The GT Association (GTA) has announced that SUPER GT Series GT300 teams will be able to enter their cars into the 49th Annual Suzuka 1000km, which takes place on 14 September 2025 as part of the Intercontinental GT Challenge.
This agreement between the GTA and the Stephane Ratel Organisation (SRO) was announced by GTA Chairman Masaaki Bandoh during his pre-race press conference at Mobility Resort Motegi this past Sunday. Bandoh and Ratel met in Valencia during the FIA Motorsport Games last week to discuss the proposal, made at the encouragement of several GT300 teams who wished to enter the 2025 Suzuka 1000km.
It will allow GT300 teams to use the same chassis that’s registered to compete in SUPER GT in the Suzuka 1000km – which is normally prohibited under the current SUPER GT Sporting Regulations.
This will extend to teams with FIA GT3 vehicles, and vehicles built to the GTA-GT300 (formerly JAF-GT300) regulations unique to SUPER GT. (It had previously been reported that only GT3 cars would be eligible before a clarification was issued later this week.)
Those teams wishing to enter the event will run to the SRO Technical Regulations which includes the Balance of Performance (BoP) parameters established by the SRO, and the use of control tyres supplied by Pirelli.
“Until now, the situation was that the GT300 class teams were allowed to compete – but not their cars,” said Bandoh. “SUPER GT will be at Suzuka on 23-24 August, and the Suzuka 1000km is three weeks later – but we have agreed to allow us to use our cars to enter the race as it is.”
“We hope that this will be a stepping stone towards 2026,” Bandoh added. “We would like to continue to discuss with the SRO about how we are going to build the race for the future.”
Bandoh also expressed his desire for the Suzuka 1000km to be a points-paying race for the GT300 class by 2026 – an idea that is not without precedent. The 2013 Asian Le Mans Series 4 Hours of Fuji was held as an elective championship round in GT300. “Stéphane and I have discussed the possibility of giving GT300 points as part of the SUPER GT Series, and we will look into it before then,” Bandoh added.
From 2006 to 2017, the Suzuka 1000km was a championship round of the Autobacs SUPER GT Series and served as the series’ blue riband event. That changed in 2018 when the event was reformatted into the Suzuka 10 Hours and became part of the SRO Intercontinental GT Challenge from 2018 to 2019.
During those two years, the SRO welcomed and encouraged teams from both the SUPER GT GT300 and Super Taikyu Series ST-X classes to compete, offering significant prize money as an incentive for those teams.
The Suzuka Summer Endurance Race was put into dormancy for five years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its after-effects, but in 2025, it will return as the Suzuka 1000km, under its original name and format.
Images © GTA
