With the festival season concluded in Japan, the manufacturers in the Autobacs Super GT Series now turns its focus towards the 2018 season – and there will be some significant changes to emerge out of the 2017-18 “Hot Stove League”.
Our latest update comes courtesy of the staff at Motorsport.com, anchored by Tomohiro Yoshita, and after a whirlwind of information in the first reports from auto sport Magazine, the pieces are starting to come together for what the GT500 grid might actually look like in 2018.
DISCLAIMER: While all possible scenarios are gathered from reliable sources, all information in this article is purely speculation, until confirmed by the manufacturers, teams, and drivers mentioned hereafter.
Of the three manufacturers, Lexus were the most successful in 2017, and from initial reports, they look to make the most change in 2018.
It’s now almost certain that Kamui Kobayashi, and Kenta Yamashita, will move to GT500. And earlier this week, we learned that Felix Rosenqvist is also a strong candidate to make the jump to the category as well.
Those outgoing would likely be Andrea Caldarelli, Kohei Hirate, and James Rossiter. Caldarelli is all but confirmed to pursue opportunities westward with Lamborghini as a factory driver. Rossiter is perhaps lining up at a full-time WEC LMP1 drive with the privateers at ByKolles Racing. And while we don’t know what will happen with Hirate after this season, it’s likely that he’ll be the odd man being pushed out of the GT500 frame – at least for now.
Four of the six teams will change drivers, and it is possible that it may happen as such:
- Kobayashi would partner fellow F1 alumni and GT500 champion Heikki Kovalainen at Lexus Team SARD.
- Yuhi Sekiguchi could join Lexus Team au TOM’s in their #36 entry, alongside Kazuki Nakajima.
- That vacancy left by Sekiguchi at Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh would be filled by Kenta Yamashita (who joins Yuji Kunimoto).
- And Rosenqvist will join Kazuya Oshima at Lexus Team Wako’s LeMans, which was the team’s driver pairing in Super Formula this past season.
The #1 KeePer TOM’s LC500 (Ryo Hirakawa/Nick Cassidy) and the #38 ZENT Cerumo LC500 (Yuji Tachikawa/Hiroaki Ishiura) would retain their team structure for 2018.
Honda have already confirmed Jenson Button for the 2018 season. Now the question is, where will the 2009 World Champion be headed?
The staff at Motorsport.com have pointed at two possible destinations for Button in 2018: Team Kunimitsu, or Keihin Real Racing, both on Bridgestone tyres. Sam Collins of NISMO TV has also informed us that Autobacs Racing Team Aguri (ARTA) may be a landing spot for the Somerset native.
With Button’s arrival, it will result in a counter-move for one of those three teams. It looks as if Takuya Izawa will be switching seats, ending his union with Naoki Yamamoto after six seasons at Team Kunimitsu (2010-12, 2015-17). Takashi Kobayashi might be on his way back to GT300 after just one year back in the premier category. The other driver possibly on the move is former champion Takashi Kogure.
The #16 Mugen NSX-GT (Hideki Mutoh/Daisuke Nakajima) and the #64 Epson Modulo NSX-GT (Bertrand Baguette/Kosuke Matsuura) will likely retain their drivers for 2018 – this will also confirm that Team Mugen will stay in GT500, and that for now, Dome Racing will hold off on returning to the category.
Button may be the only new face for Honda this season, but if Honda were to double down and add a second international driver as previously alluded to, Álex Palou could be in the frame after an outstanding rookie test in Super Formula this past week.
At Nissan, the rumours of a team change in GT500 are persistent – with B-Max Racing Team now increasingly likely to take MOLA International’s place on the GT500 grid.
It is also highly likely that Mitsunori Takaboshi will indeed get his call up to GT500 competition, and partner Katsumasa Chiyo in the GT500-spec B-Max GT-R (race number TBD). Takaboshi is also in play for Kondo Racing.
Daiki Sasaki may also be on the move, from Kondo Racing – for whom he’s raced for his entire GT500 tenure – to Calsonic Team Impul alongside Jann Mardenborough – which would then reunite Hironobu Yasuda with João Paulo de Oliveira at Kondo.
That will likely mean the end of Satoshi Motoyama‘s Super GT driving career after 22 seasons, with the crew of the #23 Motul Autech GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda/Ronnie Quintarelli) staying together for a fifth season.
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