Morio Nitta

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.

Early racing career

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

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.

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.

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. 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. 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.

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. 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.

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.

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. 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.

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.

Racing record

Complete Japanese Formula 3 results

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

Complete Japanese Touring Car Championship results

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

Complete Super GT results

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

Season still in progress.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nitta, Morio
Living people
1967 births
Japanese racing drivers
Racing drivers from Tokyo
Super GT drivers
Japanese Touring Car Championship drivers
Japanese Formula 3 Championship drivers
24 Hours of Spa drivers
Team Aguri drivers