SuperGT Series 2009 kicks off in under a month when the lights go green for round #1 on Sunday the 22nd of March 2009. NISMO has officially announced the number of teams entered this year as well as the drivers and specifications of the 2009 version of the GT500 Nissan R35 GT-R race cars.

First up, there will be just four Nissan GT-R teams in SuperGT GT500 class racing this year, a reduction by one due to Nissan’s commitments to the FIA GT1 racing class to which ex-Motul Autech driver Michael Krumm has moved. This leaves the teams and drivers as follows:

• #1 Motul Autech GT-R (team NISMO) driven by Satoshi Motoyama / Benoit Treluyer
• #3 Name TBA GT-R (team Hasemi MotorSports) driven by Ronnie Quintarelli / Hironobu Yasuda
• #12 Calsonic IMPUL GT-R (team IMPUL Racing) driven by Tsugio Matsuda / Sebastien Philippe
• #24 HIS ADVAN KONDO GT-R (team Kondo Racing) driven by Joao Paulo de Oliveira / Seiji Ara

As for the car specification, this year GTA regulations change to say that the GT-R must produce less downforce which is achieve by way of a shorter overhang. There’s an update to the cooling system by way of modified exit vents as well as new paddle shifters for the 6 speed sequential racing transmission. The engine remains the VK45DE V8.

Race 1 for SuperGT 2009 is the Okayama 300km race at Okayama International Circuit on the 22nd of March. The 3.7km long track will also provide pre-race test facilities to teams on 7th and 8th of March.

Prior to this we expect to have an unveiling of the 2009 GT500 GT-Rs in their race livery so stay tuned to GTRBlog for the updates.

The photos shown here are of the #1 Motul Autech 2009 GT500 GT-R in final body shape minus final paint and graphics.

Link: SuperGT Website
Link: SuperGT related articles on GTRBlog