Review>>super Gt 2008

The 2008 Super GT season can basically be summed up with one word, or three letters rather – GT-R. From the start of the season at Suzuka Circuit in March to the closer at Fuji in November, all eyes were on the Nissan GT-R's that filled the grid in the GT500 class. There were some other exciting moments this season outside of "GT-R mania" , and I'll try to include some of those in this look back at Super GT '08.

Following the unveiling of the GT500 GT-R in the offseason people were excited to see how the car would do in competition. The GT-R's didn't disappoint at the '08 season opener held at Suzuka Circuit in mid-March. The Nismo Xanavi car driven by Motoyama and Treluyer won the race in GT500 with the Autech Motul car finishing right behind in second place. The GT-R was back…

GT-R dominance continued at the second race of the season at Okayama when the Nismo Xanavi car picked up its second straight GT 500 victory. The blue Calsonic GT-R finished second, making two consecutive 1-2 finishes for the GT-R's in their first two races.

For the next race at Fuji Speedway, the GT-R's were penalized with a weight handicap which tightened up the competition. The handicap was enough to put the GT-R's towards the back of the field and allowed the Zent Cerumo Lexus SC430 to come out on top in the GT500 class.

The GT300 winner at Fuji was the fan-favorite Lightning McQueen MR-S. It was a good day for Toyota fans…

Next up was the annual race at Sepang Circuit in Malaysia. The GT-R finished on top again, this time  it the Woodone Clarion GT-R taking the win.

Also at the Sepang race, the Cusco Impreza earned its first GT300 victory in a long time.

The next race was held at Sportsland Sugo, and here Honda earned its first and only victory of the season when the Takata Dome NSX came was victorious in GT500.

Next up, the series was back at Suzuka Circuit for the big 1000km race that Rod and Antonio covered firsthand here on Speedhunters. The Calsonic GT-R was the GT500 winner while the Leo Palace Z won in GT300.

Following the wet Suzuka race, Super GT traveled to Twin Ring Motegi in September. I really like this shot of the GT300 field starting the race with Yunker Taisan Porsche on the pole.

At the end of the day the Yellowhat GT-R was the GT500 winner at Motegi.

The GT300 victory went to Manabu Orido and Tsubasa Abe in the WedsSport Lexus IS350. This was one of the new GT300 cars for the 2008 season.

The eight race of the season held at Autopolis in October. The Nismo Xanavi GT-R earned its third victory of the season here.

The final race of the year was held at Fuji Speedway early last month. The Calsonic GT-R would take the GT500 class win and the Yunker Taisan Porsche would close out the season with a win in GT300.

After scoring three victories in nine races, Motoyama and Treluyer in the Nismo Xanavi GT-R had more than enough points to take the 2008 GT500 Driver's Championship. All in all, GT-R's were victorious in seven of the nine races in 2008.

Not to be forgotten, Kazuki Hoshino and Hironobu Yasuda took the GT300 Driver's Championship in the Leo Palace Z.

So there you have it, the 2008 Super GT season in ultra-condensed photographic form. I wonder if Nissan will be continue its dominance in 2009?

Photos courtesy of Super GT

-Mike Garrett

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1

i don't know why, but these cars look great lol

2

Best GT in the World !



Merry Christmas one and all !

3

I still think looks wise the NSX looks cooler than GTR

although ALL these cars look sick! I wish I could do up an SC430 like that.

4

Great post Mike !

Merry Christmas to everyone.

5

I think these some of the best looking race cars on the planet. Merry Xmas all.

7

Super gt for life!!!

8

needforsped

9

Yes, some wallpapers of some of those cars would be awsome!

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