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GT World Challenge Asia

Japan Cup Class Launched in 2022 Calendar Adjustment

GTWC Asia doubles Japanese presence to four rounds, new ‘Japan Cup’ class added…

Photo: SRO

A new classification for Japanese competitors has been introduced to the 2022 Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS schedule as part of a calendar adjustment for the series.

Four GTWC Asia rounds will now be held in Japan rather than the original two July events at Suzuka and Fuji Speedway that appeared on the provisional schedule in October.

As an incentive for local entries to take part, Japan Automobile Federation-licensed Pro-Am lineups will be eligible for their own national class within the main GTWC Asia grid.

The ‘Japan Cup’ will be open to entrants running GT3, GT2, GT4 and GTC machinery, the latter including Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeos, Porsche Carrera Cups and Ferrari Challenges.

The same categories will also be eligible to run in GTWC Asia.

Despite announcing a new all-Japanese class and four Japanese rounds, the series has not outlined the other two venues in the country in addition to Suzuka and Fuji, which remain on their original dates of July 16-17 and July 23-24 respectively.

The GTWC Asia calendar will remain at six rounds, which implies the removal of two events that were on the provisional calendar.

Sepang was originally slated to hold the season-opener in May, followed by Suzuka and Fuji. Rounds at Buriram, Sepang again and an unidentified Chinese circuit formed the rest of the initial schedule that consisted of a dozen one-hour races.

GTWC Asia has stated that none of the four Japanese rounds next year will clash with the country’s two other major sports car racing series, Super GT and Super Taikyu.

The series has been working to hold its first season since 2019 in the face of significant Asia-Pacific travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic over the last two years.

Daniel Lloyd is a UK-based reporter for Sportscar365, covering the FIA World Endurance Championship, Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, among other series.

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