#25 Porsche Center Okazaki 911 withdraws
The field for this weekend’s GT World Challenge Asia races is now down to 23 cars after Porsche Center Okazaki withdrew the aquamarine #25 Porsche 911 GT3 R from the race.
Kiyoshi Uchiyama had an accident in Thursday’s first paid test session which sidelined the car for the rest of Thursday and all of Friday. Uchiyama was uninjured, but the team has assessed the damage and decided to take no further part in the race.
It’s a devastating blow for Uchiyama and Tsubasa Kondo, who came into the weekend running second in the Silver-Am class standings, just one point behind leader Liang Jiatong from Craft-Bamboo Racing, and six ahead of Team KRC’s Brian Lee and Maxime Oosten.
The #25 crew will now turn its attention towards the Suzuka 1000km in two weeks where Uchiyama and Kondo will be joined by 2023 Japan Cup GT3 champion Yuta Kamimura.
EBM Porsche takes to the track
The other major storyline was EBM (Earl Bamber Motorsport)’s race to get its #61 Porsche 911 GT3 R out on track once its shipping container finally arrived at approximately 7:00 AM Friday.
Infrastructure and parts were still being put in their proper places while the blue Porsche was being prepped for a potential shakedown run. EBM had set a target to get the car out during Pre-Qualifying practice in the afternoon, but with Adrian D’Silva and Enzo Trulli’s car still being prepped in the final minutes, SRO Asia stepped in to assist the team.
After Pre-Qualifying, the track remained open for D’Silva and Trulli to do a shakedown lap around Okayama. The hardship run was completed successfully at around 5:00 PM, around ten hours after the car arrived.
GT World Asia: Seppänen, Ghiretti take turns leading Friday practices
Elias Seppänen put the #81 Climax Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO on top in GT World Asia’s Official Practice session this afternoon, thanks to a late flying lap of 1:29.197.
It helped the #81 Climax Racing crew bounce back after a troubled start to its weekend; Co-driver Li Lichao went off course, damaged the right side of the car, and brought out a red flag.
That time from Seppänen displaced the #11 Origine Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R from ‘P1’. Laurin Heinrich’s best lap in the black #11 Porsche was a 1:29.292, still good enough for second place ahead of the two Team KRC BMW M4 GT3 EVOs. Maxime Oosten was third-fastest with a 1:29.322 in the blue #10 BMW, and Neil Verhagen set a 1:29.760 in the green #89 BMW.
Klaus Bachler, making a cameo appearance for Absolute Racing in the #918 Porsche, was fifth-fastest, followed by the #77 Craft-Bamboo Racing Mercedes-AMG (Liang Jiatong).
Following the official one-hour practice session was a 30-minute Bronze session. Tomohide Yamaguchi led the wayin the #5 BMW M Team Studie M4, on a 1:30.769 – more than half a second up from the rest of the field. In second place was Lu Wei in the #11 Origine Porsche, then Anthony Liu in the #37 Phantom Global Racing Porsche, and mononymous newcomer “Yamatatsu” in the #75 Garage 75 Ferrari.
Closing out the day was the one-hour Pre-Qualifying practice session, by which point the rain showers of the mid-morning and early afternoon had disappeared, offering little relief from the brutal heat and humidity!
This time it was the “Red-Ear Racer,” the “Jorsche”, the #911 Absolute Racing Porsche that topped the timesheets via a 1:29.276 from championship co-leader Alessandro Ghiretti.
In second place was Verhagen in the #89 KRC BMW on a 1:29.376, in third was Jaxon Evans driving the #15 Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom R8.
Ayhancan Güven was fourth-quickest in the #37 Phantom Global Racing POrsche, followed by Brendon Leitch in the #72 Apex Predator Harmony Racing Ferrari, Oosten in the #10 KRC BMW, Seppänen in the #81 Climax AMG, and Kazuto Kotaka in the #18 Porsche Center Okazaki 911 – the sole surviving entry from the team this weekend.
Japan Cup: Fukuzumi paces Friday practices
Official Practice for Japan Cup was led by the #96 K-tunes Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo, as Nirei Fukuzumi set the fastest time of the weekend to that point, a 1:29.010.
This weekend marks Fukuzumi’s first time behind the wheel of the Ferrari GT3 car; last year he drove K-tunes’ Lexus RC F GT3 in Japan Cup, which he also drove last round at Fuji Speedway in July. Sena Sakaguchi took his place during the one weekend where K-tunes was slated to race its new Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, which has yet to resurface after mechanical issues knocked the car out of its first race meeting at Sugo.
Yuya Motojima went second-fastest in the #24 Max Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO, followed by two more Ferraris: The #181 Norik Racing 296 of Taku Bamba, and the #1 Hitotsuyama with Cornes Racing 296 of Shintaro Kawabata. Ukyo Sasahara rounded out the top five in the #9 Bingo Racing with LM corsa Porsche.
In the following Bronze-only session, Tadao Uematsu went fastest in his #88 Miracolo Tokyo McLaren 720S GT3. Wet conditions kept several cars in the garage for the half-hour session, however.
And then in Pre-Qualifying, GT3 championship co-leader Motojima in the #24 Max Racing AMG topped the timing sheets with a best lap of 1:29.478 to lead a quartet of Ferraris.
Of that group, Naoki Yokomizo was fastest in the #555 Maezawa Racing 296 GT3 EVO, then Shinichi Takagi in the #97 K-tunes Ferrari, then Norik Racing’s Bamba and the #96 K-tunes Ferrari of Fukuzumi was fifth.
Results from all tests and practice sessions can be seen at TSL Timing >>>HERE.
Late Suzuka 1000km entries on the way?
The 50th running of the Suzuka 1000km is two weeks away, and the announced field is set to grow from its initial figure of 28 cars.
DSC has learned of at least one confirmed last-minute entry which will be announced in the coming days. It will not be a Pro class entry on the caliber of Team WRT’s two factory BMWs which were both late additions to last year’s field, but the team in question does have a track record of previous success at the Suzuka 1000km in its past.
Speaking with DSC earlier today, SRO Motorsports Group Asia General Manager, Benjamin Franassovici, said “I think we’re going to end up being at 29 (cars), maybe 30, because there’s also cars at sea, logistics which is stopping us from getting the right cars at the right time. We’re close to 30 cars, which I think is quite reasonable.”
Regarding the recent updates to the Japan Cup calendar, clearing out the Suzuka 1000km weekend next year as the series instead joins GT World Challenge Asia in June, Franassovici said, “That last event for them with Japan Cup and the Suzuka 1000km was a bit too much to handle for a team.
“Here, they can do Suzuka in June, and then say at the end of the season, ‘I’m gonna do the Suzuka 1000km,’ it makes more sense.”
Vita Race of Asia snapshots
This weekend’s GT PowerTour has some local flavour on the support bill with the Vita of Asia series.
Vita of Asia is the national championship for the Vita-01, a platform of lightweight sports cars aimed at beginner and clubman-level racers. Every major circuit in Japan has its own Vita series with strong participation in each.
The platform was also used by the Kyojo Cup, Japan’s all-womens’ racing series, from 2017 to 2024. In 2025, the main Kyojo Cup series switched to hybridised Formula 4 cars and a new series known as “Kyojo Vita” was established as a way to continue to include its more amateur-level racers.
Two 10-lap sprint races will be held this weekend, one each on Saturday and Sunday; the winner of Race 1 will receive ¥30,000, and the Race 2 winner receives ¥200,000 plus a set of Rays wheels.
Both races will stream live on YouTube with Japanese commentary.
Images © SRO Motorsports Group, Dailysportscar.com
