2018 Super GT World Awards: Shingo Tachi Memorial Award

Every year, Super GT World honours the most outstanding performers in the Autobacs Super GT Series with the Super GT World Awards.

The Shingo Tachi Memorial Award is given annually to the most outstanding rookie driver in Super GT across both GT500 and GT300 categories.

The award is named in honour of the late Shingo Tachi, who set numerous JGTC/Super GT records in his debut year in 1998, winning the GT300 Drivers’ Championship with Keiichi Suzuki, scoring five wins from six races and finishing with the first 100+ point season in series history. On March 11, 1999, Tachi passed away after injuries sustained in a pre-season testing crash at 21 years of age. This award is presented annually to honour the legacy of Shingo Tachi.

2018 Super GT World Awards: International Driver of the Year

Every year, Super GT World honours the most outstanding performers in the Autobacs Super GT Series with the Super GT World Awards.

The International Driver of the Year Award is given annually to the most outstanding non-Japanese driver in the Autobacs Super GT Series across both the GT500 and GT300 classes. From the first foreign champion in Erik Comas to today’s group of international Super GT stars, drivers from all over the world continue to challenge Super GT, the fastest GT racing series on Earth.

Lexus Team Wako’s LeMans fastest in 2nd day of Okayama manufacturer test

The Lexus LC500s continued to top the timesheets in the second day of this week’s private Super GT test held at Okayama International Circuit, but it was the #6 Wako’s 4CR LC500 of Kazuya Oshima and super rookie Felix Rosenqvist that led the way in the second day of the test.

Oshima set the fastest time of the two-day test in the Friday morning test session, and Rosenqvist backed up his co-driver’s benchmark with the fastest time in the afternoon session. In GT300, the #65 LEON Cvstos AMG of Haruki Kurosawa & Naoya Gamou once again paced the field for the day.

Lexus flexes their muscle at Okayama manufacturer test

On Thursday, 9 GT500 teams and 3 GT300 teams travelled to Okayama International Circuit for the first day of a manufacturer shakedown test – which will precede the first official Super GT pre-season test on March 17 & 18.

Continuing with last winter’s theme of Lexus supremacy, their LC500s recorded the fastest times of both the morning and afternoon sessions, with the #38 ZENT Cerumo LC500 (Yuji Tachikawa/Hiroaki Ishiura) recording the fastest time of the day, and the GT300 class in both sessions being led by the #65 LEON Cvstos Mercedes-AMG GT3 (Haruki Kurosawa/Naoya Gamou).