DTM and Super GT have announced the details of their crossover races. The race, named the 'SUPER GT x DTM Dream Race', will be held at Fuji Speedway on November 22-24.
Details of the race were announced at a Saturday morning press conference by DTM boss Gerhard Berger and Super GT chairman Masaaki Bandoh.
The event will feature a pair of 55-minute sprint races on Saturday and Sunday, with one mandatory pitstop but no refueling or driver changes. This indicates that the rules more closely resemble that of the DTM, where cars feature a single driver as opposed to Super GT's two-driver line-up.
In addition, all participants will also race on Hankook's 2019 Ventus Race tyres, which is currently used in DTM. DTM's DRS and Push-to-Pass systems will not be used in the race, however.
“On behalf of the ITR and all the manufacturers represented in the DTM, I would like to thank Bandoh-san, the GTA, and the representatives of Fuji Speedway for their continued co-operation," said ITR Chairman Gerhard Berger. “Our co-operation works so well because we share the same values: genuine, exciting motorsport is always our top priority. And that’s what we want to offer our fans in both Europe and Asia."
“The ‘Dream Race’ in November marks another milestone in the partnership between GTA and ITR. In 2017, we hosted the first joint demo laps for SUPER GT and DTM cars at Hockenheim and Motegi. Last year, we introduced our common technical regulations. And this year, we will be racing together for the first time. We’ll get our first taste of that at the DTM season finale in Hockenheim, in October, when we welcome three guest starters from Honda, Nissan and Lexus. Then the ‘Dream Race’ in Fuji will be the grand finale of our 2019 motorsport calendar.”
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Bandoh, chairman of Super GT parent organisation GTA, added: “GTA has been discussing the integration of the technical regulations with ITR since 2010. It’s been a long and bumpy road; but, with everybody’s efforts, we were able to conduct a demo run at Hockenheim in 2017 and make people aware of ‘CLASS 1’ and SUPER GT.
“Both GTA and ITR have been working steadily together to create the common technical regulations for ‘CLASS 1’. Having the common conviction that the same technical regulations could be established in Europe and Asia, we then developed detailed plans and held advanced discussions to establish regulations which help to unify, while also reducing costs.
“We are very pleased to be able to hold a race based on the ‘CLASS 1’ regulations in Japan and would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Chairman Berger and the manufacturers.
“We now wish to further develop our common technical regulations in order to gain the support and understanding of as many manufacturers as possible.”
