Suzuka 1000KM: AO Racing takes the win in wet-to-dry battle

The 2026 Intercontinental GT Challenge Suzuka 1000KM ran its full 6.5 hours on Sunday, and the #8 AO by Absolute Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R came out on top. Julien Andlauer, Alessio Picariello and Laurin Heinrich brought ‘Bushi Rex’ home 51.416 seconds clear of the #64 Miedecke Motorsport By Team MPC Ford Mustang GT3, having started sixth on the grid.

A Busy Start Around Suzuka

Dennis Olsen led away from pole in the Miedecke Mustang. Behind him came Tadasuke Makino’s #45 Ponos Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, Ayhancan Güven’s #7 Absolute Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R, Ruan Cunfan’s #89 Team KRC BMW M4 GT3 and Katsumasa Chiyo’s #500 Team 5ZIGEN Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3, with the whole pack on wet tyres. Güven and Makino made contact into the Esses, and the Absolute Racing Porsche came out ahead in second.

Further back, Mikaël Grenier had already carved his way up to challenge Chiyo for fifth at the hairpin. He tried the move again, made contact with the 5ZIGEN Nissan and forced Chiyo wide, which cost the car fifth to the #75 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3. Grenier then picked off Bronze Cup leader Ruan Cunfan to take fourth himself. Güven set the early fastest lap of 2m01.606sec as the frontrunners switched to slicks.

The #18 Porsche Center Okazaki Nine Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R and #25 Porsche Center Okazaki NK Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R collided at Turn 10. The incident went under investigation, and Hiroaki Nagai picked up a drive-through penalty for spinning his own teammate, Kiyoshi Uchiyama, at the hairpin. Around the same time, Alexander Sims moved the #2 Johor Motorsports Racing – JMR Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R up to sixth, having been held up behind the struggling 5ZIGEN Nissan – which was running around two seconds a lap off the pace.

Half an hour in, Olsen and Güven still ran nose-to-tail at the front, with Makino roughly ten seconds back in third. Grenier and Alessio Picariello’s AO Porsche fought over fourth, about four seconds behind the Ponos Ferrari. Jefri Ibrahim’s #99 Johor Motorsports Racing – JMR Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R then picked up a 5-second penalty for cutting the chicane and gaining an advantage.

Down the order, Chris Froggatt’s #93 Ziggo Sport Tempesta Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R moved up to third in the Bronze Cup after Ruan Cunfan let Maxime Martin through. Martin himself kept working the #77 Mercedes-AMG Team Craft-Bamboo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 forward from its last-place start, passing the #96 K-tunes Racing Lexus RCF GT3 to crack the top ten.

First Stops and Early Incidents

As the field reached the first scheduled stops, Olsen held around a second over Güven, with Makino another fourteen seconds back in third. Grenier still held off Picariello for fourth, and Sims was closing on the pair.

Picariello’s AO Porsche came out of the stops ahead of Grenier’s 75 Express Mercedes for fourth, while Alessandro Ghiretti took over the Absolute Racing Porsche from Güven and rejoined in the lead. An extra lap on strategy promoted the #2 JMR Corvette – now with Scott McLaughlin aboard – from sixth to third, some 23 seconds behind Ghiretti and Olsen. Olsen took the lead back with 5 hours and 17 minutes to go, passing Ghiretti into Turn 1.

Then came disaster for the 75 Express entry: Kenny Habul put the Mercedes into the barriers and gravel, breaking the right-front suspension and ending the car’s overall hopes. Olsen had pulled two seconds clear of Ghiretti by that point, with McLaughlin some twenty seconds further back fending off Makino and Julien Andlauer.

Shortly after, Alfred Renauer’s #91 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R and Ruan Cunfan’s #89 KRC BMW both slid onto the grass exiting Turn 1, bringing out a Full Course Yellow while Cunfan’s car stayed stuck. The Herberth Porsche was later handed a 10-second stop-and-go penalty. Olsen’s lead had grown to almost fourteen seconds over Ghiretti by the time both cars pitted, with Christopher Mies taking over the Miedecke Mustang and Dorian Boccolacci climbing into the Absolute Racing Porsche.

The Race Takes Another Turn

Early in the third hour, Bronze Cup leader Yusaku Maezawa crashed the #555 Maezawa Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 after contact with the lapped #18 Nine Racing Porsche of Hiroaki Nagai. That triggered a Full Course Yellow which quickly developed into the race’s only Safety Car period – and it flipped the race on its head. Boccolacci, Nicky Catsburg, Takuro Shinohara, Laurin Heinrich and Luca Stolz all used the moment for a stint reset in positions two through six, while race leader Mies stayed out. Heinrich, who had just taken over the AO Porsche from Andlauer, lined up fifth for the restart.

In the Bronze Cup, Naoki Hattori’s #80 LM Corsa Ferrari 296 GT3 ran third behind Seiji Ara’s PLUS with BMW M Team Studie BMW and Joel Sturm’s #86 High Class Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R. The #80 LM Corsa then picked up two separate 10-second penalties for speeding under FCY.

What followed was the drive that won the race. Heinrich dispatched the Ponos Ferrari almost immediately after the restart, then took advantage of a battle between teammate Boccolacci and Catsburg’s #2 JMR Corvette to pass the Corvette approaching 130R. That left only Mies’ Miedecke Mustang ahead, some ten seconds up the road. In Pro-Am, Ben Green’s #99 JMR Corvette moved up to second behind LM Corsa’s Shigekazu Wakisaka as the order shuffled.

Heinrich hauled in the Mustang at a rapid rate. By half-distance he had closed right onto its tail – Mies leading by just 0.298 seconds – before making the decisive move around the outside through the Esses. From there the #8 was never headed. Behind, Maxime Martin took back over the Craft-Bamboo Mercedes from Stolz and slotted into fifth.

AO Holds On to Take Victory

Heinrich stretched the lead to more than five seconds before handing the AO Porsche to Picariello. With three of five scheduled stops done, Picariello led Mies by 8.338 seconds, Boccolacci closing on the Miedecke Mustang and Sims twelve seconds off the lead in the JMR Corvette. Martin’s Craft-Bamboo Mercedes was another half-minute back. Wakisaka’s Pro-Am-leading #60 LM Corsa Ferrari 296 GT3 and Liu Kaishun’s #72 Harmony Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 both served drive-throughs for a yellow-flag infringement, and the Absolute Racing Porsche lost thirteen seconds in a slow stop of its own.

Heinrich climbed back aboard the AO Porsche and set a 2m00.175sec, before teammate Güven went two-tenths quicker still in the #7 Absolute Racing Porsche – a 1m59.966sec that stood as the race’s fastest lap. Güven then sent his Porsche down the inside of McLaughlin’s JMR Corvette at the hairpin to take third. In Pro-Am, Augusto Farfus’ #10 Team KRC BMW M4 GT3 got past Taku Bamba’s #181 Norik Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 for third in class, only for the #10 KRC BMW to receive a 10-second penalty – to be served at the final stop – for pushing the Norik Ferrari off track. The #61 EBM Giga Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R of Mathieu Jaminet, Adrian D’Silva and Ye Hongli retired after a puncture damaged the electronics and knocked out the ABS.

AO Unchallenged

Güven made another slow stop for fuel and tyres, letting Catsburg move ahead of the Absolute Racing Porsche. Frédéric Vervisch took over the Miedecke Mustang for the final stint and left the pits ahead of both Catsburg and Güven. Heinrich then pitted from the lead and stayed aboard for the run to the flag. With under 40 minutes left, Güven passed Catsburg to push the JMR Corvette off the podium.

In Pro-Am, Kei Nakanishi, Wakisaka and Giancarlo Fisichella went unbeaten in the #60 LM Corsa Ferrari, finishing roughly a lap clear of Ben Green’s Corvette, while Farfus held on ahead of Taku Bamba despite the earlier penalty. Dan Harper’s Bronze Cup-leading #69 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 was handed a late drive-through for pushing the #79 Tsunami RT Porsche 911 GT3 R of Fabio Babini.

At the flag it was the #8 AO Porsche – Andlauer, Picariello and Heinrich – winning by 51.416 seconds over the #64 Miedecke Mustang (Vervisch, Mies, Olsen), with the #7 Absolute Racing Porsche (Güven, Ghiretti, Boccolacci) completing the podium. The #2 JMR Corvette (Catsburg, Sims, McLaughlin) was fourth, ahead of the #77 Craft-Bamboo Mercedes in fifth and the #45 Ponos Ferrari in sixth. The #69 WRT BMW took the Bronze Cup, and the #60 LM Corsa Ferrari claimed Pro-Am honours.

Next Round: Indianapolis 8 Hours

In the GT3 Drivers’ standings, Maro Engel stays top on 68 points despite sitting out Suzuka. Luca Stolz moved up to second on 61 points and Maxime Martin to third on 60, both flying the flag for Mercedes-AMG Team Craft-Bamboo Racing. Suzuka winners Laurin Heinrich and Alessio Picariello climbed to sixth and seventh for AO by Absolute Racing. The championship heads to Indianapolis for the next round on October 8-10.

FULL RESULTS