2019-20 Super GT Stove League: Seasons Greetings!

Happy holidays from Super GT World! While you’re enjoying time with family and friends, we’ve put together another Super GT Stove League update, aggregated from the pages of the latest issue of auto sport Magazine, Volume N° 1522, published digitally this week.

Naturally, this is a followup to the previous update – and gives us a clearer picture of what to expect as Toyota, Honda, and Nissan prepare to unveil their roster of GT500 teams and drivers in advance of the 2020 season, the first under the true Class 1 regulations.

As a standard disclaimer, it should be stated up front that all information contained in this post – while compiled from reputable sources that have connections with the manufacturers involved – is not confirmed as of yet until they are announced by the manufacturers, teams, and drivers involved.

Nissan announces 2018 Super GT programmes

On Monday, Nissan and NISMO (Nissan Motorsports) announced their global motorsports plans for 2018, including their team and driver lineups for the 2018 Autobacs Super GT Series.

Nissan enters four Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500s, aiming to recapture the championships it won in 2014 and 2015. Nissan won five out of eight races in 2016 and missed the 2017 title by a mere 2 points. They will also enter GT300 with two newly evolved 2018-spec Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3s and two of the previous 2015-spec GT-R GT3s.

Nissan protegé Takaboshi earns GT500 promotion with Kondo Racing

The Nissan Driver Development Programme (NDDP) has already graduated the likes of Katsumasa Chiyo and Daiki Sasaki to the premier class of the Autobacs Super GT Series. But 25-year-old Mitsunori Takaboshi is being regarded as the most impressive talent they’ve ever brought up.

So it seemed as if it was only going to be a matter of when, not if, the Saitama-born driver would get his chance at a full-time GT500 drive in a Nissan GT-R. On Monday, Nissan confirmed just that, by giving Takaboshi his first full-time GT500 drive in 2018 with Kondo Racing.

Takaboshi, the reigning All-Japan Formula 3 Champion, will join veteran Brazilian driver João Paulo Lima de Oliveira as the newest driver of the #24 Forum Engineering Advan GT-R, in the hopes of reviving the fortunes of Masahiko “Matchy” Kondo’s team after a difficult 2017 season.

Super GT drivers & alumni take part in Formula E Rookie Test

Five current and former drivers from the Autobacs Super GT Series took part in the ABB FIA Formula E Championship’s rookie test, held the day after the Marrakesh ePrix at the street circuit in Morocco.

Nissan factory driver Mitsunori Takaboshi, the reigning All-Japan Formula Three champion, was the marquee driver of the group – which also featured Lexus Team au TOM’s driver James Rossiter, Lexus Team Wako’s LeMans driver Andrea Caldarelli, plus former GT500 race winner Frédéric Makowiecki and former GT300 race winner Alexandre Imperatori.

Of the five drivers, it was Rossiter who had the best showing, placing fifth overall out of the twenty drivers taking part.