The final event of the 2026 AUTOBACS SUPER GT season is fast approaching. This year’s event at Mobility Resort Motegi in Tochigi Prefecture will be held under an unusual format that incorporates the postponed Round 3 Malaysia race. Round 3 “MOTEGI GT 250km RACE” will be held on Saturday, November 7, followed immediately by the season finale, Round 8 “MOTEGI GT 250km RACE GRAND FINAL,” on Sunday, November 8. Each day will constitute an independent round, with full series points awarded for both races. This means that a team taking back-to-back victories over the weekend could score a maximum of 42 points in GT500 and 52 points in GT300. As a result, several teams, particularly those near the top of the standings, still have a chance to come from behind and claim the title. Of course, the weekend is about more than just the title battles. These will be the final two races of the season, so every driver and team will be determined to finish the year with a victory. Furthermore, with a one-make tire system set to be introduced from 2027, some teams will be racing with their current tire manufacturers for the final time, adding even greater significance to the weekend for those involved. The two Motegi races will truly form the climax of the 2026 season. For SUPER GT fans, as well as motorsport fans in Japan and around the world, these promise to be two days of racing not to be missed.

※The photo above shows the GT500 start from Round 8 at Motegi in 2025.

■Mobility Resort Motegi information
◎Track details
Length: 4,801m
Width: 12 to 15m
Elevation difference:30.4m

◎Track records
GT500
1’35.194 Tadasuke Makino / No. 100 STANLEY NSX-GT
2022 Round 8 Qualifying – Q2 (November 5)
GT300
1’44.798 Iori Kimura / No. 55 ARTA NSX GT3
2022 Round 8 Qualifying – Q2 (November 5)

■Each race of the final Motegi event will feature qualifying in the morning and the race in the afternoon, with regular series points awarded for both.

First, let’s review the format of the final Motegi event. On the morning of Friday, November 6, the day before the first race, an exclusive practice session will be held. This will be equivalent to the official practice normally held on Saturday morning, with a total running time of 90 minutes. Round 3, the “MOTEGI GT 250km RACE,” will then take place on Saturday, November 7, followed on Sunday, November 8 by the “MOTEGI GT 250km RACE GRAND FINAL,” which will serve as the final round of the season.
Each day will operate as a self-contained one-day round, with class-specific official qualifying held in the morning and the race starting at 2:00 p.m. Qualifying will not use the usual knockout format. Instead, there will be a single timed time-attack session, with GT300 running first for 20 minutes, followed by GT500 for 15 minutes. Only one driver will participate in qualifying, but teams are permitted to use the same qualifying driver for both Round 3 and Round 8.

Both races will be run with the two classes together over a distance of 250 km. One mandatory pit stop will be required in each round, together with a mandatory driver change. For dry conditions, teams may bring two sets of tires for Friday and three sets for each round, with each set comprising four tires. For wet conditions, a total of 10 sets may be used over the three days from Friday through Sunday.
For Success Weight, Round 3, which will be each car’s seventh race of the season, will apply 1 kg per series point, while Round 8, each car’s eighth race, will be held with no Success Weight. Since every car has participated in all races held so far this season, these conditions will apply directly to the entire field.
Both Round 3 and Round 8 will award the same series points as a regular round. A driver can therefore score a maximum of 21 points in GT500 and 26 points in GT300 per round. In other words, a pair of pole-to-win victories across the Motegi double-header could yield as many as 42 points in GT500 and 52 points in GT300.

■Can the No.36 make history with a fourth consecutive title!? Or will the No.38 or No.39 pull off a dramatic comeback?

Once again this season, the No.36 au TOM’S GR Supra (Sho Tsuboi / Kenta Yamashita) leads the Drivers’ Title. The No.36 has won at Motegi for three consecutive years since 2023, demonstrating its strong record at the circuit, and is widely regarded as having an excellent chance of achieving an unprecedented fourth consecutive title. However, the greatest threats to the No.36 may be mechanical trouble or costly mistakes that result in lost points, as happened at Round 7 at Autopolis. SUPER GT season finales have produced their share of unexpected developments in the past, including dramatic title reversals. Tsuboi, Yamashita and the team all know only too well how quickly the situation can change. Fans of the No.36 will be watching closely, hoping to witness a historic fourth consecutive title.
The biggest threat from within the Toyota GR Supra GT500 camp may be the No.38 KeePer CERUMO GR Supra (Toshiki Oyu / Rikuto Kobayashi), which lies fourth in the standings, 18 points behind the No.36. Although still without a victory this season, a win at Motegi could give the No.38 a very real chance of taking the title from behind. Oyu’s razor-sharp pace and rookie Kobayashi’s impressive consistency give the pairing the ability to swing the momentum dramatically in their favor. The No.39 DENSO KOBELCO SARD GR Supra (Yuhi Sekiguchi / Sacha Fenestraz) and No.14 ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra (Nirei Fukuzumi / Kazuya Oshima) also remain mathematically in contention for the title, so the battle among the GR Supra entries themselves will be another major point of interest.

■Will the PRELUDE-GT charge continue!? Can the No.100 and No.17 get their hands on the title?

The Honda HRC PRELUDE-GT contingent struggled through the opening two races, but made effective use of the long interval created by the postponement of Round 3, allowing the new PRELUDE-GT introduced for the 2026 season to make significant progress in its development. The No.100 STANLEY HRC PRELUDE-GT (Naoki Yamamoto / Tadasuke Makino) claimed the PRELUDE-GT’s first victory of the season in Round 4. The No.16 #16 ARTA MUGEN HRC PRELUDE-GT (Tomoki Nojiri / Ren Sato) followed with victory in Round 5, before the No.17 Astemo HRC PRELUDE-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi / Yuto Nomura) won Round 6. At Round 7, the No.100 recorded its second victory of the season, giving the Honda contingent four consecutive wins. Their qualifying speed has been equally impressive, with PRELUDE-GT machinery claiming four consecutive pole positions, including back-to-back poles for the No.64 Modulo HRC PRELUDE-GT (Riki Okusa / Igor Omura Fraga). Honda therefore arrives at the finale with momentum that currently exceeds that of its rivals.
However, this remarkable run of success coincided with the period when rival teams were carrying heavier Success Weight (SW). The two Motegi races, where SW will first be reduced and then removed completely, will therefore provide a true test of the PRELUDE-GT’s underlying performance. The spotlight will fall particularly on the No.100, which has moved up to second in the Drivers’ Title and now trails the leading No.36 by only three points. The pairing faces a crucial weekend as it seeks to come from behind and secure a third series title. Having previously achieved a come-from-behind title victory in a season finale, expectations will be high. The rapidly improving rookie Nomura and the No.17 also have a genuine opportunity to deliver the long-awaited title for their team. Meanwhile, consecutive victories or back-to-back podium finishes could even bring the No.16 #16 ARTA MUGEN HRC PRELUDE-GT (Tomoki Nojiri / Ren Sato) and No.8 #8 ARTA MUGEN HRC PRELUDE-GT (Kakunoshin Ohta / Hiroki Otsu) into title contention, making their performances well worth watching.

■The Z camp desperately wants a win! All eyes on the No.23 as it puts Nissan works pride on the line at the final event.

The NISSAN Z NISMO GT500 contingent, meanwhile, has yet to reach the top step of the podium this season. Its best race result so far is third place, recorded twice by the No.23 MOTUL Niterra Z (Katsumasa Chiyo / Mitsunori Takaboshi), in Round 2 and Round 7, and once by the No.12 TRS IMPUL with SDG Z (Kazuki Hiramine / Bertrand Baguette), at the season opener. With only the Motegi double-header remaining, the Nissan camp will be desperate to secure at least one victory. Particular attention will be on the No.23, as Takaboshi himself currently sits sixth in the Drivers’ Title. With back-to-back victories, the title would still be well within reach. There is no doubt that this will be a battle fought with the pride of the Nissan works effort on the line.
Motegi has hardly been an unfavorable circuit for Nissan in recent years. The No.23 finished second there in both 2025 and 2023, while the No.12 took second place in 2022. Although neither has won during that period, the circuit has clearly suited the Z entries. There is also an interesting precedent. In 2016, the Kumamoto Earthquake forced Round 3 at Autopolis to be postponed, and the postponed race was ultimately held alongside Round 8 during the final Motegi event, creating the same basic format as this season. In that Round 3 race, the No.24, then a GT-R driven by Daiki Sasaki and Masataka Yanagida, successfully used a no-tire-change strategy to claim victory. Strategy could once again have a major influence on the outcome this time. All three Z entries, including the No.24 REALIZE CORPORATION Z (Teppei Natori / Atsushi Miyake), will surely give everything they have in pursuit of Nissan’s first victory of the season.

■The No.56 GT-R holds the advantage in the title fight! Can the chasing No.65 AMG, No.7 Ferrari 296 or No.2 GR86 turn it around!?

Heading into the final Motegi event, the No.56 REALIZE NISSAN MECHANIC CHALLENGE GT-R (Joao Paulo de Oliveira / Iori Kimura) leads the GT300 Drivers’ Title. In the previous Round 7, the No.56 originally finished 15th, which would have earned it one point. However, several cars that had finished ahead were subsequently disqualified or handed penalties that dropped them down the order, promoting the No.56 to 12th in the final classification and earning it four points. As a result, the No.56 now holds a 20-point advantage over the third-ranked No.65 LEON PYRAMID AMG (Naoya Gamo / Togo Suganami).
Meanwhile, the No.7 CARGUY Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO (Ritomo Miyata / Kiyoshi Umegaki), whose regular driver Zak O’Sullivan sits second in the Drivers’ Title, will be without O’Sullivan for the Motegi event. This leaves Umegaki fourth in the standings, level on points with the No.65 drivers. The sixth-ranked No.777 D’station Vantage GT3 (Tsubasa Kondo / Charlie Fagg) will likewise be without its leading regular driver, Tomonobu Fujii. With two of the No.56’s main title rivals having to compete without their leading drivers, potentially affecting their overall race strategy and strength, these circumstances could work in favor of the No.56 GT-R as it pursues its third series title.
However, the third-ranked No.65 has an outstanding record at Motegi, having scored three podium finishes there since 2020, including one victory. With the double-header creating the possibility of a major points haul, the No.56 cannot afford to relax. The No.7, meanwhile, has selected Ritomo Miyata to replace O’Sullivan. Miyata was the 2023 GT500 champion and has also won in GT300, in 2019. He has also recorded a victory in FIA Formula 2 this season and drove a Ferrari 488 GTE at the 2023 WEC Fuji event. Paired with Kiyoshi Umegaki, who has made a strong impression as a rookie, the No.7 should be considered one of the leading candidates for victory. The No.777 has called on Tsubasa Kondo to replace Fujii and will target the front positions together with Charlie Fagg. With highly capable substitutes joining both teams, the No.7 and No.777 are still likely to represent major threats to the series-leading No.56.
Away from the title battle, several teams with strong Motegi records also deserve attention. The No.88 VENTENY Lamborghini GT3 (Takashi Kogure / Daniil Kvyat) has won at Motegi in both 2023 and 2024. The No.5 MACHSYAKEN AIR BUSTER MC86 MACHGO (Yusuke Shiotsu / Souta Arao) won last year’s Motegi race using a no-tire-change strategy. The No.61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT (Takuto Iguchi / Hideki Yamauchi) appears to be achieving an increasingly effective match with its new engine, while the No.2 HYPER WATER INGING GR86 GT (Yuui Tsutsumi / Kazuhisa Urabe), which claimed pole position at Motegi in 2023 and currently sits fifth in the standings within series title range, must also be regarded as a potential winner.
For the two Motegi races, the No.32 entry (Hiroaki Ishiura / Tokiya Suzuki) will compete with Toyota’s latest GT3 machine, the GR GT3 concept, and the car’s entry name will accordingly change to “No.32 ENEOS X PRIME GR GT3 concept.” The participation of the much-discussed GR GT3 concept in a race ahead of its global competition debut is certain to attract attention not only from SUPER GT fans but from around the world. However, the No.32 will compete as a specially approved vehicle at this event and therefore will not be eligible for race finishing-position points or pole-position points. Only the team’s completion points will be awarded. If the No.32 finishes within a points-paying position, it will be excluded from the series points allocation and the lower-placed eligible teams will move up accordingly.
The No.56 therefore enters the finale with the advantage in the title race, but there is no shortage of potential race winners and its rivals remain formidable. With the GT300 class as unpredictable as ever, both the fight for victory and the destination of the series title will remain compelling right to the very end.