30 Cars on Provisional Suzuka 1000km Entry List

At least 30 cars are set to tackle the Suzuka 1000km in September following the release of a provisional entry list for the revived Intercontinental GT Challenge round.

Published on Friday by organizer SRO Motorsports Group, the list is made up largely of teams participating in GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS.

Porsche and Mercedes-AMG are the best-represented of the eight brands present on the entry, with 11 and seven cars entered respectively.

Ferrari will be represented by four cars, with a trio of Corvettes — including one older Callaway-built machine — a pair of Nissans and single cars each from Audi, Lamborghini and BMW making up the entry, which does not specify drivers or classes.

There is potential for further cars to be added before entries close on Aug. 4.

While drawing heavily on GTWC Asia and its Japan Cup spinoff series, the provisional entry also features some notable additional one-off teams, including Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo squads Heart of Racing by SPS, GetSpeed, SunEnergy1 Racing and GruppeM, as well as a pair of Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 Rs.

Corvette will be represented by two latest-spec Z06 GT3.Rs from Johor Motorsports Racing, which had previously only committed to a single entry, and the fan-favorite Bingo Racing Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R, which is making a one-off return.

Mercedes-AMG outfit Goodsmile Racing, which announced its intentions to contest the Suzuka 1000km last year, is one of three regular SUPER GT teams on the entry alongside Ferrari squads PONOS Racing and LM Corsa, which both enter the SRO Japan Cup.

The B-Max Racing-run Team Hardwork Challenge Nissan provides further Japanese representation and joins GTWC Asia staple 5ZIGEN in fielding the GT-R NISMO GT3.

Despite leading the IGTC standings, BMW has only one of its M4 GT3 EVOs on the draft entry in the form of Taiwanese outfit Team KRC, with Team WRT a notable omission.

WRT boss Vincent Vosse recently told Sportscar365 he was awaiting BMW’s go-ahead before committing to a potential two-car effort.

As well as publishing a provisional entry list for the Suzuka 1000km, SRO has announced an extension of the race time from six to six-and-a-half hours to increase the chances of the titular race distance being reached.

The race is due to begin at 12:50 p.m. local time and will conclude no later than 7:20 p.m. on Sun. Sept. 14.