After months of speculation, 2009 Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button has announced that he will race full-time in the Autobacs Super GT Series with Honda in 2018.

Button made the announcement at a talk show event during the Honda Racing Thanks Day festival at Twin Ring Motegi. The veteran of over seventeen F1 seasons made his Super GT debut in the 46th and final running of the Suzuka 1000km, driving for Team Mugen in a Honda NSX-GT in the GT500 class, and his participation saw a significant uptick in attendance for the event, as well as international interest in the series itself.

“It’s been a dream for the last couple of years, I love the category,” said Button of his new involvement in Super GT. “I did one race at Suzuka earlier in the year, and it got me very excited, I’m very excited about the new season!”

“There’s a lot of testing to be done, to feel comfortable (in the car), and to hopefully improve the package, and go out next year and be competitive.”

No announcement was made for which team Button will drive for, though it is believed that it will be determined either in January at the Tokyo Auto Show, or in February, when Honda announces their global motorsports activities from their headquarters.

Thus, we get official confirmation of the biggest free agent signing in Super GT history, and the first of what could be many other major transactions in the 2017-18 silly season to come.