The 2021 Autobacs Super GT Series was a motor racing championship based in Japan for grand touring cars. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and run by the GT Association (GTA). It was the twenty-ninth season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship which includes the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era, and the seventeenth season under the Super GT name. It was the thirty-ninth overall season of a national JAF sportscar championship, dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship.
TGR Team au TOM'S and drivers Yuhi Sekiguchi and Sho Tsuboi won the GT500 class championships, driving the Toyota Supra, after overcoming a 16-point deficit in the final round of the season. The titles were secured in controversial circumstances as championship leader Naoki Yamamoto of Team Kunimitsu was taken out from a title-clinching position by GT300 class driver Ren Sato with 15 laps remaining in the final race of the season. Driving the new Subaru BRZ, Takuto Iguchi and Hideki Yamauchi won the GT300 class championships for R&D Sport, giving Subaru their first-ever title in Super GT competition. It was also the first drivers' title for both Iguchi and Yamauchi, and the first for the R&D Sport team.
Calendar A provisional eight-round 2021 calendar was announced on 7 August 2020. Autopolis, Okayama International Circuit, and Sportsland Sugo returned to the calendar after a year's absence. The Fuji GT 500km Race also returned to its traditional calendar slot on the Golden Week holiday of 3-4 May.
On 9 February 2021, the planned rounds at Chang International Circuit in Thailand and Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia were cancelled due to travel restrictions. A revised schedule was released on the same day with all eight rounds being held in Japan, and with the addition of an additional round at Fuji Speedway in November and Twin Ring Motegi in July. On 11 May 2021, the third round at Suzuka International Racing Course, which had been set to take place on 30 May as the third round of the championship, was postponed indefinitely due to a renewed wave of COVID-19 cases in Japan. The race was subsequently rescheduled to 22 August.
Circuits and dates RoundEvent Circuit Dates1Takanokono Hotel Okayama GT 300km RaceOkayama International Circuit10-11 April2Takanokono Hotel Fuji GT 500km RaceFuji Speedway3-4 MayMotegi GT 300km RaceTwin Ring Motegi17-18 JulyFujimaki Group Suzuka GT 300km RaceSuzuka Circuit21-22 August5Sugo GT 300km RaceSportsland Sugo11-12 September6Autopolis GT 300km RaceAutopolis23-24 October7Motegi GT 300km RaceTwin Ring Motegi6-7 November8Fujimaki Group Fuji GT 300km RaceFuji Speedway27-28 November
Teams and drivers GT500 TeamMakeCarEngineDriversTyreRounds Team Kunimitsu Honda Honda NSX-GT Honda HR-420E 2.0 L Turbo I4 1 Naoki Yamamoto All Hideki Mutoh 1–2 Tadasuke Makino 2–8 NDDP Racing with B-Max Nissan Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 Nissan NR4S21 2.0 L Turbo I4 3 Kohei Hirate All Katsumasa Chiyo ARTA Honda Honda NSX-GT Honda HR-420E 2.0 L Turbo I4 8 Tomoki Nojiri All Nirei Fukuzumi Team Impul Nissan Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 Nissan NR4S21 2.0 L Turbo I4 12 Kazuki Hiramine All Nobuharu Matsushita TGR Team Eneos ROOKIE Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT500 Toyota RI4AG 2.0 L Turbo I4 14 Kazuya Oshima All Kenta Yamashita Team Red Bull Mugen Honda Honda NSX-GT Honda HR-420E 2.0 L Turbo I4 16 Ukyo Sasahara All Toshiki Oyu Astemo REAL Racing Honda Honda NSX-GT Honda HR-420E 2.0 L Turbo I4 17 Koudai Tsukakoshi All Bertrand Baguette TGR Team WedsSport Bandoh Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT500 Toyota RI4AG 2.0 L Turbo I4 19 Yuji Kunimoto All Ritomo Miyata NISMO Nissan Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 Nissan NR4S21 2.0 L Turbo I4 23 Tsugio Matsuda All Ronnie Quintarelli Kondo Racing Nissan Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 Nissan NR4S21 2.0 L Turbo I4 24 Mitsunori Takaboshi All Daiki Sasaki TGR Team au TOM'S Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT500 Toyota RI4AG 2.0 L Turbo I4 36 Yuhi Sekiguchi All Sho Tsuboi TGR Team KeePer TOM'S 37 Ryō Hirakawa All Sena Sakaguchi 1–5 Sacha Fenestraz 6–8 TGR Team ZENT Cerumo Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT500 Toyota RI4AG 2.0 L Turbo I4 38 Yuji Tachikawa All Hiroaki Ishiura TGR Team SARD Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT500 Toyota RI4AG 2.0 L Turbo I4 39 Heikki Kovalainen All Yuichi Nakayama Modulo Nakajima RacingHondaHonda NSX-GT Honda HR-420E 2.0 L Turbo I4 64 Takuya Izawa All Hiroki Otsu
GT300 TeamMakeCarEngineDriversTyreRounds muta Racing INGING Lotus Lotus Evora MC GT300 GTA V8 4.5 L V8 2 Hiroki Katoh All Ryohei Sakaguchi Kazuto Kotaka 2 Goodsmile Racing & Team UKYO Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8 4 Nobuteru Taniguchi All Tatsuya Kataoka Team Mach Toyota Toyota 86 MC GT300 GTA V8 4.5 L V8 5 Yuya Hiraki All Reiji Hiraki Team LeMans with Motoyama Racing Audi Audi R8 LMS Evo Audi DAR 5.2 L V10 6 Satoshi Motoyama All Yoshiaki Katayama BMW Team Studie × CSL BMW BMW M6 GT3 BMW S63B44 4.4 L Twin Turbo V8 7 Seiji Ara All Tomohide Yamaguchi Pacific - Car Guy Racing Ferrari Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Twin Turbo V8 9 Kei Cozzolino All Takeshi Kimura 1–2, 5–6, 8 Naoki Yokomizo 3–4, 7 GAINER Nissan Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 10 Kazuki Hoshino All Keishi Ishikawa 11 Katsuyuki Hiranaka All Hironobu Yasuda Team UpGarage Honda Honda NSX GT3 Evo Honda JNC1 3.5 L Twin Turbo V6 18 Takashi Kobayashi All Teppei Natori ARTA 55 Shinichi Takagi All Ren Sato Audi Team Hitotsuyama Audi Audi R8 LMS Evo Audi DAR 5.2 L V10 21 Shintaro Kawabata All Takuro Shinohara R'Qs Motor Sports Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8 22 Hisashi Wada 1–4, 6 Masaki Jyonai Ryosei Yamashita 2 Arnage Racing 50 Masaki Kano All Masataka Yanagida Hoppy Team Tsuchiya Max Racing Porsche Porsche 911 GT3 R Porsche M97/80 4.2 L F6 25 Takamitsu Matsui All Kimiya Sato Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT300 Toyota 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8 244 Atsushi Miyake All Yuui Tsutsumi apr Toyota GR Toyota GR Sport Prius PHV apr GT Toyota 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8 30 Hiroaki Nagai All Manabu Orido Yuta Kamimura 2 Toyota 2UR-GSE 5.4 L Hybrid V8 31 Koki Saga All Yuhki Nakayama Yogibo Drago Corse Honda Honda NSX GT3 Evo Honda JNC1 3.5 L Twin Turbo V6 34 Ryō Michigami All Shogo Mitsuyama arto Team Thailand Lexus Lexus RC F GT3 Lexus 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8 35 Sean Walkinshaw All Giuliano Alesi NILZZ Racing Nissan Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 48 Yuki Tanaka All Ryuichiro Tomita 1, 4 Taiyou Iida 2, 3, 5, 7–8 6 Arnage Racing Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8 50 Masaki Kano All Masataka Yanagida Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT300 Toyota 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8 52 Hiroki Yoshida All Kohta Kawaai 1–3, 5–8 Taku Bamba 4 Kondo Racing Nissan Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 56 Kiyoto Fujinami All João Paulo de Oliveira LM Corsa Toyota GR Toyota GR Supra GT300 Toyota 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8 60 Hiroki Yoshimoto All Shunsuke Kohno R&D Sport Subaru Subaru BRZ GT300 (ZD8) Subaru EJ20 2.0 L Turbo F4 61 Takuto Iguchi All Hideki Yamauchi K2 R&D LEON Racing Mercedes-AMG Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8 65 Naoya Gamou All Togo Suganami JLOC Lamborghini Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo Lamborghini DGF 5.2 L V10 87 Kosuke Matsuura All Natsu Sakaguchi 88 Takashi Kogure All Yuya Motojima K-tunes Racing Lexus Lexus RC F GT3 Lexus 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8 96 Morio Nitta All Hibiki Taira 1–3 Kazuto Kotaka 4–5 Sena Sakaguchi 6–8 Tomei Sports Nissan Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Twin Turbo V6 360 Takayuki Aoki All 1–5 Atsushi Tanaka 2, 6, 8 Takuya Otaki 7
Vehicle changes GT300 Class INGING Motorsport and Cars Tokai Dream28 merged into a collaborative entry in 2021, known as muta Racing INGING. The team retained the Lotus Evora MC GT300 vehicle, driver Hiroki Katoh, chief engineer Shintaro Watanabe, and the number 2 plate of Cars Tokai Dream28's entry. INGING brought on their Bridgestone tyre contract, title sponsor muta, and driver Ryohei Sakaguchi. Both LM Corsa and Max Racing switched from the FIA-GT3 specification Lexus RC F GT3 to the GT300 specification fifth-generation Toyota GR Supra for the 2021 season. Team LeMans returned to Super GT after a one-year absence, fielding an Audi R8 LMS Evo under the 'Team LeMans with Motoyama Racing' banner while also transfer from the GT500 to GT300 class. R&D Sport changed from the first-generation Subaru BRZ (ZC6) to the new second-generation BRZ (ZD8) for the 2021 season. Car Guy Racing returned to Super GT after a two-year absence, partnering with Pacific Racing Team to field a Ferrari 488 GT3 under the Pacific CarGuy Racing banner.
Entrant changes GT500 Class Honda: Honda announced their Super GT driver line-up on On 15 January 2020. Toshiki Oyu will be stepping up to GT500 to join Team Red Bull Mugen, replacing Hideki Mutoh. Team Red Bull Mugen changed tyre suppliers from Yokohama to Dunlop. Dunlop will supply multiple GT500 teams for the first time since 2010. Hirokatsu Tanaka replaced Shinji Nakano as team director. Stanley Electric replaced the defunct Raybrig brand as the title sponsor for Team Kunimitsu. Astemo, a joint venture between Hitachi and Honda, replaced the defunct Keihin brand as title sponsor for Astemo Real Racing. Nissan: Nissan's GT500 line-up was announced on 18 January 2020. Nobuharu Matsushita, who made his series debut as a replacement driver for the injured Shinichi Takagi last year, signed with Nissan to compete for Team Impul alongside Kazuki Hiramine. Daiki Sasaki joined Kondo Racing for the first time since 2016, partnering with Mitsunori Takaboshi. Jann Mardenborough was not retained by Nissan for the 2021 season. Toyota: Toyota Gazoo Racing announced their Super GT driver line-up on 22 January 2020. At TOM's Racing, Sacha Fenestraz transferred from the number 36 to the number 37 entry, replacing Nick Cassidy, who left the series to compete in Formula E with Envision Virgin Racing. Sho Tsuboi transferred from TGR Team ROOKIE to the number 36 TOM's team. TGR Team ROOKIE became a self-sufficient team after being operated by Team Cerumo in 2020. Eneos replaced Wako's as their title sponsor. 2019 champion Kenta Yamashita returned to Super GT full-time, replacing Tsuboi at TGR Team ROOKIE - and reunited with former Team LeMans teammate Kazuya Oshima in the No. 14 car.
GT300 Class Three-time GT500 champion Satoshi Motoyama returned to the series after retiring from GT500 at the end of 2018, driving for the newly incorporated Team LeMans with Motoyama Racing. Two-time GT500 and GT300 champion Masataka Yanagida joined pro-am Mercedes-AMG customer team Arnage Racing, racing alongside amateur driver Masaki Kano. Former Ferrari Driver Academy prospect and Formula 2 driver Giuliano Alesi made his GT300 debut with arto Team Thailand. Alesi was initially signed as the team's third driver, but competed in all eight rounds after Nattapong Hortongkum was unable to enter Japan for a second consecutive year. 2019 F4 Japanese champion and 2020 French F4 Championship runner-up Ren Sato made his GT300 debut with Autobacs Racing Team Aguri, replacing Toshiki Oyu. Super Formula Lights driver Teppei Natori made his GT300 debut, replacing Kosuke Matsuura at Honda customer Team UPGarage. Yuui Tsutsumi, signed with Max Racing to compete full-time in 2021, after driving for three different teams (including Max Racing) as a substitute driver throughout 2020. 2020 TCR Japan Series champion Takuro Shinohara made his full-time GT300 debut with Audi Team Hitotsuyama, after competing part-time in 2020 for two different teams. JLOC signed GT500 veteran Kosuke Matsuura and GT300 podium finisher Natsu Sakaguchi to drive their number 87 Lamborghini Huracán GT3.