Another week has brought another round of announcements for next month’s Suzuka 1000km. The biggest headline of the week was the release of the provisional entry list. 28 cars were announced for the fourth round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge. But prior to the entry list’s publishing, there was some important news bits that were released. Here is a recap of what has come to light.
Mercedes Unveils Their Challengers
AMG-Mercedes confirmed three entries for the Suzuka 1000km on Tuesday. Heading up their challenge is a two-car entry for Hong-Kong based Craft-Bamboo Racing. The team’s Pro class No. 77 entry will see factory drivers Maxime Martin and Luca Stolz joined with some local flavor. Honda protege Kakunoshin Ohta returns to the team to complete the lineup. The Super Formula points leader has had a busy season in sportscar as well. Beyond his duties in the GT500 class of Super GT, Honda had Ohta in their IMSA GTP program for a couple races. Ohta also made his Le Mans debut in LMP2. Meanwhile, in the team’s Pro-Am No. 28, Kevin Tse returns from last year’s race. Joining him will be Brazilian Joao Paulo de Oliviera, who has made his home in Japan, and Daisuke Yamawaki.
Also returning to Suzuka will be Kenny Habul’s 75 Express team. Unlike 2025 when the team competed in the Bronze class, the team will be in the Pro category. Habul will be joined by Philip Ellis and Canadian Mercedes factory driver Mikael Grenier.
Ford Joins The Party
The Ford Mustang will make its debut in the Suzuka 1000km. The Melbourne Performance Center will join forces with Miedecke Motorsport to run the car. The Pro class entry will see a Ford factory driver lineup. Dennis Olsen, Frederic Vervisch and Christopher Mies will come from the manufacturer’s IMSA program to pilot the car.
All three drivers were at Suzuka last in 2019 – then a 10-hour race. Vervisch was part of the winning team at Audi Team WRT. Olsen earned a podium in third while Mies finished seventh. The latter two drivers drove for Absolute Racing.
Speaking of Absolute…
Absolute Doubles Down
I think you saw that segway coming. Last week, the team announced a joint entry with the American AO Racing outfit. Absolute confirmed a second entry Wednesday, but this will be Absolute Racing going alone. The Pro class entry sees Ayhanchan Guven, Dorian Boccolacci and Alessandro Ghiretti team up to drive the car. Guven is the reigning DTM Champion while Boccolacci and Ghiretti are regulars for Absolute in GT World Challenge Asia.
This will be a first Suzuka 1000km for the entire driving trio. Guven, however, has previous IGTC success winning the Bathurst 12 Hour in 2024 with Manthey.
Hello, Lexus
We have chronicled on this site through our IMSA coverage that the Lexus RC F GT3 in its last season of service. On Thursday, the “Farewell Tour” will have an additional stop. A Lexus RC F will take part in the Suzuka 1000km. The car will be entered in the Pro class by the K-Tunes team. The all-Japanese driver lineup is composed of Takamitsu Matsui, Sena Sakaguchi and Hideki Yamauchi.
K-Tunes are regulars in the Super GT’s GT300 class and the Japan Cup. The team also campaigns a Lexus in those championships. The team entered a Ferrari 296 in last year’s race, finishing twenty-eighth. None of the team’s drivers competed at Suzuka in 2025.
Stay tuned for more news on GT REPORT as we approach the Suzuka 1000km. Watch race weekend coverage September 11-13 on the GT World YouTube channel.
Provisional Entry List: CLICK HERE
Headline Image: Start of the 2025 Suzuka 1000km Photo Courtesy: Gruppe M Photography/SRO Motorsports Group
