Where one tradition ends, another will soon begin.
On Wednesday, the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) released their first provisional calendar for 2018 motorsports activities, and confirmed that the fifth round of the 2018 Autobacs Super GT Series at Fuji Speedway on August 4-5 will be contested over 500 miles (or 800 miles) as the “Fuji GT 500 Mile Race”.
The Fuji GT 500 Mile Race will succeed the previous Fuji GT 300km Race (formerly known as the Japan Special GT Cup in years past) held in August, and effectively replaces the outgoing International Suzuka 1000km as Super GT’s annual endurance round.
As an endurance race over 700 kilometers in distance, the Fuji 500 Miles will pay out similar championship points to the Suzuka 1000km – a maximum of 25 points to the winning team and drivers, as opposed to the “standard” 20 points.
With the announcement, Fuji Speedway will now host the two largest Super GT rounds on the calendar in terms of distance and in prestige: The 500 Mile Race in August will be preceded by the Fuji GT 500km Race on May 4, the series’ second-longest race – and its most popular event on the calendar, drawing nearly 100,000 spectators annually as part of the Golden Week holiday in Japan.
