Race ambassadors add to the entertainment value of the race

Now, race queens have become an essential part of SUPER GT to promote the teams and their sponsors. From this season, the race queens will be given a new name: “Race Ambassadors”.

“As a presence to support the teams and racers, the rule was made so that not only women but also men and costumed people could take on this role. The F1 grid girls were abolished a few years ago, and this was the result of reconsidering the social situation in which diversity is required, In the case of SUPER GT, we believe that they are more than just holding a grid board, but are an essential presence to promote the teams and sponsors. We consider them to be one of the positions that contribute to the series, which is necessary, just like the team mechanics and engineers, and as colleagues who work together, we have changed the name to race ambassadors and have set up a system to expand and continue the scope.

In recent years, motorsports such as F1 and Super Formula have been conspicuously strengthening entertainment content outside of racing; is SUPER GT also considering developing such new content in the future?

“F1 holds races during the day and concerts at night. Collaborations with other industries have been conspicuous in recent years. However, with the current SUPER GT schedule, it is a high hurdle to develop such content. In the past, we have held events on Saturday nights with famous artists visiting the venue. Many people came to the event to see the artist, but there are not many cases of such collaborations, so we think we need to raise the level of existing content as soon as possible. One of these is the display of new cars from car manufacturers, the distribution of their catalogs, and sales at the event. The Yaris Cup, which was a support race when we previously held a series of races in Thailand, displayed actual vehicles and parts behind the stands, and I felt that they were very active in promotional activities. Motorsport should originally be part of each manufacturer’s sales promotion and marketing strategy, so we would like to focus on such promotional activities at the circuit.”

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The SUPER GT has many points of interest, and the signal for the next 30 years will be lit green at the Okayama International Circuit on 13-14 April 2024 (Saturday-Sunday).

translated by DeepL