At last year’s Motegi season finale, series promoter GTA revealed plans for new three-year regulations cycle to commence in 2024 and 2027, as part of its goal to halve carbon emissions by 2030.
However, speaking ahead of Sunday’s opening round of the 2023 season, GTA chairman Masaaki Bandoh expressed an intention to maintain the current rules, which were introduced in 2020, for a further season.
It means the current Toray Carbon Magic-produced chassis, which was shared with the DTM’s now-defunct Class One platform, will race on for one more season before a replacement is brought in for 2025.
«We’ll check the rigidity of the monocoques that are currently in use at the end of 2023, and use them in 2024,» said Bandoh. «We plan to introduce a new monocoque in 2025, but there will be no major changes in design.
«As for freezing the regulations, we’ll discuss this with the manufacturers. We need to consider the costs of both making the cars faster and maintaining them.»
However, the current aerodynamics freeze in the GT500 class is still set to be lifted next year, giving Honda, Toyota and Nissan the freedom to replace their current base models, albeit on the existing chassis.
Honda already announced that it would retire the current NSX-GT in favour of a new GT500 car based on the Civic Type R at the Tokyo Auto Salon in January, and it’s understood that these plans are unaffected.
Bandoh said that discussions have begun with stakeholders about what form the following GT500 rules, now set for introduction in 2028 or 2029, should take.
He mentioned the possibility of reviving the now-moribund partnership with the DTM and its new promoter ADAC, having travelled to Germany earlier this year for talks with the DMSB, the German national federation.
The delay to SUPER GT’s timeline of regulations cycles means the introduction of spec hybrid units, which had been slated for a possible 2027 introduction, is now unlikely to happen before 2028.
GT300 set for CNF test in May
The GTA also revealed a test will take place at Suzuka on May 8-9 for GT300 cars with carbon-neutral fuel, following the decision to postpone its introduction until Round 3 at Suzuka.
While the top GT500 class is using the new ETS Racing Fuels product from this weekend’s Okayama opener, problems encountered by some teams during official testing prompted the decision to allow GT300 teams to continue using regular fuel for the first two races of 2023.
The two-day Suzuka test will give teams the chance to verify whether efforts to make the fuel more compatible with the myriad types of engine in the lower class have been successful.
Additional reporting by Kenichiro Ebii
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