The Japanese sportscar series has up to now been resistant to adding a hybrid element to the successful 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo engine formula that has been used in the top GT500 class since 2014.
However, ahead of Sunday's season finale at Motegi, series organiser GTA revealed that hybrids could be adopted as part of its roadmap, dubbed 'SUPER GT Green Project 2030', which is aimed at reducing the championship's carbon footprint by half by the end of the decade while maintaining the series' popularity.
The first step of the project, as already announced at the start of the season, is the use of carbon-neutral fuel derived from so-called second-generation biomass in both the GT500 and GT300 classes.
Additionally, teams will only be able to use five sets of dry tyres, instead of the current six, in 300km races, and six sets of wets instead of seven, in the name of encouraging greater tyre longevity.
New GT500 cars will be introduced for 2024, which will continue to use carbon-neutral fuel, while the number of permitted tyres for 300km races will drop further to four sets in the dry and five sets in the wet.
Another new generation of GT500 machinery will then be introduced in 2027, with the potential for a spec hybrid system to be added at this juncture. A decision on this is set to be made by the end of 2023.
Additionally, the series hopes to begin using domestically-produced synthetic fuel instead of having to import it from overseas.
GTA chairman Masaaki Bandoh clearly stated the series is aiming to maintain engine sound as a fundamental tenet of SUPER GT's appeal.
SUPER GT's first joint test using the carbon neutral fuel planned for next season, originally scheduled for August but postponed due to logisitical issues, took place at Motegi on Monday with 22 cars participating.
Only Nissan teams Impul and Kondo Racing skipped the test of the GT500 contingent, while five manufacturers were represented in the GT300 class - although the #25 Tsuchiya Engineering Toyota GR Supra, which was entered, did not after suffering major crash damage in Sunday's finale.
Fastest in the morning session was the #23 NISMO Nissan (Ronnie Quintarelli/Tsugio Matsuda) with a best time of 1m37.285s, while the #3 NDDP Racing Nissan (Katsumasa Chiyo/Mitsunori Takaboshi) topped the afternoon session on a 1m37.453s.
However, with teams running a mix of carbon-neutral and regular fuel across the two sessions, the times should not be considered representative.
Motegi carbon-neutral fuel test results (GT500):
| Pos. | No. | Car/Team | Drivers | Morning | Afternoon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23 | NISMO Nissan |
|
1'37.285 | 1'38.095 |
| 2 | 100 | Kunimitsu Honda |
|
1'37.348 | 1'39.387 |
| 3 | 3 | NDDP Nissan |
|
1'37.478 | 1'37.453 |
| 4 | 17 | Real Honda |
|
1'37.792 | 1'37.710 |
| 5 | 16 | Mugen Honda |
|
1'37.848 | 1'37.943 |
| 6 | 14 | Rookie Toyota |
|
1'37.966 | 1'38.311 |
| 7 | 36 | TOM'S Toyota |
|
1'38.089 | 1'39.166 |
| 8 | 38 | Cerumo Toyota |
|
1'38.144 | 1'38.546 |
| 9 | 39 | SARD Toyota |
|
1'39.635 | 1'38.177 |
| 10 | 8 | ARTA Honda |
|
1'38.273 | 1'39.864 |
| 11 | 19 | Bandoh Toyota |
|
1'39.196 | 1'38.401 |
| 12 | 64 | Nakajima Honda |
|
1'38.644 | 1'38.698 |
| 13 | 37 | TOM'S Toyota |
|
1'39.314 | 1'38.710 |
Tsugio Matsuda
Ronnie Quintarelli
Giuliano AlesiMotegi carbon-neutral fuel test results (GT300):
| Pos. | No. | Car/Team | Drivers | Morning | Afternoon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Studie BMW |
|
1'48.963 | 1'46.766 |
| 2 | 11 | Gainer Nissan |
|
1'46.827 | no time |
| 3 | 65 | LEON Mercedes |
|
1'47.045 | no time |
| 4 | 61 | R&D Sport Subaru |
|
1'47.283 | 1'47.832 |
| 5 | 20 | Shade Toyota |
|
1'48.042 | 1'47.393 |
| 6 | 2 | Inging Toyota |
|
1'48.343 | 1'47.682 |
| 7 | 52 | Saitama T'pet Toyota |
|
1'49.201 | 1'47.741 |
| 8 | 60 | LM Corsa Toyota |
|
1'47.848 | 1'48.029 |
| 9 | 30 | apr Toyota |
|
1'49.480 | 1'49.156 |
Additional reporting by Kenichiro Ebii
