How SUPER GT's 2023 GT300 field is shaping up

K-tunes Racing, LEON Racing and Saitama Toyopet Green Brave have all announced their 2023 entries, bringing the number of confirmed entries for the upcoming season up to 13.

However, there are doubts as to whether the entry list for the junior class will reach the 28 cars that made up last year's grid.

As expected, K-tunes announced last weekend that Morio Nitta and Shinichi Takagi (who have a combined age of 108!) will continue for a second season together at the wheel of its Lexus RC F GT3 on Dunlop tyres.

This week, Bridgestone squads LEON and Saitama Toyopet both announced unchanged programmes for 2023.

Naoya Gamou is joined again by Takuro Shinohara in the LEON Mercedes-AMG GT3, while Hiroki Yoshida and Kohta Kawaai are entering their fourth season partnered up in the Green Brave Toyota GR Supra.

Teams that have yet to announce their 2023 plans but are expected to continue with similar programmes include Team LeMans (Audi R8 LMS GT3), JLOC (Lamborghini Huracan GT3), Shade Racing (Toyota GR86 GT), LM Corsa and Tsuchiya Engineering (both Toyota GR Supra GT).

Team LeMans is set to keep Audi on the grid after all despite efforts to obtain a new BMW M4 GT3 for the new season. The team's R8 LMS was even put up for sale but is thought not to have attracted much interest from prospective buyers.

JLOC outlined plans last year to run at least one of its two cars in Evo2 spec this season, but hopes of recruiting a factory driver from Lamborghini look to have faded owing to scheduling conflicts.

Arnage Racing is also set to return with a Lexus RC F GT3 after selling its Toyota 86 MC to Team Mach.

On the other side of the ledger, Pacific CarGuy Racing looks likely to drop off the grid owing to Takeshi Kimura turning his attention to a full FIA World Endurance Championship season for the first time - potentially meaning no representation from Ferrari this season.

ARTA has already confirmed that it will not run its #55 Honda NSX GT3 again this year, although a continuity Servus Japan effort with the car can't be ruled out if drivers with budgets can be found.

Toyota Team Thailand, which withdrew from SUPER GT after 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is understood to not be planning a return this year.