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Morio Nitta

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Morio Nitta
NationalityJapanese
Born (1967-01-30) 30 January 1967 (age 57)
Tokyo, Japan
Super GT career
Debut season1994
Current teamK-tunes racing
Racing licence FIA Bronze
Car number96
Former teamsOsuka Racing, Team Taisan Jr., apr, Momo Corse Racing Team with Tsuchiya, Super Autobacs Racing with A'PEX, Autobacs Racing Team Aguri, LM corsa, INGING & Arnage Racing
Starts213
Wins22
Podiums56
Poles7
Fastest laps10
Best finish1st in 1996, 1999, 2002
Previous series
1986
1987–1996
1988–1992		Fuji Freshman Race
Japanese Touring Car Championship
Japanese Formula 3 Championship
Championship titles
1990
1996, 1999, 2002		Japanese Touring Car Championship
Super GT

Morio Nitta (新田 守男, Nitta Morio, born 30 January 1967)[1] is a Japanese racing driver currently competing in the Super GT Series for K-tunes Racing. He is a three-time champion of the GT300 class, winning the championship in 1996, 1999, and 2002.

Nitta is the current record holder for most races in any class of the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship/Super GT Series, as well as the record holder for the most career wins, podiums, and points in the GT300 class.

As of 2023, Nitta is a Bronze rated driver under the FIA Driver Categorisation system.[2]

Early racing career

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Nitta began his professional racing career in 1986, participating in the Fuji Freshman Race.[3]

He would later compete in the Japanese Formula 3 Championship and the Japanese Touring Car Championship, where he and Keiichi Suzuki won the JTC-3 class Championship in 1990 driving a Toyota Corolla Levin for Tsuchiya Engineering.

JGTC/Super GT career

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Nitta first competed in Super GT in 1994, the inaugural season of what was then known as the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) driving a Porsche 964 at Sportsland Sugo.[3]

He got his first full-time drive in the GT300 class with Team Taisan Jr. in 1996. Joined by his former JTCC teammate Keiichi Suzuki, Nitta won three races and won the GT300 championship in his first full season. Nitta and Suzuki would go on to finish second in points the following year with two wins.

Nitta joined A'PEX in 1998, achieving a best finish of second at the Japan Special GT Cup at Fuji Speedway alongside co-driver Peter Dumbreck in the #44 Toyota MR2.

For the 1999 season, A'PEX formed a joint entry with Tsuchiya Engineering, and beginning at the All-Japan Fuji GT Race, Nitta would drive the #25 MR2 alongside Shinichi Takagi. Nitta and Takagi won in their first race together, and with four podiums in the final six races, Nitta would win his second GT300 Championship by a single point over Takeshi Tsuchiya (the son of Tsuchiya Engineering owner Haruo Tsuchiya) and Yuji Ide.[4]

Driving the new third-generation Toyota MR-S sponsored by Super Autobacs, Nitta won the season finale at Suzuka Circuit. A'PEX began a new collaboration with Autobacs Racing Team Aguri (ARTA) in 2001, where Nitta and Takagi won the opening race at TI Circuit Aida. In 2002, the duo opened the season with another win at TI Circuit, then reeled off five top-five finishes in the final five races to win the championship.[5] Nitta became the first three-time GT300 champion in JGTC/Super GT history.

The racing division of A'PEX, which spun off from its parent company and rebranded as apr, ran the new Nissan-powered ASL Garaiya for ARTA beginning in 2003. With the exception of 2006, when ARTA suspended its GT300 programme for a season, Nitta drove the Garaiya from 2003 to 2010. Alongside Takagi, Nitta won seven races in the Garaiya, and finished runner-up in the GT300 championship standings in 2004 and 2008.[6][7] During the 2006 season, Nitta drove a Toyota MR-S entered under the apr banner, and won the final round at Fuji after the R&D Sport Vemac 408R of Haruki Kurosawa and Shinsuke Shibahara ran out of fuel on the last lap.[8]

Nitta and Takagi went their separate ways after twelve seasons after the 2010 season. In 2011, Nitta would continue with apr, driving the mid-engine layout Toyota Corolla Axio alongside Toyota Young Driver Program (TDP) prospect Yuji Kunimoto.

The Corolla Axio was replaced in 2012 by apr's new Toyota Prius, the first hybrid GT300 vehicle to compete in Super GT. Nitta joined Koki Saga for the Prius' debut campaign where they were rewarded with a second-place finish at the summer race at Fuji. At the 2013 Fuji 500km, Nitta and Saga gave the Prius its milestone first Super GT win for a hybrid vehicle.[9] Nitta scored two more podiums in 2014 at the wheel of the Prius.

His long association with apr ended after the 2014 season, and Nitta joined the LM corsa team in 2015 in their #51 BMW Z4 GT3 which was prepared by INGING Motorsport. LM corsa and INGING switched to a new Ferrari 488 GT3 for the 2016 season, and in 2017, INGING would enter the car in collaboration with Arnage Racing. Nitta's best result during this stretch was a second-place finish at Sugo in 2017.[citation needed]

Nitta joined the new K-tunes Racing LM corsa team in 2018, which received technical support from INGING. At the wheel of their new #96 Lexus RC F GT3, Nitta scored his first win in five years alongside Yuichi Nakayama in the third round at Suzuka. Nitta and Nakayama also won the penultimate round in Autopolis, giving Nitta his 20th career win.[10]

K-tunes Racing spun off from LM corsa in 2019, and new teammate Sena Sakaguchi joined Nitta in the #96 Lexus. The duo won a rain-shortened opening round at Okayama, the team's home race, then won the third round at Suzuka. With two wins and four podiums, Nitta and Sakaguchi finished second in the championship, and Nitta retook sole ownership of the career wins record, now at 22 career victories.

In 2022, Nitta and Takagi were reunited at K-tunes Racing for the first time since 2010.[11] They combined for six top-ten finishes that season.

Outside Super GT

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Before achieving success in JGTC/Super GT, Nitta entered the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps seven times from 1989 to 1998. His best result was 12th overall in 1989, driving a Toyota Corolla GT alongside Kaori Okamoto and Hideshi Matsuda.[12]

Nitta made his GT World Challenge Asia debut in the 2022 season finale at Okayama, driving a new K-tunes Racing Lexus RC F GT3. Nitta and Kazunori Suenaga would return to contest the full GT World Challenge Asia Japan Cup in 2023.[13]

Racing record

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Complete Japanese Formula 3 results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Points
1988 UCLA Reynard 873 Toyota 3S-G 2.0 I4 SUZ TSU FUJ SUZ
Ret 		SUG
Ret 		TSU
18 		SEN
13 		SUZ
DNS 		NIS
18 		SUZ
10 		NC 0
1989 Innoma House Gold Ralt RT32 SUZ FUJ SUZ TSU SUG TSU SUZ MIN SUZ
DNQ 		SUZ NC 0
1992 Kanagawa Clinic Racing Team Ralt RT36
Ralt RT35
Reynard 923 		SUZ
DNQ 		TSU FUJ
19 		SUZ
DNQ 		SEN
20 		TAI
27 		MIN
DNQ 		SUG SUZ NC 0

Complete Japanese Touring Car Championship results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 DC Points
1987 TOM'S Aramis 900 Toyota Corolla Levin Div. 1 MIN SEN TSU SUG FUJ
Ret 		SUZ NC 0
1988 Unknown Toyota Corolla FX JTC-3 SUZ
11 		MIN
8 		SEN
Ret 		NC 0
Toyota Corolla Levin TSU
DNS 		SUG
Ret 		FUJ
Ret
1989 FET TOM'S JTC-3 MIN
Ret 		SEN
7 		TSU
Ret 		SUG
7 		SUZ
7 		FUJ
7 		NC 0
1990 Team ADVAN JTC-3 MIN
4 		SUG
1 		SUZ
4 		TSU
1 		SEN
3 		FUJ
1 		1st 104
1991 JTC-3 SUG
1 		SUZ
Ret 		TSU
1 		SEN
7 		AUT
5 		FUJ
Ret 		3rd 56
1992 JTC-3 TIA AUT
1 		SUG
Ret 		SUZ
Ret 		MIN
2 		TSU
9 		SEN
4 		FUJ
5 		11th 55
1993 JTC-3 MIN
3 		AUT
4 		SUG
4 		SUZ
2 		TIA
8 		TSU
4 		TOK
Ret 		SEN
2 		FUJ
2 		6th 90
1994 Tsuchiya Engineering Toyota Corolla Ceres JTCC AUT1 AUT2 SUG1
Ret 		SUG2
Ret 		TOK1 TOK2 SUZ1
Ret 		SUZ2
23 		MIN1 MIN2 TAI1
DNS 		TAI2
Ret 		TSU1 TSU2 SEN1
13 		SEN2
12 		FUJ1 FUJ2 NC 0
1996 Toyota Team FET Toyota Corolla AE110 FUJ1 FUJ2 SUG1 SUG2 SUZ1 SUZ2 MIN1 MIN2 SEN1
13 		SEN2
12 		TOK1
15 		TOK2
13 		FUJ1
DNS 		FUJ2
13 		NC 0

Complete Super GT results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DC Points
1994 Osuka Racing Porsche 964 RSR GT2 FUJ SEN FUJ SUG
5 		MIN 18th 8
1996 Team Taisan Jr. GT300 SUZ
1 		FUJ
2 		SEN
Ret 		FUJ
2 		SUG
1 		MIN
1 		1st 90
1997 Porsche 993 RSR GT300 SUZ
4 		FUJ
1 		SEN
3 		FUJ
1 		MIN
3 		SUG
2 		2nd 89
1998 A'PEX Toyota MR2 GT300 SUZ
7 		FUJ
C 		SEN
6 		FUJ
2 		MOT
4 		MIN
4 		SUG
Ret 		3rd 45
1999 Momo Corse Racing Team with Tsuchiya GT300 SUZ
8 		FUJ
1 		SUG
2 		MIN
2 		FUJ
5 		TAI
Ret 		MOT
3 		1st 73
2000 Super Autobacs Racing with A'PEX Toyota MR-S GT300 MOT
6 		FUJ
10 		SUG
6 		FUJ
6 		TAI
Ret 		MIN
14 		SUZ
1 		7th 39
2001 ARTA with A'PEX GT300 TAI
1 		FUJ
3 		SUG
Ret 		FUJ
5 		MOT
Ret 		SUZ
Ret 		MIN
Ret 		7th 40
2002 GT300 TAI
1 		FUJ
Ret 		SUG
17 		SEP
2 		FUJ
4 		MOT
5 		MIN
5 		SUZ
4 		1st 75
2003 Autobacs Racing Team Aguri ASL ARTA Garaiya GT300 TAI
19 		FUJ
3 		SUG
4 		FUJ
10 		FUJ
6 		MOT
2 		AUT
5 		SUZ
NC 		7th 55
2004 GT300 TAI
2 		SUG
5 		SEP
21 		TOK
1 		MOT
1 		AUT
2 		SUZ
2 		2nd 92
2005 GT300 OKA
10 		FUJ
2 		SEP
1 		SUG
18 		MOT
3 		FUJ
Ret 		AUT
2 		SUZ
8 		3rd 74
2006 apr Toyota MR-S GT300 SUZ
Ret 		OKA
9 		FUJ
2 		SEP
Ret 		SUG
5 		SUZ
3 		MOT
10 		AUT
Ret 		FUJ
1 		5th 60
2007 Autobacs Racing Team Aguri ASL ARTA Garaiya GT300 SUZ
18 		OKA
17 		FUJ
1 		SEP
Ret 		SUG
Ret 		SUZ
2 		MOT
3 		AUT
5 		FUJ
7 		4th 66
2008 GT300 SUZ
5 		OKA
1 		FUJ
7 		SEP
12 		SUG
1 		SUZ
Ret 		MOT
9 		AUT
2 		FUJ
9 		2nd 77
2009 GT300 OKA
2 		SUZ
5 		FUJ
1 		SEP
10 		SUG
9 		SUZ
2 		FUJ
7 		AUT
4 		MOT
14 		5th 71
2010 GT300 SUZ
Ret 		OKA
6 		FUJ
2 		SEP
2 		SUG
6 		SUZ
2 		FUJ
C 		MOT
12 		2nd 55
2011 apr Toyota Corolla Axio apr GT GT300 OKA
6 		FUJ
7 		SEP
6 		SUG
2 		SUZ
7 		FUJ
14 		AUT
8 		MOT
9 		7th 38
2012 Toyota Prius apr GT GT300 OKA
Ret 		FUJ
6 		SEP
Ret 		SUG
8 		SUZ
Ret 		FUJ
2 		AUT
8 		MOT
Ret 		10th 26
2013 GT300 OKA
Ret 		FUJ
1 		SEP
Ret 		SUG
22 		SUZ
15 		FUJ
2 		FSW AUT
15 		MOT
20 		8th 35
2014 GT300 OKA
Ret 		FUJ
6 		AUT
Ret 		SUG
Ret 		FUJ
6 		SUZ
2 		CHA
17 		MOT
2 		8th 43
2015 LM Corsa BMW Z4 GT3 GT300 OKA
9 		FUJ
9 		CHA FUJ
4 		SUZ
Ret 		SUG
9 		AUT
17 		MOT
15 		17th 14
2016 Ferrari 488 GT3 GT300 OKA
5 		FUJ
6 		SUG
9 		FUJ
11 		SUZ
11 		CHA
12 		MOT
11 		MOT
Ret 		16th 13
2017 INGING & Arnage Racing GT300 OKA
Ret 		FUJ AUT
27 		SUG
2 		FUJ
14 		SUZ
16 		CHA
17 		MOT
21 		17th 15
2018 K-tunes Racing LM Corsa Lexus RC F GT3 GT300 OKA
14 		FUJ
14 		SUZ
1 		CHA
10 		FUJ
10 		SUG
14 		AUT
1 		MOT
10 		6th 45
2019 K-tunes Racing GT300 OKA
1 		FUJ
16 		SUZ
1 		CHA
14 		FUJ
15 		AUT
5 		SUG
3 		MOT
3 		2nd 58
2020 GT300 FUJ
11 		FUJ
23 		SUZ
28 		MOT
4 		FUJ
26 		SUZ
5 		MOT
17 		FUJ
22 		16th 15
2021 GT300 OKA
6 		FUJ
14 		SUZ
17 		MOT
13 		SUG
8 		AUT
2 		MOT
14 		FUJ
19 		12th 23
2022 GT300 OKA
27 		FUJ
6 		SUZ
7 		FUJ
5 		SUZ
25 		SUG
9 		AUT
8 		MOT
6 		16th 22.5
2023 GT300 OKA
14 		FUJ
9 		SUZ
22 		FUJ
23 		SUZ
8 		SUG
8 		AUT
Ret 		MOT
5 		18th 15

* Season still in progress.

References

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  1. ^ "2006 Driver Information". Super GT (in Japanese). Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  2. ^ "2023 FIA Driver Rankings Published | dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  3. ^ a b "新田守男 プロフィール". INGING (in Japanese). Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  4. ^ "1999 AUTOBACS CUP GT Championship Round 7 - Race". supergt.net. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  5. ^ "JGTC 2002 Round8". supergt.net. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  6. ^ "JGTC.net | 2004 Round7 | Race Review". supergt.net. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  7. ^ "SUPERGT.net | 2008 Round9 : Race Review". supergt.net. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  8. ^ "SUPERGT.net | 2006 Round9 Race Review". supergt.net. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  9. ^ "Rd.2 決勝GT500：一貴&ロシターがGT500初勝利！PETRONAS TOM'S SC430が優勝 | SUPER GT OFFICIAL WEBSITE". supergt.net. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  10. ^ "Rd.7 決勝GT300：巧みなレース戦略が決まってK-tunes RC F GT3が今季2勝目を挙げる！ | SUPER GT OFFICIAL WEBSITE". supergt.net. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  11. ^ "Morio Nitta & Shinichi Takagi Reunited At K-Tunes Racing | dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  12. ^ "Spa 24 Hours 1989 - Race Results - Racing Sports Cars". www.racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  13. ^ "K-Tunes, Comet, Spirit of FFF and AMAC join strong Am Cup class". Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS. 28 March 2023. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
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