Monday 5th June 2017

Jenson Button announces (another) return to racing

Former F1 world champion to drive for Team Mugen in the Suzuka 1000km

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It seems Jenson Button has re-found his thirst for racing in recent weeks. Having filled in for McLaren just eight days ago, whilst Fernando Alonso took a shot at Indy 500 glory, he has now announced he will make his Super GT debut for Honda later this summer. The news doesn't come as a complete surprise of course, with Button himself previously hinting that the format may be one he would choose to dabble in following his 'retirement'.

The former F1 champion is set to drive a Team Mugen NSX-GT in the final running of the Suzuka 1000km, before it is replaced by a 10-hour GT3 race in 2018. Explaining how the opportunity arose, Button said, "After driving an NSX Concept-GT at the 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." With limited time to acclimatise to the car, Button will take part in two tyre testing sessions this week at the circuit on which he won the 2011 Japanese Grand Prix for McLaren-Mercedes.

Team Mugen director Nagataka Tezuka seems optimistic about Button's chances, saying, "Jenson is an extremely talented and experienced driver, and we hope he will have a great race," with JB adding, "As an F1 driver and a member of Team Mugen, I will push to win." Fans shouldn't hold their breath, however, as Button's odds of victory are incredibly slim. The series has so far been dominated by Lexus, which has won all three races this year, while Honda have failed to win in Super GT since September 2015. Still though, our fingers will be crossed when he takes to the track on August 27th.

[Baron Greenback]

Awesome good luck to him, hell of a race!

[LMA37]

you would of thought he's had a belly full of Honda by now. It didn't work out to well for Alonso at the Indy 500.

[DanielSan]

LMA37 said:

you would of thought he's had a belly full of Honda by now. It didn't work out to well for Alonso at the Indy 500.

The Mugen NSX has hardly delivered great results in Super GT either.

[mp3manager]

LMA37 said:

you would of thought he's had a belly full of Honda by now. It didn't work out to well for Alonso at the Indy 500.

But it worked out OK for Sato. What's your point?

[Davie_GLA]

It's annoying but any time i hear the words Honda & Racing in the same sentence i just can't get excited.

[smilo996]

Good for he. Having proved himself and been caught speeding in Triathlon, doing a decent job at Monaco then cherry picking interesting interesting races, brilliant.

[citizensm1th]

we should do a sweep stake on which kilometre buttons Honda will go pop

[Krikkit]

Is there an English-commentated stream for this? Love Suzuka.

[sandman77]

smilo996 said:

......doing a decent job at Monaco

He crashed while in last place?

[spikyone]

sandman77 said:

smilo996 said:

......doing a decent job at Monaco

He crashed while in last place?

...having qualified in the top 10 on the most difficult circuit of the season to learn an unfamiliar car, and then being thrown to the back with someone else's engine penalties, and then getting stuck behind a slow car thanks to that car being unsafely released from its pitstop.
The move was 50/50 but he had a decent overlap and if Wehrlein had been awake, they might have got away with it. Did anyone make a successful on-track pass in Monaco?

[Oddball RS]

sandman77 said:

smilo996 said:

......doing a decent job at Monaco

He crashed while in last place?

"Comments via the Daily Mirror"

[RobM77]

spikyone said:

sandman77 said:

smilo996 said:

......doing a decent job at Monaco

He crashed while in last place?

...having qualified in the top 10 on the most difficult circuit of the season to learn an unfamiliar car, and then being thrown to the back with someone else's engine penalties, and then getting stuck behind a slow car thanks to that car being unsafely released from its pitstop.
The move was 50/50 but he had a decent overlap and if Wehrlein had been awake, they might have got away with it. Did anyone make a successful on-track pass in Monaco?

[hairyben]

He should have a pop at the "triple" and see if he can't beat Fernando to the punch

[KevinCamaroSS]

hairyben said:

He should have a pop at the "triple" and see if he can't beat Fernando to the punch

Maybe this race is a way of him seeing if he is 'in' to endurance racing? Would be good if it is, he is a much under-rated driver.

[RobM77]

KevinCamaroSS said:

hairyben said:

He should have a pop at the "triple" and see if he can't beat Fernando to the punch

Maybe this race is a way of him seeing if he is 'in' to endurance racing? Would be good if it is, he is a much under-rated driver.

I'm happy to be proven wrong on this, but I don't think I know of another driver, past or present, with a better record in the lower formulae, not even Senna.

[Neith]

Krikkit said:

Is there an English-commentated stream for this? Love Suzuka.

Normally NISMO's Youtube channel livestreams all the races and I expect Suzuka will be no different. English commentary and its almost all track cameras (Super GT has very little onboard footage).


Will be interesting to see Button in Super GT, but I dont expect anyone to touch Lexus this year, and this is coming from a Nissan fan. The LC500 has so much pace in comparison to the GTR and NSXs.

[99dndd]

You know he's still employed by Honda, as a racing driver?

Just because somebody's left F1, it doesn't mean that they've retired.

[Ahonen]

99dndd said:

Just because somebody's left F1, it doesn't mean that they've retired.

Like when Mark Webber joined Porsche in WEC and every F1 paddock interviewer asked him about his upcoming retirement...