► Super GT is on this weekend
► Ridiculous aero for silly speeds
► Stream for free
Formula One takes a break this weekend, but that doesn’t mean there’s no racing to watch. If you’re looking to get your motorsport fix, why not try Super GT, one of the most interesting racing series around right now.
With super-quick cars, tracks you might not have heard of before and, drivers – like Jenson Button – you probably have heard of, it could be your next favourite sport. Sold? You should be. Here’s how to watch this weekend’s Super GT race at Fuji Speedway.
How to stream the Super GT for free in the UK
If you’ve read our guide to watching Formula 1, you’ll probably be expecting a minefield of VPNs, subscription services and the slow realisation that it’s much easier to get Sky Q and just be done with it. However, that’s simply not the case with Super GT.
After a slight hiccup during the first round of the 2019 season, Super GT organisers have seen sense, and secured a free-to-air deal with Motorsport.tv. That’s a website, a free website, and that means you can just stream the race for free. You’ll just need to follow the link here.
It’s really that simple, and it leaves us with some time to talk about the cars and the season so far. And when the race actually is.
When is the Super GT Fuji 500km?
The Fuji 500km is also known as the Golden Week race, and takes place on 4th May regardless of what day that falls on. That means the race is actually on Saturday, and qualifying – as well as all the other practice sessions have already happened.
The only catch? This is a Japanese race, so expect to get up early. The Fuji Speedway starts at 5.30am UK time. But that’s the price of watching live.
Let’s talk about the cars then
Super GT cars may look like touring cars, but they’re significantly powerful, and more in-line with LMP2 cars than what you’ll see racing around Thuxton in the BTCC.
Until this year, they were much faster than DTM cars too, until new rules upped the power of the German championship to bring it inline with the Super GT. There are two classes, the flagship GT500 cars, and the GT300 cars, which are loosely as fast as GT3 cars. They both race on the same track, simultaneously.
Since 2014 the upper-class cars have used 2.0-litre twin-turbo inline fours capable of producing around 600bhp.
The GT500 championships are dominated by Lexus, Honda and Nissan; with Lexus running an LC500, Honda an NSX, and Nissan a GT-R. Much like the DTM though, those are merely silhouettes, strip off the trick-aero, and these cars have more in common with single-seaters than anything on the road. Next year, the LC500 will be replaced with a Toyota Supra.
And the drivers?
Most of the field isn’t known outside of the Super GT circuit, but Jenson Button, the GT Academy Jann Mardenborough and ex-F1 Heikki Kovalainen all compete in the GT500 class. What’s more, Button actually won the championship in his Honda NSX last year.
Still here? You can watch onboard laps of the very wet first round in Okayama, below.