SUPER GT Tightens Up Pit Stop Windows For 450km Races

The GT Association (GTA), promoter of the Autobacs SUPER GT Series, has published an updated set of Sporting Regulations which impacts the upcoming Fuji GT 450km Race on 6 August.

For the next three 450-kilometre races, and all other long-distance races for the foreseeable future, the pit window for teams to make their two compulsory pit stops will start once the overall leader begins their fifth lap.

All teams must complete their two pit stops from that point, until the overall leader begins the final lap.

This change brings to an end a common GT300 class pit strategy for long-distance races, where teams would pit as early as the end of the first lap and take only a splash of fuel to effectively reduce the number of required pit stops by one. The tactic is not used in GT500.

It began at the 2017 Suzuka 1000km, which required five mandatory pit stops (for both fuel and driver changes, at the time). K2 R&D LEON Racing, Haruki Kurosawa and Naoya Gamou won the GT300 class after performing one of their required pit stops at the end of the first lap.

This strategy has been more prevalent among GT300 teams since the introduction of the 450km “semi-endurance” format last year, where the only required pit work is refuelling, and even more so this season.

In particular, the #2 muta Racing INGING Toyota GR86 of Yuui Tsutsumi and Hibiki Taira, and the #52 Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave Toyota GR Supra of Hiroki Yoshida and Kohta Kawaai, have scored back-to-back podiums at the 450km races at Fuji and Suzuka this Spring, by making their first pit stops within the first three laps to gain track position and extend their stint lengths.

At Suzuka, the #7 Studie BMW M4 GT3 of Seiji Ara and Masataka Yanagida won after making a pit stop on the first lap.

This change supplements the revised pit lane procedures during Safety Cars, which was published earlier this month. Teams will now be able to change from dry to wet tyres (or vice versa) within two laps of the Safety Car being deployed, but these stops will not count towards their count of required pit stops declared by the Sporting Regulations before the race.

Feature image © GTA; additional image © BMW M Team Studie