Motorsport: Bridgestone marks 30 years in Super GT
Bridgestone Motorsport has been supplying tyres to the winners of Japan’s premier touring car series since 1994.
Renamed Super GT in 2005 after launching as the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship in 1994, Super GT is the highest level of sports car racing in Japan, and one of the most followed motorsport series in Japan outside of Formula One.
Regularly attracting over 100,000 fans to Japan’s favourite racetracks, the Super GT series is known for action-packed racing and intense rivalries between teams.
As in all forms of motorsport, tyres are a crucial factor in each driver duo’s performance, meaning competition between tyre manufacturer’s is equally fierce.
Since the beginning, when the Nissan Skyline of Masahiko Kageyema won the very first event on Bridgestone Potenza’s at Suzuka in 1994, Bridgestone has been synonymous with Super GT success.
Having already helped claim 17 championship titles in total, Bridgestone’s dominance has peaked in recent times, supplying tyres to 8 GT500 champions in a row from 2016-2023!
The Drivers
Immediately luring drivers from around the world, many of whom continue to use Super GT as a stepping stone to higher honours, famous names who have won the GT500 championship include Formula One drivers’ Pedro de la Rosa (1997), Heikki Kovalainen (2016), Erik Comas (1998, 99) and Jensen Button (2018).
Ralf Schumacher won three races driving on Bridgestone Potenza's during the 1996 season - the year before he followed his brother into Formula One - but narrowly lost the championship to Australian teammate David Brabham, still the only Aussie driver to win a Super GT title.
Former Australian 500cc world champion Wayne Gardner also raced Super GT, winning three races between 1996 and 2002.
The 2024 season
In 2024 Bridgestone will supply 12 out of the 15 entrant teams in the GT500 class and 4 teams from the lower horsepower GT300s, making Bridgestone by far the most represented tyre brand on the Super GT grid.
Running 8 rounds from April to November, including two rounds each at Suzuka and Mount Fuji, Bridgestone is thrilled to be part of another adrenalin-pumping Super GT season - 30 years after the first!
Follow the 2024 Super GT season results here and discover why Bridgestone Potenza is still the tyre of choice at the front of the Super GT grid.
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