GT World Challenge Asia and the Japan Cup will host their first of two “SRO GT PowerTour” dual-branded events this weekend at Fuji Speedway, overlapping what will be a busy weekend in the world of sports car racing with both the FIA WEC and IMSA in action on the other side of the Pacific.
25 cars for GT World Asia
GT World Challenge Asia’s campaign resumes after what ultimately amounted to a postponement of its Shanghai round, bringing with it a few new and returning entries to fill out a 25-car field.
Laurin Heinrich, the winner of this year’s Daytona 24 Hours and Twelve Hours of Sebring, returns to GT World Challenge Asia in familiar surroundings with Origine Motorsport. Heinrich will drive alongside Lu Wei in the #11 Origine Porsche 911 GT3 R, which changed from its old number 4.
Also of note is an exciting cameo entrant from GT World Challenge America regulars Kyle Washington and Tom Sargent. The duo will get behind the wheel of the #32 Absolute Racing Porsche as teammates to championship leaders Huang Ruohan and Alessandro Ghiretti (who will adorn the awesome purple and green EVA Racing colours this weekend!).
Though they won’t be eligible for championship points, Washington and Sargent will surely feature in the six-car Silver-Am class. Sargent, who’s also a Porsche Motorsport North America Selected Driver, currently leads the SRO Academy standings stateside.
Absolute Racing has further added a new entry co-branded with HZO Fortis Racing. An accomplished squad in Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia, the Malaysian team will have Aaron Lim Say Joon and Haziq Zairel Oh behind the wheel of its #20 Porsche in the Am class.
Returning to the series is Japanese team LM corsa with its #60 Ferrari 296 GT3 piloted by veteran Pro-Am duo Shigekazu Wakisaka and Ryo Ogawa, making their first appearances of 2026. Garage 75’s David Tjiptobiantoro and Christian Columbo return in the #75 Ferrari after standing aside for Sean Gelael in Mandalika, while Absolute Corse’s #98 entry driven by Andy Tan (Anderson Tanoto) and Thierry Vermeulen returns, though now as an Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II instead of a Ferrari.
Dorian Boccolacci (#37 Phantom Global Racing Porsche) and Atsushi Miyake (#500 Team 5Zigen Nissan) each return after missing Mandalika, while BMW M factory driver Max Hesse (#89 Team KRC BMW), 2024 SRO Japan Cup champion Daisuke Yamawaki (#77 Craft-Bamboo Racing Mercedes-AMG), and Harmony Racing founder Chen Weian (#96 Ferrari) join the grid for this weekend’s pair of 60-minute sprints.
16 entries for Japan Cup
SRO Japan Cup’s second race meeting features 13 GT3 entries and an additional three GT4s.
Two GT3 entries make their first appearances of the 2026 season: FiveStar with Team DreamDrive’s #25 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO driven by Takashi Sano and Takuya Shirasaka, and Galah Racing’s #935 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 driven by mononymous Japanese female driver ‘Galah’ and teammate Natsu Sakaguchi.
K-tunes Racing is back with two cars, but its #96 car driven by Kazunori Suenaga and Nirei Fukuzumi won’t be the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R that was scratched from Sugo – but instead, the Lexus RC F GT3 will return to the series.
GT4’s new entry is from E-Needs Racing, the #29 Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 driven by Kota Murase and Tatsuya Osaki.
Images © SRO Motorsports Group
