Official Pre-Season Test Dates Set; Public Viewing Reduced

SUPER GT has revealed its official pre-season test dates ahead of the 2026 season, with only three days of running set to be open to the public.

Series organizer GTA announced on Tuesday that it will hold two tests in March across the two regular venues, with a single day open to the public at Okayama International Circuit on March 7 and two days at Fuji Speedway on March 15-16.

However, Sportscar365 understands that the Okayama test is set to take place across March 6-7, indicating that the opening day will be held behind closed doors.

Neither pre-season test follows the regular Saturday-Sunday pattern that has become well established in recent years, with the Okayama test taking place across Friday and Saturday and then the Fuji test straddling Sunday and Monday.

A desire to increase the gap between the two tests appears to be behind the change.

A GTA spokesperson told Sportscar365: “The event dates have been determined on the basis of the opinions of the participants and circuit availability, and whether or not the event is open to the public is at the discretion of the circuit.”

Last year, the official Okayama and Fuji SUPER GT tests were held two weeks apart from each other in the latter half of March.

However, a revised date for Formula 1’s Japanese Grand Prix, which will be held at Suzuka on March 29, prompted SUPER GT to move its tests forward, with the March 21-22 weekend also unavailable due to Super Taikyu’s Motegi opener taking place.

It means there will be almost a month in between the second official pre-season test and the opening round of the 2026 campaign at Okayama, slated for April 11-12.

Seven GT500 Cars Expected for Sepang Test

Prior to the start of official testing, there will be three so-called GT500 makers’ tests, the first of which will take place at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia across four days on Jan. 22-26, with a rest day scheduled for Jan. 24.

Seven cars are anticipated to participate, including four race cars: the No. 8 Team HRC ARTA Mugen Honda HRC Prelude-GT, the No. 12 Team Impul Nissan Z NISMO, the No. 37 TOM’S Toyota GR Supra and the No. 64 Nakajima Racing Honda.

Test cars from all three manufacturers will also be present at Sepang.

The second makers’ test is set for Feb. 10-11 at Okayama, where the ten remaining race cars are likely to run, before a third and final test at Fuji on Feb. 19-20.

The latter test will follow immediately on from a GT Entrants’ Association (GTE) test for GT300 teams at the Toyota-owned circuit on Feb. 17-18.