TEAM MUGEN (Director: Nagataka Tezuka) announced today that McLaren-Honda racing driver Jenson Button will join the team for a one-off race in the SUPER GT Series, GT500 class. Jenson will drive a Honda NSX-GT at the 46th International SUZUKA 1000km, Round 6 of the SUPER GT series (August 27) at Suzuka Circuit, Japan. The announcement means TEAM MUGEN will race with three drivers behind the wheel; regular drivers Hideki Mutoh and Daisuke Nakajima, and Jenson.
The 2009 Formula One World Champion will take the opportunity to drive the TEAM MUGEN NSX-GT for the first time at Suzuka Circuit during two days of tyre testing on 6-7 June.
The Suzuka 1000km is the longest-running car race in Japan, held annually since 1966. 2017 will be the last time Suzuka will host the race followed by new endurance race starting from 2018.
Jenson Button
“After driving an NSX CONCEPT-GT at Honda Racing THANKS DAY last December, I became interested in racing in SUPER GT. I spoke with Honda and they have given me the chance to race at the Suzuka 1000km. As an F1 driver and a member of TEAM MUGEN, I will push to win. I am very much looking forward to racing in front of my Japanese fan’s again.”
Nagataka Tezuka (Director, TEAM MUGEN)
“We are delighted to confirm that Jenson will be driving for TEAM MUGEN in the Suzuka 1000km. He is an extremely talented and experienced driver, and we hope he will have a great race. Hideki Mutoh, Daisuke Nakajima, and Jenson Button is an exciting and formidable driver line-up and we are confident TEAM MUGEN will be able to show its best performance at the final ever Suzuka 1000km.”
Katsuhide Moriyama (Operating Officer, Chief Officer, Brand and Communication Operations, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.)
“Welcome Jenson to the SUPER GT series. It will be a pleasure to see him driving the NSX-GT and I wish him an enjoyable race. With Jenson, F1 World Champion, we are confident that we will enhance our total performance as Honda to enable us to win in Suzuka.”
