Super GT releases 42-car entry list for 2023 season

A grid of 42 cars marks a reduction of one car compared to last season, although there was only one race, May's Fuji 450km, in which all 43 cars initially entered for the 2022 campaign actually took part.

As has been the case in recent years, Toyota has the most cars entered in the GT500 class with six GR Supras split between five teams, while Honda fields five cars and Nissan four.

Bridgestone serves as tyre supplier for 10 of the 15 cars in the top category, up from last year's nine, with Michelin and Yokohama both supplying two cars each and Dunlop reduced to a single car.

The #1 plate is back in use this season after a year's absence, with Nissan squad Team Impul electing to run the number in place of its usual #12 after Bertrand Baguette and Kazuki Hiramine's title triumph last year.

There are no surprises on the driver front, with all three manufacturers having already announced their line-ups for the coming season.

Sacha Fenestraz's departure to Formula E means there are now just three non-Japanese drivers in GT500, Baguette joined by TOM'S Toyota driver Giuliano Alesi and long-time NISMO servant Ronnie Quintarelli.

SUPER GT 2023 GT500 entry list: 

Manufacturer	Team	Tyre	No.	Drivers
Nissan Z GT500	Team Impul	Bridgestone	1	Bertrand Baguette  Kazuki Hiramine
	NDDP Racing	Michelin	3	Katsumasa Chiyo  Mitsunori Takaboshi
	NISMO	Michelin	23	Ronnie Quintarelli  Tsugio Matsuda
	Kondo Racing	Yokohama	24	Kohei Hirate  Daiki Sasaki
Toyota GR Supra	Rookie Racing	Bridgestone	14	Kazuya Oshima  Kenta Yamashita
	Racing Project Bandoh	Yokohama	19	Yuji Kunimoto  Sena Sakaguchi
	TOM’S	Bridgestone	36	Sho Tsuboi  Ritomo Miyata
			37	Giuliano Alesi  Ukyo Sasahara
	Cerumo	Bridgestone	38	Hiroaki Ishiura  Yuji Tachikawa
	SARD	Bridgestone	39	Yuhi Sekiguchi  Yuichi Nakayama
Honda NSX-GT (Type S)	ARTA	Bridgestone	8	Tomoki Nojiri  Toshiki Oyu
			16	Nirei Fukuzumi  Hiroki Otsu
	Real Racing	Bridgestone	17	Koudai Tsukakoshi  Nobuharu Matsushita
	Nakajima Racing	Dunlop	64	Takuya Izawa  Kakunoshin Ota
	Team Kunimitsu	Bridgestone	100	Naoki Yamamoto  Tadasuke Makino

In the GT300 class, 27 cars are entered, with a total of nine different marques currently confirmed: Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Nissan, Subaru, BMW, Audi, Mercedes and Lamborghini.

However, there is one entry with no confirmed car, that of Pacific Racing, which has maintained its slot on the grid despite the end of its partnership with CarGuy Racing and has no confirmed drivers.

Pacific CarGuy was the only team running Ferrari machinery last year and the Italian marque appears unlikely to be represented in 2023.

Elsewhere, Team LeMans, JLOC and R'Qs Motor Sports are all confirmed for 2023 campaigns despite having not made official announcements.

Team LeMans will continue to field its Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II for Roberto Merhi and Yoshiaki Katayama, while two-car Lamborghini squad JLOC and Mercedes outfit R'Qs likewise maintain unchanged line-ups from 2022.

Other teams to have firmed up their plans in recent days include Inging, Shade Racing (both Toyota GR86 GT) and Max Racing (Toyota GR Supra GT).

GT300 stalwart Hiroki Katoh has stepped down as a full-time driver at Inging in favour of Toyota-backed youngster Hibiki Taira. Katoh will however serve as third driver and team principal for the coming campaign.

As things stand, there is just one 'Mother Chassis' car left on the grid in the form of the Team Mach Toyota 86 MC following Arnage Racing's switch to a Lexus RC F GT3 for the new season.

Yokohama remains the dominant tyre supplier in GT300, adding Yogibo Racing to its 16-strong roster. Dunlop continues with six cars, Bridgestone has reduced its commitment to four cars and Michelin again supplies just one car in the form of the Team Studie BMW M4 GT3.

SUPER GT 2023 GT300 entry list: 

No.	Team	Car	Tyre	Drivers
2	Muta Racing Inging	Toyota GR86 GT	Bridgestone	Yuui Tsutsumi  Hibiki Taira
4	Goodsmile Racing & Team Ukyo	Mercedes-AMG GT3	Yokohama	Nobuteru Taniguchi  Tatsuya Kataoka
5	Team Mach	Toyota 86 MC	Yokohama	Yusuke Tomibayashi  Takamitsu Matsui
6	Team LeMans	Audi R8 LMS GT3	Yokohama	Roberto Merhi  Yoshiaki Katayama
7	BMW Team Studie	BMW M4 GT3	Michelin	Seiji Ara  Bruno Spengler
9	Pacific Racing	TBA	Yokohama	TBA
10	Gainer	Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3	Dunlop	Hironobu Yasuda  Riki Okusa
11	Gainer	Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3	Dunlop	Ryuichiro Tomita  Keishi Ishikawa
18	Team UpGarage	Honda NSX GT3	Yokohama	Takashi Kobayashi  Shun Koide
20	Shade Racing	Toyota GR86 GT	Dunlop	Katsuyuki Hiranaka  Eijiro Shimizu
22	R'Qs Motor Sports	Mercedes-AMG GT3	Yokohama	Hisashi Wada  Masaki Jyonai
25	Hoppy Team Tsuchiya	Toyota GR Supra GT300	Yokohama	Takamitsu Matsui  Seita Nonaka
27	Yogibo Racing	Honda NSX GT3	Yokohama	Reimei Ito  Yugo Iwasawa
30	apr	Toyota GR86 GT	Yokohama	Hiroaki Nagai  Manabu Orido
31	apr	Lexus LC500h GT	Bridgestone	Koki Saga  Kazuto Kotaka
48	NILZZ Racing	Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3	Yokohama	TBA
50	Anest Iwata Racing with Arnage	Lexus RC F GT3	Yokohama	Igor Fraga  Yuga Furutani
52	Saitama Toyopet Green Brave	Toyota GR Supra GT300	Bridgestone	Hiroki Yoshida  Kohta Kawaai
56	Kondo Racing	Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3	Yokohama	JP de Oliveira  Teppei Natori
60	LM Corsa	Toyota GR Supra GT300	Dunlop	Hiroki Yoshimoto  Shunsuke Kohno
61	R&D Sport	Subaru BRZ	Dunlop	Takuto Iguchi  Hideki Yamauchi
65	K2 R&D LEON Racing	Mercedes-AMG GT3	Bridgestone	Naoya Gamou  Takuro Shinohara
87	JLOC	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	Yokohama	Kosuke Matsuura  Natsu Sakaguchi
88	JLOC	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	Yokohama	Takashi Kogure  Yuya Motojima
96	K-tunes Racing	Lexus RC F GT3	Dunlop	Morio Nitta  Shinichi Takagi
244	Max Racing	Toyota GR Supra GT300	Yokohama	Kimiya Sato  Atsushi Miyake
360	Tomei Sports	Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3	Yokohama	Takayuki Aoki  Atsushi Tanaka