PONOS Racing Announces Suzuka 1000km Entry

SUPER GT squad PONOS Racing will contest the revived Suzuka 1000km round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge with a Ferrari 296 GT3.

The team’s No. 45 car will be shared by PONOS owner Yorikatsu Tsujiko, Kei Cozzolino and Yusuke Yamasaki for the fourth round of the IGTC season in September.

In addition, Tsujiko and Cozzolino will take on the four-round SRO Japan Cup that begins with a standalone event at Sugo in June before concluding with a pair of support races on the bill of the Suzuka 1000km, in the Pro-Am class.

Tsujiko and Yamasaki contested the Am category in last year’s Japan Cup sharing a 296 GT3 entered under the Comet Racing banner.

It also marks a return to SRO competition for Cozzolino, who won the overall GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS title in 2022 with Takeshi Kimura.

Driver Lineup, Dunlop Tire Switch Confirmed for SUPER GT

The announcement also confirms PONOS’ plans in SUPER GT’s GT300 class with an unchanged driver lineup of Cozzolino and Ferrari factory driver Lilou Wadoux, with its No. 45 car also confirmed to be using Dunlop tires.

PONOS made its first outing on Dunlops earlier this month at Fuji Speedway after parting ways with previous supplier Michelin at the end of last season.

Wadoux is expected to get her log her first miles of the year in this week’s two-day test at Okayama, where the No. 45 Ferrari will be one of seven GT300 cars present.

Also in action are the No. 11 Gainer Nissan Z, the No. 31 apr Lexus LC500h, the No. 60 LM Corsa LC500, the No. 61 R&D Sport Subaru BRZ, the No. 360 Tomei Sports Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 and the No. 777 D’station Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo.