04/12/2017
NEWS STORY
2009 world champion Jenson Button is to return to full time racing next season when he contests the Super GT series in Japan.
"Breaking: Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button announces at Honda Racing Thanks Day 2017 that he will race full-time in the Super GT series in 2018!" tweeted Super GT World yesterday.
"I'll be racing for Honda and have a contract to race with Honda in Super GT in 2018," the Briton had told fans at the Honda festival at Motegi.
"It's been a dream for the last couple of years, I love the category," he added. "I did one race in Suzuka this year, and it got me very excited."
While Button returned to F1 for a one-off appearance this year, replacing Fernando Alonso at the Monaco Grand Prix as the Spaniard contested the Indianapolis 500, he made it clear that it was a one-off and that there would be no further F1 outings having previously admitted that he "fell out of love" with the sport during the trials and tribulations of the previous year.
Super GT began in 1993, and having initially been run as the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, was renamed Super GT in 2005. It is the top level of sports car racing in Japan.
The series, which has two categories, GT300 and GT500, features driver and team championships.
The 2017 championship was run over 7 rounds between April and November, and over the years has hosted numerous F1 drivers including Ralf Schumacher, Aguri Suzuki, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Pedro de la Rosa.