At the GTA press conference ahead of the SUPER GT finale at Motegi, SUPER GT boss Masaaki Bandoh expressed his interest in the new XT1 concept by the ADAC, but left it open if it could really be considered as a base for the next-generation GT500 vehicle set for 2030.
Ahead of the DTM season finale in Hockenheim in early October, the ADAC presented a new vehicle concept for sports car and touring car racing. Called XT1 Concept, it entails four electric motors, but with the freedom to choose the energy source such as an internal combustion engine, hydrogen engine, battery or fuel cell, promoting an „technology showdown.“ Furthermore, the chassis can be manufactured independently by the manufacturers, and can be either a two-seater or a four-door car, with freedom in the placement of the energy source and engine as well as a planned vehicle weight of 1,600 kg. The speed as well as the development costs are planned to be on the GT3 level.
Masaaki Bandoh as well as Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe vice president Kazuki Nakajima, who happened to be around due to the Formula Regional European Championship, attended the presentation, which also gathered the attention of several German manufacturers such as Porsche. Since the freedom of development is one of the key elements of the XT1 Concept, the costs will most likely play a signifcant role, which could be seen as an obstacle by the GTA as well as Toyota, Honda and Nissan, especially with the current financial woes of the latter. Bandoh described the concept as „interesting“, but explained that they haven’t made a decision yet if they would even consider pursuing any talks in this direction. „Following the presentation, I brought several materials back to Japan and gave them to the three manufacturers. At this point they are merely listening to ideas and this is just one of those proposals to decide the future GT500 concept. But as of now, we haven’t decided yet what to do specifically.“
Also on the stage of discussion is potentially moving the Saturday morning free practice to Friday, which would entail a comeback of the 3-day weekends. The reason behind this thinking is the potential outlook of splitting the two by the GTA organized FIA-F4 classes (championship class and independent class) into separate races. This would lead to a total of four races per weekend. „We have to think about how to use the Fridays, especially near the end of the season, when the sun is setting early. It would make holding four F4 races difficult.“ One option would be to move the sole SUPER GT practice session to Friday. However, Bandoh stressed that no plans have been finalized yet and that they’re merely discussing various options.
As the first major series in all of Asia, SUPER GT is using 100% carbon-neutral fuel in the GT500 class since 2023, while the GT300 category is using (due to the different car and engine formulas) a 50% mixture since last year. The so-called ETS Racing Fuel is being manufacturerd by Halterman Carless and imported from Germany – a costly endeavour considering the current exchange rate of the weak yen. Since SUPER FORMULA is working together with ENEOS to introduce an E10 fuel manufactured in Japan, Bandoh got asked if SUPER GT is pursuing something similar. „We’re currently conducting several bench tests and are considering how to proceed from here. But E10 is an option“, Bandoh explained.
While Masaaki Bandoh didn’t provide any updates on the selection of the single tyre suppliers for the GT500 and GT300 classes starting 2027, a GTA spokeperson at the end of the press conference hinted at an announcement around the 2026 pre-season tests. While it’s currently unclear if a decision has been made internally already, it’s understood that the selection of the tyre manufacturer for GT300 could, as of now at least, end up being seen as a surprise.
Copyright photos: Racingblog.de, GTA
