Sepang Date Moved to Avoid 24H Spa Clash

The date for next year’s Sepang SUPER GT round has been shifted by a week to avoid a clash with the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, it has been revealed.

GTA chairman Masaaki Bandoh revealed the change when discussing next year’s visit to Malaysia during his regular pre-event press conference on Sunday at Fuji Speedway.

Bandoh stated that the Sepang race, the second event of the GTA’s three-year contract with promoter HARO Sports & Entertainment, will take place a week earlier than it did this year, meaning it is set to be held on Saturday June 20.

This avoids a clash with the 24H Spa, which is set for June 27-28 according to the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS schedule revealed in June.

It follows the clash between the Sepang SUPER GT round and the 24H Spa this year, which led to Goodsmile Racing pair Nobuteru Taniguchi and Tatsuya Kataoka skipping the former to contest the Belgian endurance classic with the same team.

However, Bandoh stressed the decision was not made with Goodsmile in mind, but rather to make it easier for drivers from overseas to contest the race as wildcards.

This year’s Sepang race featured two local wildcards in the GT300 class, both entered by EBM, but HARO revealed at this year’s Sepang race plans for a one-off GT500 entry.

Asked for an update on these plans, Bandoh speculated that the car wouldn’t be a Toyota, Honda or a Nissan, and hinted at the possibility of an old Class One-spec DTM car being used with modifications to fit the GT500 regulations.

However, he stressed this was a “guess” on his part and that details are undecided.

SUPER GT has already submitted its 2026 calendar to national governing body JAF, which is expected to reveal the full schedule within the next week.