The 2008 Autobacs Super GT Series was the sixteenth season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship including the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era and the fourth season as the Super GT series. It marked as well as the twenty-sixth 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. This was the first season for the new R35 GT-R, replacing the Z which had been used for all GT500 Nissan teams from 2004-2007. The season began on March 15 and ended on November 9, 2008 after 9 races.

2008 Xanavi Nismo GT-R (R35).

Drivers and teams

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GT500

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Team Make Car Engine No. Drivers Tyre Rounds
Autobacs Racing Team Aguri Honda Honda NSX GT500 Honda C32B 3.5 L V6 1   Ralph Firman B All
  Takuya Izawa All
Hasemi Motorsport Nissan Nissan GT-R GT500 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 3   Ronnie Quintarelli B All
  Naoki Yokomizo All
ENEOS Toyota Team LeMans Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus 3UZ-FE 4.5 L V8 6   Daisuke Ito B 1–4, 9
  Björn Wirdheim All
  Akira Iida 5–8
  Roberto Streit 6
Team Impul Nissan Nissan GT-R GT500 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 12   Tsugio Matsuda B 1–4, 6–9
  Sébastien Philippe All
  Dominik Schwager 5
Real Racing with Leon Honda Honda NSX GT500 Honda C32B 3.5 L V6 17   Katsutomo Kaneishi B All
  Toshihiro Kaneishi All
  Koudai Tsukakoshi 6
Dome Racing Team Honda Honda NSX GT500 Honda C32B 3.5 L V6 18   Ryo Michigami B All
  Takashi Kogure All
Nismo Nissan Nissan GT-R GT500 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 22   Michael Krumm B All
  Masataka Yanagida All
  Dominik Schwager 6
23   Satoshi Motoyama All
  Benoît Tréluyer All
  Fabio Carbone 6
Kondo Racing Nissan Nissan GT-R GT500 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 24   João Paulo de Oliveira Y All
  Seiji Ara All
Toyota Team Tsuchiya Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus 3UZ-FE 4.5 L V8 25   Takeshi Tsuchiya Y All
  Hiroaki Ishiura All
Nakajima Racing Honda Honda NSX GT500 Honda C32B 3.5 L V6 32   Loïc Duval D All
  Katsuyuki Hiranaka All
Houzan Toyota Team Kraft Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus 3UZ-FE 4.5 L V8 35   Peter Dumbreck B All
  Tatsuya Kataoka All
  Shigekazu Wakisaka 6
Petronas Toyota Team TOM'S Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus 3UZ-FE 4.5 L V8 36   Juichi Wakisaka B All
  André Lotterer All
  Carlo van Dam 6
ZENT Toyota Team Cerumo Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus 3UZ-FE 4.5 L V8 38   Yuji Tachikawa B All
  Richard Lyons All
Toyota Team SARD Lexus Lexus SC430 GT500 Lexus 3UZ-FE 4.5 L V8 39   Toranosuke Takagi D All
  André Couto All
  Koki Saga 6
Team Kunimitsu Honda Honda NSX GT500 Honda C32B 3.5 L V6 100   Yuji Ide B All
  Shinya Hosokawa All
  Kosuke Matsuura 6

GT300

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Team Make Car Engine No. Drivers Tyre Rounds
Cars Tokai Dream28 Mooncraft Mooncraft Shiden Toyota 1UZ-FE 4.4 L V8 2   Kazuho Takahashi Y All
  Hiroki Katoh All
  Hiroki Yoshimoto 6
Team Uematsu Nova Vemac Vemac RD320R Honda C32B 3.4 L V6 4   Ryohei Sakaguchi Y All
  Masaki Matsushita All
  Tadao Uematsu 6
Vemac RD350R Zytek ZV348 3.9 L V8 16   Tadao Uematsu 1, 3, 9
  Katsuhiko Tsutsui 1, 3, 9
Team Mach Vemac Vemac RD320R Honda C32B 3.4 L V6 5   Tetsuji Tamanaka Y All
  Naoya Yamano 1–7, 9
  Katsuhiko Tsutsui 6, 8
RE Amemiya Racing Mazda Mazda RX-7 Mazda RE20B 2.0 L 3-rotor 7   Hiroyuki Iiri Y All
  Ryo Orime All
  Hiroyuki Matsumura 6
A&S Racing Chevrolet Chevrolet Corvette Chevrolet LS1 6.0 L V8 9   Tatsuya Tanigawa K 3, 6, 8
  Hirofumi Takei 3, 6, 8
  Takayuki Matsumoto 6
Jim Gainer Racing Ferrari Ferrari F430 Ferrari F136E 4.3 L V8 11   Tetsuya Tanaka Y All
  Masayuki Ueda All
Racing Project Bandoh Toyota Toyota Celica Toyota 3S-GTE 2.0 L Turbo I4 19   Manabu Orido Y 1–3
  Tsubasa Abe 1–3
Lexus Lexus IS350 Lexus RV8J 3.4 L V8   Manabu Orido 4–9
  Tsubasa Abe 4–9
  Yuhi Sekiguchi 6
Team Taisan with Nishizawa Porsche Porsche 996 GT3-RS Porsche M96/77 3.6 L F6 26   Nobuteru Taniguchi Y All
  Shinichi Yamaji 1–8
  Keita Sawa 6
  Dominik Farnbacher 9
Team Shadow Porsche Porsche 996 GT3-RSR Porsche M96/73 3.6 L F6 27   Takashi Inoue H 1, 3, 6–7, 9
  Hwang Jin Woo 1, 3, 6–7
  Yasuhiro Takasaki 6
  Koji Aoyama 9
apr Toyota Toyota MR-S Toyota 2GR-FSE 3.5 L V6 31   Kyosuke Mineo M 1–5, 7–9
  Yuya Sakamoto 1–5, 7–9
95   Kohei Hirate 1–5, 8–9
  Keisuke Kunimoto All
  Yuya Sakamoto 6
  Kazuya Oshima 6
  Hideki Yamauchi 7
Hankook KTR Porsche Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche M97/80 3.8 L F6 33   Mitsuhiro Kinoshita H All
  Masami Kageyama All
Autobacs Racing Team Aguri ASL ASL ARTA Garaiya Nissan VQ35DE 3.5 L V6 43   Morio Nitta M All
  Shinichi Takagi All
  Kyosuke Mineo 6
MOLA Nissan Nissan Fairlady Z Nissan VQ35DE 3.5 L V6 46   Kazuki Hoshino M All
  Hironobu Yasuda All
Team Takeuchi with Shift Lexus Lexus IS350 Lexus RV8J 3.4 L V8 52   Takuya Kurosawa K 3–9
  Takuto Iguchi 3–9
  Hideki Yamauchi 6
Willcom R&D Sport Vemac Vemac RD408R Mugen MF458S 4.5 L V8 62   Shinsuke Shibahara Y 1, 5–9
  Haruki Kurosawa All
  Shogo Mitsuyama 2–4, 6
JLOC Lamborghini Lamborghini Murciélago RG-1 Lamborghini L535 6.0 L V12 66   Koji Yamanishi Y All
  Atsushi Yogo All
Lamborghini Gallardo RG-3 Lamborghini 07L1 5.0 L V10 87   Hisashi Wada All
  Muneyuki Kurihara All
  Yoshihisa Namekata 6
88   Hideshi Matsuda All
  Naohiro Furuya All
  Yuya Sakamoto 6
Team Gaikokuya Porsche Porsche 996 GT3-RS Porsche M96/77 3.6 L F6 70   Takehide Maeda Y 1
  Yutaka Yamagishi 1–7, 9
  Akazame Oyaji 2–3
  Yoshimi Ishibashi 4–7
  Kazuyoshi Takamizawa 6, 9
Cusco Racing Subaru Subaru Impreza WRX STI Subaru EJ20 2.0 L Turbo F4 77   Tetsuya Yamano D All
  Kota Sasaki 1–7
  Carlo van Dam 8–9
Team Daishin Nissan Nissan Fairlady Z Nissan VQ35DE 3.5 L V6 81   Takayuki Aoki Y All
  Tomonobu Fujii All
Arktech Motorsports Porsche Porsche 986 Boxster Porsche M96/77 3.6 L F6 110   Hidetoshi Mitsusada K All
  Daisuke Ikeda All
111   Hiroshi Koizumi 1–6
  Guts Jyonai 1
  Tsubasa Kurosawa 2–6
  Paul Ip 6
Tomei Sports Porsche Porsche 996 GT3-RS Porsche M96/77 3.6 L F6 118   Takashi Miyamoto Y 1, 3, 6–9
  Takashi Ohi 1
  Masayuki Kurihara 3, 6–7
  Guts Jyonai 6, 8–9
Avanzza Rosso Vemac Vemac RD320R Honda C32B 3.5 L V6 666   Shogo Suho K 1–3, 5–9
  Junichiro Yamashita 1–3, 5–9
  Takamori.com 6
Studie & Glad with Asada Racing BMW BMW Z4 M Coupe BMW S62B50 4.9 L V8 808   Yasushi Kikuchi Y 6–7, 9
  Shozo Tagahara 6–7, 9

Schedule

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Round Race Circuit Date
1   Suzuka GT 300 km Suzuka Circuit March 16
2   Okayama GT 300 km Okayama International Circuit April 13
3   Fuji GT 500 km Fuji Speedway May 4
4   Super GT International Series Malaysia Sepang International Circuit June 22
5   SUGO GT 300 km Sportsland SUGO July 27
6   International POKKA 1000km Suzuka Circuit August 24
7   Motegi GT 300 km Twin Ring Motegi September 14
8   Autopolis GT 300 km Autopolis October 19
9   Fuji GT 300 km Fuji Speedway November 9

Season Winners

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Rd Circuit GT500 Winning Team GT300 Winning Team
GT500 Winning Drivers GT300 Winning Drivers
1 Suzuka   #23 Xanavi Nismo GT-R   #7 ORC Amemiya SGC-7
  Satoshi Motoyama
  Benoît Tréluyer
  Hiroyuki Iiri
  Ryo Orime
2 Okayama   #23 Xanavi Nismo GT-R   #43 ARTA Garaiya
  Satoshi Motoyama
  Benoît Tréluyer
  Morio Nitta
  Shinichi Takagi
3 Mt. Fuji   #38 ZENT Cerumo SC430   #95 Lightning McQueen apr MR-S
  Yuji Tachikawa
  Richard Lyons
  Kohei Hirate
  Keisuke Kunimoto
4 Kuala Lumpur   #24 Woodone ADVAN Clarion GT-R   #77 Cusco Dunlop Subaru Impreza
  João Paulo de Oliveira
  Seiji Ara
  Tetsuya Yamano
  Kouta Sasaki
5 Sportsland SUGO   #18 Takata DOME NSX   #43 ARTA Garaiya
  Ryo Michigami
  Takashi Kogure
  Morio Nitta
  Shinichi Takagi
6 Suzuka
Report
  #12 Calsonic IMPUL GT-R   #46 MOLA LEOPALACE Z
  Tsugio Matsuda
  Sebastien Philippe
  Kazuki Hoshino
  Hironobu Yasuda
7 Motegi   #3 Yellow Hat YMS Tomica GT-R   #19 WedsSport IS350
  Ronnie Quintarelli
  Naoki Yokomizo
  Manabu Orido
  Tsubasa Abe
8 Autopolis   #23 Xanavi Nismo GT-R   #81 Daishin Advan Z
  Satoshi Motoyama
  Benoît Tréluyer
  Takayuki Aoki
  Tomonobu Fujii
9 Mt. Fuji   #12 Calsonic IMPUL GT-R   #26 Yunker-Power Taisan Porsche 996 GT3
  Tsugio Matsuda
  Sebastien Philippe
  Nobuteru Taniguchi
  Dominik Farnbacher

Standings

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GT500 Drivers

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Scoring system
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Points 20 15 11 8 6 5 4 3 2 1
Qualifying 3 2 1
Fastest Lap 1 1 1
  • Only the best four results in the first six races would be counted for the championship.
  • There were no points awarded for pole position and fastest lap in the final race.
Rank Driver SUZ
 
OKA
 
FUJ
 
SEP
 
SUG
 
SUZ
 
MOT
 
AUT
 
FUJ
 
PTS
1

(#23 Xanavi Nismo GT-R)

  Satoshi Motoyama
  Benoît Tréluyer
1 1 14 13 14 8 12 1 9 76
2

(#38 ZENT Toyota Team Cerumo SC430)

  Yuji Tachikawa
  Richard Lyons
4 7 1 Ret 3 9 9 4 2 72
3

(#36 Petronas Toyota Team TOM'S SC430)

  Juichi Wakisaka
  André Lotterer
3 4 2 7 10 3 3 8 7 63
4

(#12 Calsonic Team Impul Nismo GT-R)

  Sébastien Philippe Ret 2 9 14 12 1 11 10 1 61
5

(#12 Calsonic Team Impul Nismo GT-R)

  Tsugio Matsuda

(Only attempted rounds 1–4, 6–9)

Ret 2 9 14 1 11 10 1 61
6

(#18 Takata Dome Honda NSX)

  Ryo Michigami
  Takashi Kogure
7 12 3 3 1 12 8 7 14 60
7

(#22 Motul Nismo GT-R)

  Michael Krumm
  Masataka Yanagida
2 15 15 2 13 4 7 5 11 57
8

(#1 Autobacs Racing Team Aguri Honda NSX)

  Ralph Firman
  Takuya Izawa
14 3 Ret 11 15 13 2 3 12 49
9

(#35 Houzan Toyota Team Kraft Lexus SC430)

  Peter Dumbreck
  Tatsuya Kataoka
6 6 5 10 2 10 6 15 6 45
10

(#32 Nakajima Racing Epson Honda NSX)

  Loïc Duval
  Katsuyuki Hiranaka
10 5 7 Ret Ret 11 5 2 4 43
11

(#100 Team Kunimitsu Raybrig Honda NSX)

  Yuji Ide
  Shinya Hosokawa
13 9 4 5 5 2 16 9 Ret 41
12

(#3 Hasemi Motorsport Yellow Hat YMS Tomica Nismo GT-R)

  Ronnie Quintarelli
  Naoki Yokomizo
15 10 15 9 11 5 1 6 13 39
13

(#6 ENEOS Toyota Team LeMans Lexus SC430)

  Björn Wirdheim 9 13 6 8 7 6 4 14 3 39
14

(#24 Kondo Racing Clarion Nismo GT-R)

  João Paulo de Oliveira
  Seiji Ara
5 8 11 1 8 7 14 16 15 34
15

(#25 Toyota Team Tsuchiya Lexus SC430)

  Takeshi Tsuchiya
  Hiroaki Ishiura
11 11 8 4 4 14 10 12 8 23
16

(#6 ENEOS Toyota Team LeMans Lexus SC430)

  Daisuke Ito

(Only attempted round 1–4, 9)

9 13 6 8 3 21
17

(#6 ENEOS Toyota Team LeMans Lexus SC430)

  Akira Iida

(only attempted rounds 5–8)

7 6 4 14 20
18

(#100 Team Kunimitsu Raybrig Honda NSX)

  Kosuke Matsuura

(only attempted round 6)

2 19
19

(#17 Real Racing with Leon Honda NSX)

  Katsutomo Kaneishi
  Toshihiro Kaneishi
8 16 10 6 9 Ret 15 11 Ret 16
20

(#36 Petronas Toyota Team TOM'S SC430)

  Carlo van Dam

(only attempted round 6)

3 11
21

(#39 Toyota Team SARD Lexus SC430)

  Toranosuke Takagi
  André Couto
12 14 13 12 6 15 13 13 5 11
22

(#12 Calsonic Team Impul Nismo GT-R)

  Dominik Schwager

(only attempted round 5)

12 4 10
23

(#6 ENEOS Toyota Team LeMans Lexus SC430)

  Roberto Streit

(only attempted round 6)

6 5
24

(#23 Xanavi Nismo GT-R)

  Fabio Carbone

(only attempted round 6)

8 3
25

(#23 Real Racing with Leon Honda NSX)

  Koudai Tsukakoshi

(only attempted round 6)

Ret 1
Rank Driver SUZ
 
OKA
 
FUJ
 
SEP
 
SUG
 
SUZ
 
MOT
 
AUT
 
FUJ
 
PTS
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

Teams' standings

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Rank[1][2] Team No. SUZ
 
OKA
 
FUJ
 
SEP
 
SUG
 
SUZ
 
MOT
 
AUT
 
FUJ
 
Pts.
1 Petronas Toyota Team TOM'S 36 3 4 2 7 10 3 3 8 7 94
2 ZENT Toyota Team Cerumo 38 4 7 1 Ret 3 9 9 4 2 93
3 Nismo 23 1 1 14 13 14 8 12 1 9 86
4 Team Impul 12 Ret 2 9 14 12 1 11 10 1 78
5 Dome Racing Team 18 7 12 3 3 1 12 8 7 14 75
6 Nismo 22 2 15 12 2 13 4 7 5 11 69
7 Houzan Toyota Team Kraft 35 6 6 5 10 2 10 6 15 6 68
8 Eneos Toyota Team LeMans 6 9 13 6 8 7 6 4 14 3 64
9 Team Kunimitsu 100 13 9 4 5 5 2 16 9 Ret 60
10 Nakajima Racing 32 10 5 7 Ret Ret 11 5 2 4 60
11 Kondo Racing 24 5 8 11 1 8 7 14 16 15 56
12 Autobacs Racing Team Aguri 1 14 3 Ret 11 15 13 2 3 12 54
13 Hasemi Motorsport 3 15 10 15 9 11 5 1 6 13 53
14 Toyota Team Tsuchiya 25 11 11 8 4 4 14 10 12 8 44
15 Real Racing with LEON 17 8 16 10 6 9 Ret 15 11 10 30
16 Toyota Team SARD 39 12 14 13 12 6 15 13 13 5 29
Rank Team No. SUZ
 
OKA
 
FUJ
 
SEP
 
SUG
 
SUZ
 
MOT
 
AUT
 
FUJ
 
Pts.

GT300 Class (Top 3)

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Drivers

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Rank Drivers Number/Team Points Wins
1   Kazuki Hoshino
  Hironobu Yasuda
#46 MOLA LEOPALACE Z 78 1
2   Morio Nitta
  Shinichi Takagi
#43 ARTA Garaiya 77 2
3   Nobuteru Taniguchi #26 Yunker-Power Taisan Porsche 71 1

Teams

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Rank Number/Team Car Points
1 #46 MOLA MOLA Leopalace Z 104
2 #43 Autobacs Racing Team Aguri ARTA Garaiya 89
3 #81 Team Daishin Daishin ADVAN Z 85

Footnotes

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  1. ^ "SUPERGT.net | Race Archive". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-07-13.
  2. ^ Magazine, Speedsport. "Super GT & All Japan GT: Overview of seasons". www.speedsport-magazine.com. Retrieved 2023-07-13.
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