Dropped Scores Points System Adopted for GT300

Photo: SUPER GT

SUPER GT has announced that a system of dropped scores will be implemented this year in the GT300 class ahead of this weekend’s Okayama season opener.

From this year, only the best seven of eight scores will count towards the drivers’ and teams’ titles in the lower division, with the lowest score to be dropped.

The move comes in the wake of strict restrictions placed on the number of cars that can participate in June’s third round of the season at Sepang International Circuit, which will mark SUPER GT’s first race outside of Japan since 2019.

As previously reported by Sportscar365, only 35 cars can be accommodated at the Malaysian venue due to limited pit garage space, meaning all 15 GT500 cars, 18 regular GT300 entries and a pair of local wildcards in the lower class.

It means that 10 regular GT300 cars, the so-called ‘B-seeded’ and ‘C-seeded’ teams, are set to miss out on the trip to Sepang, unless one of the 18 ‘A-seeded’ cars drops out.

Apr’s No. 30 car will not be present in Malaysia as things stand, along with Anest Iwata Racing, Team Mach, Pacific Racing, NILZZ Racing, R’Qs Motor Sports, Tsuchiya Engineering, Gainer, CarGuy MKS Racing and Seven x Seven Racing.

Dropped scores will also benefit Goodsmile Racing Mercedes-AMG pair Nobuteru Taniguchi and Tatsuya Kataoka, who are skipping the Sepang race to contest the clashing CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa on the same weekend.

Ex-Honda driver Yuhki Nakayama, who last raced for apr in 2022, and Subaru reserve driver Shunji Okumoto have been drafted in to take their place in Malaysia.

The rules for the GT500 class are unaffected, meaning all eight races will count towards the championship in the series’ top class.