BMW Leads Opening Hour at Suzuka

Photo: BMW

BMW holds the early pace in the Suzuka 10 Hours, with Martin Tomczyk out front in the No. 42 Team Schnitzer BMW M6 GT3.

The pole-sitting BMW of Tomczyk and the No. 34 Walkenhorst BMW of Nicky Catsburg ran 1-2 for the majority of the opening hour, with Catsburg having gotten around the No. 25 Team WRT Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo of Kelvin van der Linde at the start.

Despite putting heavy pressure on the Catsburg, van der Linde was unable to retake second through his opening stint.

While the Audis were the first to pit, the pair of BMWs remained out front following the opening round of pit stops near the end of the hour.

The round of pit stops promoted the No. 107 Team M-Sport Bentley Continental GT3 of Jordan Pepper to the lead at the one-hour mark, but yet to make a stop.

The No. 00 GoodSmile Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 runs fourth. 

The race has run fully green, despite a reversed call from race control for a Full Course Yellow following a spin by the No. 9 MP Racing Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 midway through the first hour. 

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John