One of the most awesome series in Japan is set to run Round 4 at Fuji Speedway at 1:40 a.m. EDT with full English commentary provided by Radio Le Mans (does that crew ever sleep?) and the folks at Nismo.tv. Here’s the live stream. Why snooze when you can watch more racing instead?
If you decided that sleep was a thing that you needed for some bizarre reason, but want to watch the race anyway, never fear. A recording of the race should appear in the stream’s place after it’s done on YouTube here.
Why is Super GT so awesome? Look at the cars, man. In the GT500 class (named for originally including cars capped at 500 hp), you’ve got familiar cars like the Nissan GT-R and the Lexus RC F, only they’re dressed to the nines with extreme body kits where aerodynamics and function kick form in the teeth. (Never mind that I think this wings-and-canards thing is a pretty pleasing form in its own right.)
On top of those two, there’s also the Honda NSX-GT. It’s a thing! Running! Racing! It’s not just as a pretty unobtanium pace car in Super GT, either. NSX-GTs make up a third of the cars in the GT500 class.
GT300 (named for originally including cars capped at 300 hp) includes many GT3 cars (Porsche 911 GT3, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3, Nissan GT-R GT3, etc.) and endurance racing specials (Audi R8 LMS Ultra, Reiter’s Lamborghini Gallardo R-EX) that should feel somewhat familiar from other series. Additionally, the Toyota 86/Subaru BRZ twins come to play in this class along with a Toyota Prius and a Honda CR-Z. Yes, it’s possible for a Prius to look cool. This Prius. This one right here.
Super GT is the home of many insane bodykits, and it’s got a great diverse field of cars. It’s GT racing, and it’s from Japan—home of enough different and wonderful things to merit its own column ‘round here.
So, what’s the format? Most of the races are endurance races of a given length (in this race’s case, a 300 km race), so there’s multiple drivers per car. (The Twin Ring Motegi will host the shortest race of the 2015 season: a 250 km one.) The Fuji 300 km should be good for over two hours of racing unless someone up front cracks a wormhole through the space-time continuum.
Sit back, relax and enjoy—be it now, or in the morning whenever you wake up.
[Correction to above: It looks as if GT500/GT300 has gone the same way as the good ol’ “gentleman’s agreement” on top horsepower, as The Rusty Hub points out. The numbers don’t literally mean 500 hp and 300 hp anymore. Cars are putting down far more power than that nowadays.]
Photo credit: Nismo.tv
Contact the author at stef.schrader@jalopnik.com.