Morio Nitta

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.

Morio Nitta
Nationality	Japanese
Born	(1967-01-30) 30 January 1967 (age 57) Tokyo, Japan
Super GT career
Debut season	1994
Current team	K-tunes racing
Racing licence	FIA Bronze
Car number	96
Former teams	Osuka 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
Starts	213
Wins	22
Podiums	56
Poles	7
Fastest laps	10
Best finish	1st 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

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

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

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

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

Complete Japanese Formula 3 results

(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

(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

(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

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. "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.

External links

• Morio Nitta career summary at DriverDB.com