If you’ve been following the Top Gear Philippines' socials, Motul flew us to witness the return of Super GT to the Sepang International Circuit after 12 long years of absence. This marks the Japanese touring car series’ triumphant comeback to Southeast Asia.
For those who have not been exposed to the cars of Gran Turismo (I see you, Castrol Tom’s Supra), Super GT is Japan’s most famous racing series and is divided into two classes: GT500 and GT300. GT500 cars, while carrying bodywork of Zs, Supras, and Civic Type Rs, are prototype class cars, sharing a common chassis and 2.0-liter turbocharged engines.
GT300 cars, on the other hand, are FIA GT3-class, racing-spec versions of road cars, so the layout differences between MR and RR cars play a role in a team’s selection of cars. It is in GT300 you will find the likes of Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, and Lamborghini going at it against the more Nippon-centric grid.
Sepang Circuit is an amazing race track to watch a race at. The track has two long straights bifurcated by a hard braking zone that curves around the grandstand area, which means, if you’re lucky enough to be there, you will have a panoramic view of the best overtaking spot on the track. Additionally, the grandstands are designed so that it is elevated enough that you can see most, if not all, of the track from an elevated vantage point (which you can see from the photos).
Speaking of the track, it’s a highly technical circuit prone to bad weather, which means very good racing. The drivers have said that, “you can never really have a perfect lap in Sepang.” Off-camber corners and a wide turn-in in most corners favor the bold and the creative.
So now that you have an idea of what to expect, here are five reasons why you should add Sepang Super GT to your bucket list.
1) The cars sound amazing
Much has been said about the lack of high-revving sounds coming off of modern F1 cars, which, thankfully, the antidote to is Super GT.
GT500 engines scream at higher RPMs, and backfire deliciously on the downshift. Sounds that actually cause ringing and pain in your ears (please bring ear protection) as they blow by at maximum attack. GT300 engines are more a cacophony in concerto though, thanks to their various engine layouts, as a screaming flat-four races alongside the likes of a burbling and lazy V8, resulting in a symphony that will never not be entertaining.
2) Success weight keeps the racing even
While you tend to see the same winners in every race in other series, in Super GT, they implement what they call “success weight,” wherein teams are assigned weight for every point they score during the season. This additional weight is loaded onto the car and affects the cars acceleration, braking, and handling. This results in more successful teams having slower, worse handling cars, which means that anyone and everyone has a chance to win at any point in the season, resulting in exciting racing and a competitive season.
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3) Overtaking aplenty
Just watching some highlights of a race shows that there is so much overtaking, it is always an exciting watch for any fan. Not only this, but since the GT500 and GT300 cars race at the same time, with the former being much faster than the latter, around eight to nine laps into the Sepang race, the GT500 cars were lapping the GT300 cars already. This means that the GT500 teams had to deal with the slower cars, all of which were having their own battles in GT300. It was fun to watch as drivers dealt with these “moving chicanes” at speed. This opens up strategy with using GT300 cars as roadblocks for competition, which was endlessly entertaining.
4) Much cheaper than F1 to watch
General admission tickets were as cheap as Php 1,100, while main grandstand access tickets (which include a pitwalk) were only around Php 2,700. These prices put F1 to shame. Sure, you could spend a lot more to get a circuit safari (ride around in a bus during free practice, while Super GT cars blast by) or even a taxi ride, but these were made available at cheaper prices than even some of the most affordable F1 tickets.
5) Your JDM legends are here
There is no denying that this is part of the appeal of Super GT. We Pinoys love our JDM legends, so for us to see race-spec versions of the Nismo Z, the GR Supra, and the Civic Type R battling it out in full livery is a Filipino racing fan’s dream. It really does bring back memories of late-night Gran Turismo binges using a Castrol Tom’s Supra to handily beat some European supercars on their own turf.
So what do you think? Will you be buying tickets to next year’s race? Let us know in the comments.
Here are some more shots from the weekend (including some for your phone’s wallpaper).
Gallery: 2025 Super GT Sepang
