Super Taikyu (スーパー耐久, Super Endurance), formerly known as the Super N1 Taikyu Series prior to 2005 and N1 Endurance Series prior to 1995, and currently named the Eneos Super Taikyu Series Empowered by Bridgestone for sponsorship reasons, is a Japanese endurance racing series that began in 1991. In contrast to the Super GT Series, Super Taikyu is a pro-am racing series for commercially available racing vehicles such as GT3, GT4, and TCR cars, and minimally-modified production vehicles mainly from the Japanese domestic market.

Quick Facts Category, Country ...

Super Taikyu Series

Category	GT3, GT4, TCR, Group N
Country	Japan
Inaugural season	1991
Classes	ST-X, ST-Z, ST-TCR, ST-Q, ST-1, ST-2, ST-3, ST-4, ST-5
Tyre suppliers	Bridgestone
Official website	SuperTaikyu.com
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Super Taikyu races are held across all of Japan's major motor racing circuits, with formats including a single five-hour race, and a double-header format of two three-hour races. The series' largest event is the Fuji Super TEC 24 Hours, which is held annually at Fuji Speedway since its revival in 2018. Prior to that, the Tokachi 24 Hours was the series' largest event, held annually from 1994 until 2008.

In 2022, Eneos became the new title sponsor of the series.^[1]

The series has nine classes of vehicles, ranging from international GT3, GT4, and TCR categories to domestic categories of commercially available cars with effective displacements of under 1,500 cc.

GT3 cars were introduced with the debut of the ST-X class in 2011 (named ST-GT3 from 2012 to 2013). In 2017, the series introduced the ST-Z class for GT4 cars, and the ST-TCR class for TCR touring cars (initially named ST-R for the first round of the 2017 season).

The ST-1, ST-2, ST-3, and ST-4 classes have all existed since the first year of the series in 1991, based on the original Group N regulations and with various displacement and drivetrain layout limits in place. A fifth production class was introduced with the addition of ST-5 in 2010.

ST-Q

In 2021, the ST-Q class was introduced for manufacturer-developed, non-homologated special racing vehicles, similar to Nürburgring Langstrecken Serie's SPX class.^[2] Toyota and ROOKIE Racing entered a modified Corolla Sport (GR Corolla) hatchback, equipped with a hydrogen-powered internal combustion engine, in ST-Q beginning in 2021.^[3] In the 2021 season finale, Mazda entered a modified version of their Demio (Mazda2) subcompact, powered by biofuel.^[4]

In 2022, Toyota and Subaru entered special versions of their GR86 and BRZ sports cars, adapted to run on carbon-neutral synthetic fuel.^[5] That same year, Nissan entered a "Racing Concept" version of their new Fairlady Z (RZ34) sports car, which served as the prototype for the Nissan Z GT4.^[6] Mazda introduced a new biodiesel concept, the Mazda3 Bio Concept, at the end of 2022.^[7]

The hydrogen GR Corolla will adopt the use of liquid hydrogen in 2023 - the first race car in the world to do so.^[8] Honda introduced a carbon-neutral fuel compatible version of the Civic Type R in 2023.^[9]

More information Name, Regulation ...

Name	Regulation	Example Vehicles
ST-X	SRO GT3 homologated vehicles	Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 Lexus RC F GT3 Honda NSX GT3 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3
ST-Z	SRO GT4 homologated vehicles	Mercedes-AMG GT4 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport RS Toyota GR Supra GT4 Nissan Z GT4 Audi R8 LMS GT4
ST-TCR	TCR homologated vehicles	Audi RS3 LMS TCR Honda Civic Type R TCR
ST-Q	Approved racing vehicles not belonging to any other category	Toyota GR Corolla H2 Concept Toyota GR86 / Subaru BRZ CNF Concept Mazda3 Bio Concept Mazda Demio / Mazda2 Bio Concept (2021-22) Nissan Z Racing Concept Honda Civic Type R CNF-R
ST-1	Approved vehicles other than ST-2 through ST-5	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup KTM X-Bow GTX Toyota GR Supra Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT8R
ST-2	2,400 cc - 3,500 cc 4WD and front-wheel drive vehicles	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Subaru Impreza WRX STI Toyota GR Yaris Honda Civic Type R FK8/FL5
ST-3	2,400 cc - 3,500 cc rear-wheel drive vehicles	Lexus RC 350 Nissan Fairlady Z34/Z33 Toyota Crown RS
ST-4	1,500 cc - 2,500 cc vehicles	Toyota GR86 (ZN8) Toyota 86 / Subaru BRZ (ZN6/ZC6) Honda Integra Type R Honda S2000
ST-5	1,500 cc or below	Honda Fit RS Mazda Demio / Mazda2 Toyota Vitz / Yaris Mazda Roadster (ND5RC)
Source:[10]

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Yokohama was the series' official tyre supplier until the end of 2017. In 2018, Pirelli became the series' new tyre supplier as part of a three-year contract. In 2021, Hankook became the series' new tyre supplier. Their contract was to last for three years, ending in 2023, with the option to extend the contract through the end of the 2025 season.^[11]

Due to the fire at Hankook's manufacturing plant in Daejeon on 12 March 2023, Bridgestone signed a new three-year contract to take over as the tyre supplier of Super Taikyu beginning in 2024. On 24 April, it was announced that Bridgestone would take over as the series' tyre supplier with immediate effect on 24 April, prior to the second round of the 2023 season.^[12]

During a 2012 race at Suzuka Circuit (a support event for the 2012 FIA WTCC Race of Japan), Osamu Nakajima, driving a Nissan Fairlady Z (Z33), died after crashing into a barrier at the first corner of the circuit.^[13]