They wanted to hit a GP100 weight and balance, in an 8 shot model and they have the casts in house for Redhawks/super Redhawks, so they didn’t have to change much.
In the Mark III and IV 22/45, the moniker “22/45 Lite” sure seemed to sell well. Alternatively, I don’t think a “Redhawk Lite” would have faired as well at market. So, they went the other way - it’s a Super GP, instead of a Redhawk Lite...
I personally don’t have any use for a GP100 sized .357mag, and certainly not a larger frame version of the same (having direct experience in owning .357mag RedHawks and GP100’s), but I know a very niche group of competition shooters have been asking for a similarly featured Ruger for many years.
I had seen reports of a new Frame size of Ruger even as far back as SHOT this year, and I was really hoping for a smaller 44mag frame, even if they had to go 5 shot. But alas, here we are with a custom shop competition model Super GP, for which I don’t have any use.
I’ll admit too, after owning a few of the 22/45 Lites for use in beginning handgun classes, the finned shroud has grown on me, so this one doesn’t really repulse me.