Rd. 1, 4-5) Kazuyuki Matsumoto (Rd. 1) |
| 54 | TC Corse (Rd. 2-5) | Mazda Roadster RF (NDERC) | Teruaki Kato Koichi Ishii Junji Ueda (Rd. 4) Isao Ihashi (Rd. 4) Hikaru Jitosho (Rd. 5) Tetsuya Shuto (Rd. 5) |
| 137 | RacingFamily137 (Rd. 2) | Honda Integra Type R (DC5) | Hayato Date Takashi Iseya Koji Takeda |
| 225 | Kobe Toyopet Motor Sports (Rd. 3-5) | Toyota 86 (ZN6) | Seita Nonaka Hibiki Taira Miki Onaga |
| 310 | C.S.I Racing | Toyota 86 (ZN6) | Rintaro Kubo Shinya Hosokawa Sho Tsuboi Kota Matsui (Rd. 1) |
| 884 | Hayashi Telempu SHADE Racing | Toyota 86 (ZN6) | Katsuyuki Hiranaka Yuji Kunimoto Hiro Hayashi Keishi Ishikawa Dai Mizuno (Rd. 1) |
| ST–5 (1,500cc and below) | |||
| 4 | Team Bride | Honda Fit3 RS (GK5) | Hiroshi Ito Mitsuaki Matsuo Koji Miura (Rd. 1, 5) Souichi Kurosu (Rd. 1) Shunsuke Sato (Rd. 1) Hidefumi Minami (Rd. 1) Yuya Ohta (Rd. 2-5) Carlos Honda (Rd. 3) Seijiro Aihara (Rd. 4) |
| 11 | Blood Sports (Rd. 3) | Toyota Vitz (NCP131) | Takao Onishi Yoichi Nishino Takahiro Miki |
| 37 | Team NOPRO | Mazda Demio Diesel Turbo (DJ5FS) | Kaoru Ijiri Kazunari Yoshioka Yutaka Seki (Rd. 1-3, 5) Yoshihiro Kato (Rd. 1-2, 4) Junichi Agematsu (Rd. 1) Tobio Ohtani (Rd. 5) |
| 66 | Over Drive | Mazda Roadster (ND5RC) | Takayuki Takechi Shuichiro Hokazono (Rd. 1, 3-4) Shigeyasu Kanamori (Rd. 1) Aruga Tomita (Rd. 1) Yusuke Hashimoto (Rd. 1) Nanami Tsukamoto (Rd. 1) Masayuki Ueda (Rd. 2, 4) Yugo Iwasawa (Rd. 2) Tsuneaki Mankumo (Rd. 3) Tatsuya Ota (Rd. 4-5) Isao Nakashima (Rd. 5) (Rd. 5) |
| 456 | Riku Hashimoto Tatsuya Ota Takaya Kusano (Rd. 1-2, 4) Tomomitsu Senoo (Rd. 1, 3) Koji Obara (Rd. 1, 4-5) Carlos Honda (Rd. 1, 5) Kousei Kanto (Rd. 3) Ryosuke Kagami (Rd. 4) Takafumi Katsuki (Rd. 5) | ||
| 67 | Team Yamato (Rd. 2-3) | Honda Fit3 RS (GK5) | Ryohei Yasui Shinya Uchiyama Hideaki Ito |
| 69 | J’s Racing | Honda Fit3 RS (GK5) | Shinsuke Umeda Hideo Kubota Toshihiro Kubota (Rd. 1-3, 5) Yoshikazu Sobu (Rd. 1, 4) Junichi Umemoto (Rd. 1) MC Hirata (Rd. 1) |
| 72 | Nihon Automobile College | Mazda Roadster (ND5RC) | Hiroko Komatsu Anna Inotsume (Rd. 1-3, 5) Tatsuya Okahara Makoto Kanai Yasuhiro Matsuro (Rd. 1) |
| 50 | Love Drive Racing | Mazda Roadster (ND5RC) | Koji Yamanishi Shui Sato Hiroyuki Matsumura (Rd. 1, 3, 5) Masayoshi Yamauchi (Rd. 1) Takahiro Kimura (Rd. 1) Katsuhiko Tsutsui (Rd. 1) Hiroki Takenouchi (Rd. 4) Yoshihito Shinoda (Rd. 5) |
| 78 | Junko Fujii Sayaka Kato | ||
| 88 | Murakami Motors | Mazda Roadster (ND5RC) | Hiroyuki Murakami Yasunori Nakajima Tatsuya Tanigawa Keiji Amemiya (Rd. 1) Naoki Yamaya (Rd. 1) |
| 120 | Mazda Roadster (ND5RC) (Rd. 2-5) | Haruhiko Sugino Ikuo Maeda Teru Nakamura (Rd. 1-3) Takeshi Wakitani (Rd. 4-5) | |
| 102 | H.M.Racers | Mazda Demio (DJLFS) | Kota Sasaki Soichiro Yoshida Yugo Osaki Junpei Kato (Rd. 1, 3-5) Ryunosuke Yoshida (Rd. 1) |
| 111 | Hiroshima Toyopet Racing | Toyota Vitz (NCP131) | Yasutaka Hinoi Yuga Furutani Atsushi Yogo (Rd. 1) Yuya Sakamoto (Rd. 1) |
| 182 | Close Up Racing | Honda Fit3 RS (GK5) | Riki Tanioka Tatsuya Osaki Kyosuke Inomata Kazusa Nishio (Rd. 1, 3, 5) Shigetomo Shimono (Rd. 4) |
| Sources:[6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] | |||
| Round | Circuit | Race | ST-X Winners | ST-Z Winners | ST-TCR Winners | ST-1 Winners | ST-2 Winners | ST-3 Winners | ST-4 Winners | ST-5 Winners | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fuji | [12] | No.888 Mercedes-AMG Team Hirix Racing | No.3 Endless Sports | No.22 Waimarama Kizuna Racing Team | No.28 ROOKIE Racing | No.32 ROOKIE Racing | No.52 Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave | No.310 C.S.I Racing | No.37 Team NOPRO | |
| Daisuke Yamawaki Shinichi Takagi Shaun Thong Yuki Nemoto | Yudai Uchida Hideki Yamauchi Tsubasa Takahashi Shinnosuke Yamada Ryuichiro Tomita | Katsumasa Chiyo Hironobu Yasuda Riki Okusa Naoya Yamano Toshihiro Yoshida | Naoya Gamou Daisuke Toyoda Yasuhiro Ogura Shunsuke Kohno Hisashi Yabuki Kazuya Oshima | Takuto Iguchi Masahiro Sasaki Morizo Norihiko Katsuta Hiroaki Ishiura | Naoki Hattori Hiroki Yoshida Kohta Kawaai Takayuki Hiranuma | Rintaro Kubo Shinya Hosokawa Sho Tsuboi Kota Matsui | Kaoru Ijiri Kazunari Yoshioka Yutaka Seki Junichi Agematsu Yoshihiro Kato | ||||
| 2 | Sugo | Group 1[13] | No.16 Porsche Center Okazaki | No.3 Endless Sports | No.290 Floral Racing with Uematsu | No.28 ROOKIE Racing | No.59 TOWAINTEC Racing | No.39 Tracy Sports | did not participate | ||
| Hiroaki Nagai Yuta Kamimura | Yudai Uchida Hideki Yamauchi Tsubasa Takahashi | Tadao Uematsu Yuji Ide Shintaro Kawabata | Naoya Gamou Daisuke Toyoda Yasuhiro Ogura Shunsuke Kohno | Manabu Osawa Hitoshi Gotoh Mizuki Ishizaka | Yusuke Tomibayashi Hirotaka Ishii | ||||||
| Group 2[14] | did not participate | No.310 C.S.I Racing | No.4 Team Bride | ||||||||
| Rintaro Kubo Shinya Hosokawa Sho Tsuboi | Yuya Ohta Hiroshi Ito Mitsuaki Matsuo | ||||||||||
| 3 | Okayama | Group 1[15] | No.777 D'station Racing | No.500 Team 5Zigen | No.22 Waimarama Kizuna Racing Team | No.28 ROOKIE Racing | No.59 TOWAINTEC Racing | No.39 Tracy Sports | did not participate | ||
| Satoshi Hoshino Tomonobu Fujii Tsubasa Kondo | Ryuichiro Otsuka Takayuki Aoki Kazuya Shimogaki Yuya Sakamoto | Katsumasa Chiyo Hironobu Yasuda Riki Okusa | Naoya Gamou Daisuke Toyoda Yasuhiro Ogura Shunsuke Kohno | Manabu Osawa Hitoshi Gotoh Mizuki Ishizaka | Yusuke Tomibayashi Hirotaka Ishii | ||||||
| Group 2[16] | did not participate | No.884 Hayashi Telempu SHADE Racing | No.456 Over Drive | ||||||||
| Katsuyuki Hiranaka Yuji Kunimoto Hiro Hayashi Keishi Ishikawa | Riku Hashimoto Tomomitsu Senoo Kousei Kanto | ||||||||||
| 4 | Motegi | [17] | No.888 Mercedes-AMG Team Hirix Racing | No.47 D'station Racing | No.290 Floral Racing with Uematsu | did not participate | No.32 ROOKIE Racing | No.62 HELM Motorsports | No.884 Hayashi Telempu SHADE Racing | No.69 J's Racing | |
| Daisuke Yamawaki Shaun Thong Yuki Nemoto | Tatsuya Hoshino Manabu Orido Takuro Shinohara | Tadao Uematsu Yuji Ide Shintaro Kawabata | Takuto Iguchi Masahiro Sasaki Morizo | Yuya Hiraki Reiji Hiraki Tomoki Takahashi | Katsuyuki Hiranaka Yuji Kunimoto Hiro Hayashi Keishi Ishikawa | Shinsuke Umeda Hideo Kubota Yoshikazu Sobu | |||||
| 5 | Autopolis | [18] | No.777 D'station Racing | No.3 Endless Sports | No.97 Racer Dome Racing | No.28 ROOKIE Racing | No.32 ROOKIE Racing | No.52 Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave | No.310 C.S.I Racing | No.456 Over Drive | |
| Satoshi Hoshino Tomonobu Fujii Tsubasa Kondo | Yudai Uchida Hideki Yamauchi Tsubasa Takahashi Togo Suganami | Mitsuhiro Endo Shinji Nakano Syun Koide | Naoya Gamou Daisuke Toyoda Yasuhiro Ogura Shunsuke Kohno | Takuto Iguchi Masahiro Sasaki Morizo | Naoki Hattori Hiroki Yoshida Kohta Kawaai Takayuki Hiranuma | Rintaro Kubo Shinya Hosokawa Sho Tsuboi | Riku Hashimoto Takafumi Katsuki Carlos Honda Koji Obara | ||||
| 6 | Suzuka | cancelled | |||||||||
Championship points were awarded in every class at the end of each event. On 10 June it was announced that each team's five highest-scoring rounds counted towards the final championship standings. The eventual cancellation of the Suzuka round made this change redundant for 2020.
| 3 Hours / 500km | 20 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Hours / 700km | 30 | 22.5 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 4.5 | 3 | 1.5 | 2 | |
| ≥12 Hours / 1400km | 45 | 35 | 27 | 23 | 18 | 13 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||