Photo: Toyota Gazoo Racing. The No. 14 ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra, a GT500 car.
Super GT runs two championships on the same piece of tarmac at the same time. Factory-backed GT500 cars wearing Supra, Z and Prelude bodywork share every lap with a GT300 field that mixes customer GT3 machinery and team-built specials. Once you know what each class is chasing, the traffic stops looking like chaos.
The series began in 1994 as the All Japan GT Championship, or JGTC, designed so that teams and manufacturers could join easily and spectators could enjoy the racing. Super GT's history of the JGTC years After its overseas rounds earned FIA recognition, it became an international series and took the Super GT name in 2005. Super GT's history, 2005 to 2009
Two classes, scored separately
GT500 and GT300 start together but are classified separately, with their own results and points. The organizer's own explanation leans into the consequence: because the classes have different speed potential, faster cars are constantly working their way past slower ones, and that tests drivers harder. Super GT's sporting regulations
The names are historical shorthand. Honda's engineering history of its GT500 program says the 500 and 300 represent the cars' estimated horsepower. Honda's GT500 technical history The series now describes GT500 machines as race cars of over 500 hp based on production sports cars. Super GT's technical regulations
GT500: three manufacturers on shared bones
GT500 is the factory class. The 2026 entry list has 14 cars from three Japanese manufacturers: six Toyota GR Supra GT500s, five Honda HRC Prelude-GTs and three Nissan Z NISMO GT500s. The 2026 GT500 entry list
The silhouettes come from road cars; the structure underneath does not. Honda's account of its 2014 program explains that GT500 rules were aligned with Germany's DTM that year, compelling manufacturers to use a common monocoque along with shared parts including the gearbox, subframe, brakes, fuel tank, dampers and driveshafts. The engine formula moved to a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four in place of a 3.4-liter naturally aspirated V8. Honda gives the aims as holding down development costs and preventing excessive competition. Honda's GT500 technical history
Honda's own car shows how tight that framework is. The common tub was designed for front-engined cars, but Honda wanted to keep the NSX's mid-engine layout. It moved the monocoque 300 mm forward, the most its front double-wishbone suspension could tolerate, and used a dedicated mid-engine gearbox approved as a common part. Honda's GT500 technical history
The current rules describe a carbon monocoque built in Japan under regulations formulated jointly with DTM, direct-injection engines developed by each manufacturer, a fuel-flow restrictor controlling output, restricted aero development and common rear-wing parts. Super GT's technical regulations Toyota presented its 2020 GR Supra GT500 program as the Supra's return to the class after 15 years. Toyota's 2020 motorsport announcement
GT300: three rulebooks in one class
GT300 is the privateer class, and it accepts cars built to three sets of rules. FIA GT3 cars are complete race cars built and sold by manufacturers. GT300-regulation cars are heavily modified by individual teams and can use the model's original engine. GT300MC, or Mother Chassis, cars use a carbon monocoque developed by GTA, the company that runs the series, plus a GTA-supplied engine. An air restrictor manages output, and the rules leave room for teams to develop their own parts. Super GT's technical regulations
The 2026 list shows what that mix looks like: 29 entries, including Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3s, Mercedes-AMG GT3s, Ferrari 296 GT3 EVOs and a BMW M4 GT3 EVO, alongside GR86, Subaru BRZ, Fairlady Z, GR Supra and Lexus LC entries and a Toyota 86 carrying the MC designation. The 2026 GT300 entry list
Weight, tires and a mandatory stop
Super GT handicaps success directly. Teams carry weight in proportion to the points they have won, and the load is reduced through the season until it disappears at the end. In GT500, the published table shows up to 50 kg carried as ballast. Beyond that, part of the handicap becomes a tighter fuel-flow limit, stepping from 95.0 kg/h down to 88.0 kg/h in the heaviest band. Super GT's sporting regulations
Tire makers compete rather than supplying a control tire. GT500 teams can run Bridgestone, Yokohama or Dunlop, and GT300 adds Michelin. Each team registers a set number of tire sets, and unless rain tires are permitted, the same set must be used for both qualifying sessions and the start of the race. Super GT's technical regulations On the 2026 lists, Bridgestone is on 12 of the 14 GT500 cars, while Yokohama equips 17 of the 29 GT300 entries. GT500 entries GT300 entries
Cars are shared by two drivers, or three in long-distance races, so at least one mid-race stop is required to change drivers, refuel and change tires. Pit time counts toward race time, which puts the crew and the strategy calls into the result. Super GT's sporting regulations
Three habits make a Super GT race easier to read. Follow each class's order on its own. Check a car's success weight before treating its pace as a verdict on the driver or the manufacturer. And note the tire brand, because it is a genuine variable here. For tuner fans, GT300 is the more familiar world: production-shaped cars, privateer teams and a rulebook that still rewards building parts.
