Great scenery. Mischievous demons. Welcome to Sugo, next stop for Super GT

Some 15 miles southwest of Sendai in Japan’s scenic Tōhoku region, Sportsland Sugo hosts the fifth race of the 2026 Autobacs Super GT Series as the second half of the season gets underway.

Live English-language coverage of the Super GT Series on RACER+ and RACER Network continues this Sunday at 12:20 AM ET/Saturday 9:20 PM PT, with Speed City Broadcasting’s Jonathan Green and RACER.com correspondent RJ O’Connell on commentary for the 84-lap, 300-kilometer feature race. 

However, heavy rainfall is forecast throughout the weekend due to a typhoon which is expected to run close to the coast of eastern Japan either Saturday or Sunday. Hopefully, the weather will allow for the race to proceed safely and with minimal disruption.

At 3.5 kilometers/2.2 miles long, Sportsland Sugo is the shortest of the six domestic circuits regularly visited by Super GT. It’s also one of the most visually stunning: Nestled in the woodlands of Miyagi Prefecture, Sugo offers lots of elevation change, on par with American classics like Laguna Seca and Road Atlanta. It’s deceptively quick, too, with several medium-speed corners – and with a narrow track width, it also makes multi-class racing quite perilous.

It’s often been described as a hidden gem of the Japanese racing circuit, having not been part of a motorsports world championship since the FIM Superbike World Championship last raced there in 2003. But that may change soon, with the recent announcement that Sportsland Sugo will be added in a future update to Gran Turismo 7, allowing a wider audience to experience what makes Sugo one of the drivers’ favorite tracks on the calendar.

But above all, Sportsland Sugo has a reputation as the venue where strange things happen often. A local legend says that a mischievous demon named “Mamono” inhabits the circuit and creates chaos at almost every major race at Sugo; whether or not you believe in the legend, you can’t argue that Sugo has produced some of Super GT’s most dramatic moments in its history. 

This includes the two closest GT500 finishes of all time: In 2003, Juichi Wakisaka beat Toyota stablemate Érik Comas to the line by 0.081 seconds after a NASCAR-style overtake out of the 110R bend. Then in 2010, Koudai Tsukakoshi defeated Takashi Kogure in a drag race to the line, winning by 0.025s.

Sugo has also seen a memorable three-wide pass for the GT500 lead in 2007, a bizarre sequence in 2015 which led to the pit lane being completely jammed, and also some big crashes at the top of the main straightaway. Just last year, Nissan driver Teppei Natori overtook Sacha Fenestraz on the final lap to give Kondo Racing its first GT500 win in over 10 years, along with legendary co-driver Tsugio Matsuda’s record 25th (and final) race win.

Nissan returns to Sugo a year removed from its last GT500 win, meanwhile, Honda has had the hot hand since the end of the summer break. The new HRC Prelude-GTs have combined to finish 1-2 in the Fuji 300 Kilometer race, and locked out the podium at Suzuka Circuit last month. As for Toyota, championship leaders Sho Tsuboi and Kenta Yamashita lead by 17 points in their No. 36 TOM’S GR Supra, over the No. 16 ARTA Mugen Honda of Tomoki Nojiri and Ren Sato.

Over in GT300, Kondo Racing’s No. 56 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 driven by João Paulo de Oliveira and Iori Kimura narrowly leads a championship fight that is still too close to call, while many will ask if Pacific Racing Team and its No. 9 BMW M4 GT3 EVO can keep up the momentum from Suzuka, where Yusuke Tomibayashi and Yuta Fujiwara took an upset victory in commanding style.

Further down the GT300 grid there are two changes to note: Souta Arao will not drive the No. 5 Team Mach Toyota 86 MC as he is currently preparing to test a Chip Ganassi Racing Indy NXT car at Indianapolis on Monday, so Kimiya Sato – a veteran driver best known for competing in European single-seaters as a freelancer – will take his place. Nilzz Racing, traditionally a Pro-Am minnow, will look for a stronger result by pairing pro drivers James Pull and Daiki Fujiwara in its No. 48 Nissan GT-R.

Always expect the unexpected whenever Super GT comes to visit Sportsland Sugo – and if the weather allows for a proper race, we could see another instance of it on Sunday.