2011 Super GT Series
The 2011 Autobacs Super GT Series was the nineteenth season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship including the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship era and the seventh season as the Super GT series. It also marked the twenty-ninth season of a JAF-sanctioned sports car racing championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. It is a series for Grand Touring race cars divided into two categories: GT500 and GT300. The season began on May 1 and ended on November 13, 2011 after 8 races and 1 non-championship race. The season was due to start on April 2, but the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami caused its postponement.
In the GT500 class, MOLA won the championship in their first ever season in the GT500 class. The MOLA drivers also scored some notable achievements with this title victory: Masataka Yanagida, who had won the GT300 title in 2003 and 2010, becomes the first driver to win both the GT500 and the GT300 class, while Ronnie Quintarelli would win his first out of four GT500 titles in this season. In the GT300 class, Goodsmile Racing & Studie shocked everyone by winning the championship with the Hatsune Miku itasha-liveried BMW Z4 GT3, giving series veteran Nobuteru Taniguchi and Taku Bamba their first title in this series. It also marked the first championship title for FIA GT3-specification cars in this series.
Schedule
The provisional calendar was released on 8 August 2010. The Autopolis round which was absent the previous season was added to the calendar while the Suzuka race was reduced to a 700 km Endurance race only. Like the previous season, the non-Super GT pointed race JAF Grand Prix was to be raced as a conclusion to the season.However, due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on March 11, a large part of the season was modified to cope with the situation.
The calendar was updated on 15 April 2011.
| Round | Race | Circuit | Date |
| 1 | Okayama GT |  Okayama International Circuit | May 22 |
| 2 | Fuji GT 1 | Fuji Speedway | May 1 |
| 3 | Super GT International Series Malaysia |  Sepang International Circuit | June 19 |
| 4 | Sugo GT | Sportsland SUGO | July 30 |
| 5 | 40th Pokka GT Summer Special | Suzuka Circuit | August 21 |
| 6 | Fuji GT 2 | Fuji Speedway | September 11 |
| 7 | Autopolis GT | Autopolis | October 2 |
| 8 | Motegi GT | Twin Ring Motegi | October 16 |
| NC | All Star Series | Fuji Speedway | November 12 |
| NC | All Star Series | Fuji Speedway | November 13 |
Impact of Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
As a response of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the racing calendar and regulations were given a lot of modifications as a response to the national policy of energy conservation.- The Okayama GT event, originally to be held on April 2 was postponed to 22 May despite damage to the Okayama International Circuit being minimal. The GT Association would still consider it as the 1st Round. The postponement of the Fuji Round was put under consideration as well.
- All race distances will be trimmed from 300 km to 250 km, other than the first Fuji race will change from 500 km to 300 km, and the Suzuka round from 700 km to 500 km. In addition, the Suzuka round will be only run in day sessions.
- Pitworks at nights are limited to a shorter period of time. Overnight works are not allowed between qualifying and the race.
Drivers and teams
GT500
| Team | Make | Car | # | Drivers | Tyre | Round |
| Weider Honda Racing | Honda | Honda HSV-010 GT | 1 | Takashi Kogure | All | |
| Weider Honda Racing | Honda | Honda HSV-010 GT | 1 |  Loïc Duval | All | |
| Lexus Team LeMans ENEOS | Lexus | Lexus SC430 | 6 | Daisuke Itō | All | |
| Lexus Team LeMans ENEOS | Lexus | Lexus SC430 | 6 | Kazuya Oshima | All | |
| Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | Honda | Honda HSV-010 GT | 8 | Hideki Mutoh | All | |
| Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | Honda | Honda HSV-010 GT | 8 | Takashi Kobayashi | All | |
| Team Impul | Nissan | Nissan GT-R | 12 | Tsugio Matsuda | All | |
| Team Impul | Nissan | Nissan GT-R | 12 |  João Paulo de Oliveira | All | |
| Keihin Real Racing | Honda | Honda HSV-010 GT | 17 | Toshihiro Kaneishi | All | |
| Keihin Real Racing | Honda | Honda HSV-010 GT | 17 | Koudai Tsukakoshi | All | |
| Lexus Team WedsSport BANDOH | Lexus | Lexus SC430 | 19 | Tatsuya Kataoka | All | |
| Lexus Team WedsSport BANDOH | Lexus | Lexus SC430 | 19 | Seiji Ara | All | |
| Nismo | Nissan | Nissan GT-R | 23 | Satoshi Motoyama | All | |
| Nismo | Nissan | Nissan GT-R | 23 | Benoît Tréluyer | All | |
| Kondō Racing | Nissan | Nissan GT-R | 24 | Hironobu Yasuda | All | |
| Kondō Racing | Nissan | Nissan GT-R | 24 |  Björn Wirdheim | All | |
| Nakajima Racing | Honda | Honda HSV-010 GT | 32 | Ryo Michigami | All | |
| Nakajima Racing | Honda | Honda HSV-010 GT | 32 | Yuhki Nakayama | All | |
| Lexus Team Kraft | Lexus | Lexus SC430 | 35 | Juichi Wakisaka | All | |
| Lexus Team Kraft | Lexus | Lexus SC430 | 35 |  André Couto | All | |
| Lexus Team Petronas TOM'S | Lexus | Lexus SC430 | 36 |  André Lotterer | All | |
| Lexus Team Petronas TOM'S | Lexus | Lexus SC430 | 36 | Kazuki Nakajima | All | |
| Lexus Team ZENT Cerumo | Lexus | Lexus SC430 | 38 | Yuji Tachikawa | All | |
| Lexus Team ZENT Cerumo | Lexus | Lexus SC430 | 38 | Kohei Hirate | All | |
| Lexus Team SARD | Lexus | Lexus SC430 | 39 | Hiroaki Ishiura | All | |
| Lexus Team SARD | Lexus | Lexus SC430 | 39 | Takuto Iguchi | All | |
| MOLA | Nissan | Nissan GT-R | 46 | Masataka Yanagida | All | |
| MOLA | Nissan | Nissan GT-R | 46 |  Ronnie Quintarelli | All | |
| Team Kunimitsu | Honda | Honda HSV-010 GT | 100 | Takuya Izawa | All | |
| Team Kunimitsu | Honda | Honda HSV-010 GT | 100 | Naoki Yamamoto | All |
GT300
| Team | Make | Car | Drivers | Tyre | Round | |
| Cars Tokai Dream28 | Mooncraft | Mooncraft Shiden | 2 | Kazuho Takahashi | All | |
| Cars Tokai Dream28 | Mooncraft | Mooncraft Shiden | 2 | Hiroki Katoh | All | |
| Goodsmile Racing & Studie with Team Ukyo | BMW | BMW Z4 GT3 | 4 | Nobuteru Taniguchi | All | |
| Goodsmile Racing & Studie with Team Ukyo | BMW | BMW Z4 GT3 | 4 | Taku Bamba | All | |
| Team Mach | Vemac | Vemac RD320R | 5 | Haruki Kurosawa | 2–8 | |
| Team Mach | Vemac | Vemac RD320R | 5 | Tetsuji Tamanaka | 2–3, 5–8 | |
| Team Mach | Vemac | Vemac RD320R | 5 | Katsuhiko Tsutsui | 4 | |
| Direction Racing | Porsche | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 7 | Akira Mizutani | 4–6 | |
| Direction Racing | Porsche | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 7 |  Carlo van Dam | 4–6 | |
| Direction Racing | Porsche | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 7 | You Yokomaku | 5 | |
| Gainer | Ferrari | Ferrari F430 GT2 | 10 | Masayuki Ueda | 6–8 | |
| Gainer | Ferrari | Ferrari F430 GT2 | 10 | Masataka Kawaguchi | 6–8 | |
| Gainer | Ferrari | Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | 11 | Tetsuya Tanaka | All | |
| Gainer | Ferrari | Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | 11 | Katsuyuki Hiranaka | All | |
 Team SG Changi | Lexus | Lexus IS350 | 14 | Ryo Orime | All | |
| Team SG Changi | Lexus | Lexus IS350 | 14 |  Alexandre Imperatori | 1–2, 4–8 | |
| Team SG Changi | Lexus | Lexus IS350 | 14 | Tsubasa Abe | 3 | |
| Team SG Changi | Lexus | Lexus IS350 | 14 | Naoya Yamano | NC | |
| Team Art Taste | Porsche | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 15 |  Tim Bergmeister | 5–8, NC | |
| Team Art Taste | Porsche | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 15 | Yasuhiro Shimizu | 5–8, NC | |
| R'Qs Motorsports | Vemac | Vemac RD350R | 22 | Hisashi Wada | 1–5, 7, NC | |
| R'Qs Motorsports | Vemac | Vemac RD350R | 22 | Masaki Jyonai | 1–5, 7, NC | |
| Team Tsuchiya | Porsche | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR | 25 | Takeshi Tsuchiya | 1–8 | |
| Team Tsuchiya | Porsche | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR | 25 | Akihiro Tsuzuki | 1–8 | |
| Team Taisan | Porsche | Porsche 996 GT3 | 26 | Kyosuke Mineo | 1–7, NC | |
| Team Taisan | Porsche | Porsche 996 GT3 | 26 | Hideshi Matsuda | 1–3, 6, 8, NC | |
| Team Taisan | Porsche | Porsche 996 GT3 | 26 | Junichiro Yamashita | 4–5, 7–8 | |
| Team Taisan | Porsche | Porsche 996 GT3 | 26 | Shogo Mitsuyama | 5 | |
| Team Taisan | Ferrari | Ferrari F430 GT2 | 41 | Shinichi Yamaji | 1–2, 4–6, 8, NC | |
| Team Taisan | Ferrari | Ferrari F430 GT2 | 41 | Hiroshi Koizumi | 1–2, 4–6 | |
| Team Taisan | Ferrari | Ferrari F430 GT2 | 41 | Kyosuke Mineo | 8 | |
| Team Taisan | Ferrari | Ferrari F430 GT2 | 41 | Junichiro Yamashita | NC | |
| LMP Motorsport | Ferrari | Ferrari F430 GT2 | 27 | Yutaka Yamagishi | All | |
| LMP Motorsport | Ferrari | Ferrari F430 GT2 | 27 | Hideki Yamauchi | 1–6, NC | |
| LMP Motorsport | Ferrari | Ferrari F430 GT2 | 27 | Carlo van Dam | 7–8 | |
| apr | Toyota | Toyota Corolla Axio | 31 | Koki Saga | All | |
| apr | Toyota | Toyota Corolla Axio | 31 | Yuki Iwasaki | All | |
| apr | Toyota | Toyota Corolla Axio | 74 | Morio Nitta | All | |
| apr | Toyota | Toyota Corolla Axio | 74 | Yuji Kunimoto | All | |
| Hankook KTR | Porsche | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 33 | Masami Kageyama | All | |
| Hankook KTR | Porsche | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 33 | Tomonobu Fujii | All | |
| Hankook KTR | Porsche | Porsche 997 GT3 RS | 34 | Hiroshi Takamori | 1–2, 5–6 | |
| Hankook KTR | Porsche | Porsche 997 GT3 RS | 34 |  Michael Kim | 1–2, 5–6 | |
| Hankook KTR | Porsche | Porsche 997 GT3 RS | 34 | Naoya Gamou | 2, 5 | |
| Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | ASL | ASL Garaiya | 43 | Shinichi Takagi | All | |
| Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | ASL | ASL Garaiya | 43 | Kosuke Matsuura | All | |
| R&D Sport | Subaru | Subaru Legacy B4 | 62 | Kota Sasaki | All | |
| R&D Sport | Subaru | Subaru Legacy B4 | 62 | Tetsuya Yamano | All | |
| A speed | Aston Martin | Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2 | 66 | Hiroki Yoshimoto | All | |
| A speed | Aston Martin | Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2 | 66 | Kazuki Hoshino | All | |
| ThunderAsia Racing | Mosler | Mosler MT900M | 69 | Hiroki Yoshida | 1–8 | |
| ThunderAsia Racing | Mosler | Mosler MT900M | 69 | Melvin Choo | 1–3, 5–8 | |
| ThunderAsia Racing | Mosler | Mosler MT900M | 69 | Naoki Yokomizo | 4–5 | |
| JLOC | Lamborghini | Lamborghini Gallardo RG-3 | 86 | Takayuki Aoki | All | |
| JLOC | Lamborghini | Lamborghini Gallardo RG-3 | 86 | Yuya Sakamoto | All | |
| JLOC | Lamborghini | Lamborghini Gallardo RG-3 | 87 | Manabu Orido | All | |
| JLOC | Lamborghini | Lamborghini Gallardo RG-3 | 87 | Atsushi Yogo | All | |
| JLOC | Lamborghini | Lamborghini Gallardo RG-3 | 88 | Hiroyuki Iiri | All | |
| JLOC | Lamborghini | Lamborghini Gallardo RG-3 | 88 | Yuhi Sekiguchi | All | |
| Tomei Sports | Callaway | Callaway Corvette Z06.R GT3 | 360 | Atsushi Tanaka | 1–2, 4, 7 | |
| Tomei Sports | Callaway | Callaway Corvette Z06.R GT3 | 360 | Kazuyoshi Okamura | 1–2, 4 | |
| Tomei Sports | Callaway | Callaway Corvette Z06.R GT3 | 360 | Masahiro Matsunaga | 7 |
Team Movements
GT500
- Honda
- *The original driver lineup from the ARTA, Ralph Firman and Yuji Ide, both left the team this season. They were replaced by Hideki Mutoh and Takashi Kobayashi respectively.
- Lexus
- *Racing Project Bandoh, GT300 Class Champion in 2009 season, will be participating in GT500 class this year.
- *Björn Wirdheim who drove in the ENEOS last season, moved to Nissan's Kondō Racing.
- *Lexus will using SC430 until season ends, as there are remaining SC430s in the factory. The SC430 will be replaced by the LFA in the next season.
- Nissan
- *MOLA, GT300 Class Champion in the 2008 season, will be participating in GT500 class this year. With Masataka Yanagida and Ronnie Quintarelli as their drivers, while João Paulo de Oliveira who was with Kondō Racing filled the void in the Impul team.
GT300
- RE Amemiya, a regular GT300 entrant in the class since the 1995 JGTC season, has withdrawn from the series completely. While 2008 and 2009 GT300 Champion Team MOLA and Racing Project Bandoh both moved up to the GT500 class respectively. 2010 GT300 Champion Hasemi Motorsport also withdrawn the series in early April. Making both Nissan and Mazda car absent in the GT300 lineup this year, for the first time since 1995.
- Jim Gainer Team, which was using the Ferrari F430 in the 2010 season, switched 1 of their 2 cars to a Ferrari F458 GTC. Ferrari stated they are not likely to supply F458's to any of the Super GT teams. Team Mach also showed interest in using an F458 this season but due to the reason above, the plan was not implemented and they had to drive with a Vemac.
- Studie, which used a BMW Z4 in the 2008 and 2009 seasons, returned to the series with a BMW Z4 GT3, previously the #76 car used by Schubert Motorsport in the 2010 FIA GT3 European Championship season. They have hired former F1 driver Ukyo Katayama as their sporting director and former RE Amemiya driver Nobuteru Taniguchi as their driver.
- Team COX left the series after just one season in the series. Goodsmile Racing would later merge with Studie, bringing Taku Bamba to the team as well.
- Chevrolet cars, which previously appeared in Super GT in the 2007 season also returned to the series, with Tomei Sports replacing their 996 type Porsche 911 GT3 with a Corvette Z06-R.
- Porsche supplied two new 2010 specification Porsche 911 GT3Rs to Direction Racing and Team Art Taste, the latter team, which was a regular entrant of Super Taikyu series, also marked their debut season in Super GT. The 2010 specification Porsche 911 GT3R which was used by Team COX last season was given to the Hankook KTR team.
- Team SG Changi, which uses a Lexus IS350 with former RE Amemiya driver Ryo Orime and Alexandre Imperatori is participating in the series for the first time.
- Kazuki Hoshino, the driver's Champion of GT300 last year, moved from Hasemi Motorsport to A Speed, replacing Hideshi Matsuda. Hasemi Motorsport was later to announce their withdrawal from the series.
Calendar
- – Race stopped early due to bad weather, full points awarded.
- – The Okayama round was still considered Round 1.
- – Race stopped early due to energy curfew, full points awarded.
Standings
GT500 Drivers
;Scoring system:| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
| Points | 20 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
GT300 Drivers
;Scoring system:| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
| Points | 20 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |