Suzuka Circuit Facts
Located in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, Japan
Opened in September 1962
Modified in 1983 and again in 2003
Owned by Honda Motor Company/Mobilityland Corporation and designed by John Hugenholtz
Track Length: 5.807 kilometers / 3.609 miles
Track Width: 10 – 16 meters
Elevation Change: 52 meters
First Super GT Championship Race (300km) held in 1995
Race Distance: 52 laps / 301.964 kilometers
- Located 65 km southwest of the city of Nagoya
- First hosted the Suzuka GT 300km Race on April 2, 1995
- The Suzuka 1000km (Suzuka 10 Hours) was held as a Super GT championship round from 2006 to 2017
- Host of the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix from 1987 to 2006 and 2009 to the present
- Host of the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hour motorcycle endurance race
- Oldest operating circuit on the Super GT calendar
Official Lap Records
GT500 – 1’44.319 – Tomoki Nojiri (2018)
This pole-winning lap time was less than a half-second slower than the outright official sports prototype lap record around Suzuka Circuit, set by a Peugeot 905 Evo 1B in 1992: 1’43.957. It would have been good enough to qualify 10th for the 1988 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix, 20th in 1995.
GT300 – 1’55.351 – Yuichi Nakayama (2018)
This time, set in an FIA GT3 car in May 2018, was over 5 and a half seconds faster than Nick Foster’s pole-winning time for the Suzuka 10 Hours in August 2018, also in an FIA GT3 car (on control Pirelli tyres).
Suzuka GT 300km Race Winners, 1995-2010 & 2018-present
1995
GT500: #1 Calsonic Nissan Skyline GT-R (Masahiko Kageyama) [BS]
GT300: #70 Team Gaikokuya Nissan Skyline GTS-R (Yoshimi Ishibashi / Kaoru Hoshino) [YH]
1996
GT500: #60 Team Lark McLaren F1 GTR (Naoki Hattori / Ralf Schumacher) [BS]
GT300: #26 Taisan Porsche 911 RSR (Keiichi Suzuki / Morio Nitta) [YH]
1997
GT500: #2 Zexel Nissan Skyline GT-R (Aguri Suzuki / Érik Comas) [BS]
GT300: #19 RS-R Nissan Silvia S14 (Manabu Orido / Hideo Fukuyama) [YH]
1998
GT500: #23 Pennzoil NISMO Skyline GT-R (Masami Kageyama / Érik Comas) [BS]
GT300: #25 Tsuchiya Engineering Toyota MR2 (Keiichi Suzuki / Shingo Tachi) [YH]
1999
GT500: #18 Takata Dome Honda NSX (Katsutomo Kaneishi / Juichi Wakisaka) [BS]
GT300: #19 WedsSport Toyota Celica (Manabu Orido / Takahiko Hara) [YH]
2000
GT500: #64 Mobil 1 Honda NSX (Daisuke Ito / Dominik Schwager) [BS]
GT300: #31 Super Autobacs A’PEX Toyota MR-S (Morio Nitta / Shinichi Takagi) [YH]
2001
GT500: #8 ARTA Honda NSX (Keiichi Tsuchiya / Katsutomo Kaneishi) [BS]
GT300: #86 Project Mu/Esperia Toyota MR-S (Masaoki Nagashima / Koji Matsuda) [DL]
2002
GT500: #64 Mobil 1 Honda NSX (Tsugio Matsuda / Ralph Firman) [BS]
GT300: #81 Daishin Advan Nissan Silvia S15 (Noboyuki Oyagi / Takayuki Aoki) [YH]
2003
GT500: #12 Calsonic Impul Nissan Fairlady Z33 (Benoît Tréluyer / Yuji Ide) [BS]
GT300: #19 WedsSport Toyota Celica (Takayuki Aoki / Minoru Tanaka) [YH]
2004
GT500: #12 Calsonic Impul Nissan Fairlady Z33 (Benoît Tréluyer / Yuji Ide [BS]
GT300: #16 M-TEC Honda NSX (Tetsuya Yamano / Hiroyuki Yagi) [DL]
2005
GT500: #38 ZENT Cerumo Toyota Supra (Yuji Tachikawa / Toranosuke Takagi) [BS]
GT300: #11 JIM Gainer Dunlop Ferrari F360 (Tetsuya Tanaka / Paolo Montin) [DL]
2006
GT500: #36 Open Interface TOM’s Lexus SC430 (Juichi Wakisaka / André Lotterer) [BS]
GT300: #88 Akito JLOC Lamborghini Murcielago RG-1 (Marco Apicella / Yasutaka Hinoi) [YH]
2007
GT500: #38 ZENT Cerumo Lexus SC430 (Yuji Tachikawa / Toranosuke Takagi) [BS]
GT300: #13 Endless Sports Nissan Fairlady Z33 (Masami Kageyama / Tomonobu Fujii) [YH]
2008
GT500: #23 Xanavi NISMO Nissan GT-R (Satoshi Motoyama / Benoît Tréluyer) [BS]
GT300: #7 ORC Amemiya Mazda RX-7 (Hiroyuki Iiri / Ryo Orime) [YH]
2009
GT500: #38 ZENT Cerumo Lexus SC430 (Yuji Tachikawa / Richard Lyons) [BS]
GT300: #33 Hankook Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (Mitsuhiro Kinoshita / Masami Kageyama) [HK]
2010
GT500: #24 HIS Advan Kondo Nissan GT-R (Hironobu Yasuda / João Paulo de Oliveira) [YH]
GT300: #7 M7 RE Amemiya Mazda RX-7 (Nobuteru Taniguchi/Ryo Orime) [YH]
2018
GT500: #8 ARTA Honda NSX-GT (Tomoki Nojiri / Takuya Izawa) [BS]
GT300: #96 K-Tunes Lexus RC F GT3 (Morio Nitta / Yuichi Nakayama) [BS]
Suzuka 1000km Race Winners, 2006-2017
2006
GT500: #12 Calsonic Impul Nissan Fairlady Z33 (Benoît Tréluyer / Kazuki Hoshino / Jérémie Dufour) [BS]
GT300: #52 Project mu Taiyo Kumho Toyota Celica (Hironori Takeuchi / Koki Saga / Keita Sawa) [KH]
2007
GT500: #1 Houzan TOM’s Lexus SC430 (Juichi Wakisaka / André Lotterer / Oliver Jarvis*) [BS]
GT300: #2 Priveé Zurich Mooncraft Shiden MC16 (Kazuho Takahashi / Hiroki Katoh / Hiroki Yoshimoto) [YH]
2008
GT500: #12 Calsonic Impul Nissan GT-R (Tsugio Matsuda / Sébastien Philippe) [BS]
GT300: #46 MOLA Leopalace Nissan Fairlady Z33 (Kazuki Hoshino / Hironobu Yasuda) [MI]
2009
GT500: #35 Team Kraft Lexus SC430 (Hiroaki Ishiura / Kazuya Oshima) [BS]
GT300: #46 S Road MOLA Nissan Fairlady Z33 (Kazuki Hoshino / Masataka Yanagida) [YH]
2010
GT500: #8 ARTA Honda HSV-010 (Ralph Firman / Yuji Ide / Takashi Kobayashi*) [BS]
GT300: #62 R&D Sport Subaru Legacy B4 (Tetsuya Yamano / Kota Sasaki) [YH]
2011
GT500: #1 Weider Honda HSV-010 (Takashi Kogure / Loïc Duval) [BS]
GT300: #62 R&D Sport Subaru Legacy B4 (Tetsuya Yamano / Kota Sasaki) [YH]
2012
GT500: #1 S Road Reito MOLA Nissan GT-R (Masataka Yanagida / Ronnie Quintarelli) [MI]
GT300: #66 triple a Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 (Kazuki Hoshino / Hiroki Yoshimoto / Hiroki Yoshida*) [YH]
2013
GT500: #18 Weider Modulo Honda HSV-010 (Naoki Yamamoto / Frédéric Makowiecki) [MI]
GT300: #61 Subaru BRZ R&D Sport (Tetsuya Yamano / Kota Sasaki / Takuto Iguchi) [MI]
2014
GT500: #36 Petronas TOM’s Lexus RC F (Kazuki Nakajima / James Rossiter) [BS]
GT300: #60 TWS LM Corsa BMW Z4 GT3 (Akira Iida / Hiroki Yoshimoto / Shinya Sato*) [YH]
2015
GT500: #36 Petronas TOM’s Lexus RC F (Daisuke Ito / James Rossiter) [BS]
GT300: #10 Gainer TanaX Nissan GT-R GT3 (André Couto / Katsumasa Chiyo / Ryuichiro Tomita) [DL]
2016
GT500: #38 ZENT Cerumo Lexus RC F (Yuji Tachikawa / Hiroaki Ishiura) [BS]
GT300: #61 Subaru BRZ R&D Sport (Takuto Iguchi / Hideki Yamauchi) [YH]
2017
GT500: #64 Epson Modulo Honda NSX-GT (Bertrand Baguette / Kosuke Matsuura) [DL]
GT300: #65 LEON Cvstos Mercedes-AMG GT3 (Haruki Kurosawa / Naoya Gamou) [BS]
*driver was entered, but did not complete a racing lap and was not awarded championship points
Wins by Manufacturer, 1995-Present
GT500
Nissan – 10
Honda – 9
Toyota/Lexus – 9
McLaren – 1
GT300
Nissan – 7
Toyota – 6
Subaru – 4
Mazda – 2
Porsche – 2
Aston Martin – 1
BMW – 1
Ferrari – 1
Honda – 1
Lamborghini – 1
Lexus – 1
Mercedes-Benz – 1
Mooncraft Engineering – 1
Wins by Team, 1995-Present
GT500
Team Impul / Hoshino Racing – 5
Lexus Team Cerumo – 4
Lexus Team TOM’s – 4
Autobacs Racing Team Aguri – 3
Dome Racing – 3
Nakajima Racing – 3
NISMO – 3
Team Goh – 1
Kondo Racing – 1
Lexus Team Kraft – 1
MOLA International – 1
GT300
R&D Sport – 4
Racing Project Bandoh – 3
Gainer – 2
LM Corsa – 2
MOLA International – 2
RE Amemiya – 2
Team Taisan – 2
A’PEX Racing / apr Racing – 1
Toyota Team Cerumo – 1
Team Daishin – 1
Endless Sports – 1
Hankook KTR – 1
Team JLOC – 1
Toyota Team Kraft – 1
K-Tunes Racing – 1
M-TEC / Team Mugen – 1
Team GAikokuya – 1
Team SHIFT – 1
triple a Racing – 1
Tsuchiya Engineering – 1
Wins by Driver, 1995-present
GT500
Yuji Tachikawa – 4
Benǫt Tr̩luyer Р4
Yuji Ide – 3
Juichi Wakisaka – 3
Érik Comas – 2
Ralph Firman – 2
Hiroaki Ishiura – 2
Daisuke Ito – 2
Katsutomo Kaneishi – 2
Andr̩ Lotterer Р2
Tsugio Matsuda – 2
James Rossiter – 2
Toranosuke Takagi – 2
GT300
Tetsuya Yamano – 4
Kazuki Hoshino – 3
Morio Nitta – 3
Kota Sasaki – 3
Hiroki Yoshimoto – 3
Takayuki Aoki – 2
Takuto Iguchi – 2
Masami Kageyama – 2
Manabu Orido – 2
Ryo Orime – 2
Keiichi Suzuki – 2
Wins by Tyre Manufacturer, 1995-present
GT500
Bridgestone – 25
Michelin – 2
Yokohama – 1
Dunlop – 1
GT300
Yokohama – 19
Dunlop – 4
Bridgestone – 2
Michelin – 2
Hankook – 1
Kumho – 1
Landmark Suzuka GT 300km Races (1995-2010, 2018-present)
- 1995: In the first Super GT race at Suzuka Circuit, Nissan scores a 1-2 finish led by the Calsonic Skyline GT-R of Masahiko Kageyama.
- 1996: The McLaren F1 GTR wins its debut GT500 race in a 1-2 led by Naoki Hattori and rookie Ralf Schumacher.
- 1997: Aguri Suzuki and Érik Comas become the first combination of former F1 drivers to win a Super GT race, driving for NISMO.
- 1999: A wet race sees the first Super GT victories for Katsutomo Kaneishi and Juichi Wakisaka in their Takata Dome NSX.
- 2000: The Suzuka 300km moves to the end of the season. Masahiro Hasemi and Masanori Sekiya drive their final races, and Honda clinches their first GT500 title for the #16 Castrol Mugen NSX of Ryo Michigami, Hidetoshi Mitsusada, and Osamu Nakako.
- 2001: A popular victory for Keiichi Tsuchiya in the ARTA NSX puts the Drift King as close as he’d ever come to winning the GT500 title.
- 2002: Tsugio Matsuda and Ralph Firman win their third race of the season for Nakajima Racing, but 3rd for Akira Iida and Juichi Wakisaka gives Toyota Team LeMans the championship.
- 2003: Satoshi Motoyama becomes only the second driver to be crowned “Double Champion” in Japan with a third-place finish alongside Michael Krumm. Keiichi Tsuchiya drives his final race.
- 2004: One year after Motoyama, Richard Lyons, his new co-driver for 2004, becomes the third Japanese “Double Champion” – as Motoyama wraps up back-to-back titles in the Nissan Z’s first GT500 campaign.
- 2005: From 14 points back, Yuji Tachikawa and Toranosuke Takagi win in torrential downpour to win the GT500 Championship in the very last round for Toyota Team Cerumo – the Supra’s last GT500 victory.
- 2006: The Suzuka 300km moves back to the start of the season, and the new Lexus SC430 wins its debut race. Team JLOC win their first race in 13 seasons in GT300.
- 2008: The Nissan GT-R R35s take a 1-2 finish in their debut race in GT500.
- 2010: In the last 300km race at Suzuka until 2010, Kondo Racing’s fuel-only pit stop pays off with a win, in a race where three new Honda HSV-010s crash in unison at their home race.
- 2018: The revival of the Suzuka 300km sees ARTA and Team Kunimitsu battle to the victory in GT500, with ARTA winning via Tomoki Nojiri and Takuya Izawa.
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