Parsons Establishes New Team for Japan Cup Assault

Former SUPER GT racer Jake Parsons has established his own team that will participate in this year’s Japan Cup leg of the GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS.

Japan-based Australian Parsons will take on a dual driver/manager role for the all-new AWD Racing outfit as he partners Canadian newcomer Jesse Swinimer at the wheel of a Porsche 992 Cup Car, which will be entered into the GTC class.

The team plans to make its debut in next month’s second round of the season at Fuji Speedway, with further outings beyond that also under consideration, with the target of undertaking a full season in either Japan Cup or Super Taikyu in 2026.

AWD will run with the support of fledgling maintenance garage Opera90, a team that has had success in Porsche Carrera Cup last year.

For Parsons, who previously contested SUPER GT’s GT300 class in 2017 and ‘20, it marks a return to racing action following a year’s absence from racing, his last program having been with D’station Racing in Super Taikyu in 2022-23.

“It’s nice to be back racing with such a solid-looking program after a year off,” Parsons told Sportscar365. “It was great to race for D’station and this is the next lilypad, jumping over to AWD, and I think we can build something together for the future.

“It seems like a real family environment, everyone is on the same page and has the same goals – with quite a few international members who all call Japan home.

“Up to now I have raced with teams that are run completely in Japanese, and it was a cool challenge to do that, but it’s also nice to have a fresh feel and an international vibe.”

Bronze-rated Swiminer, who plans to further build his experience with a Porsche Carrera Cup outing at Fuji after his Japan Cup debut, added: “I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to join the Japan Cup grid for my first year of racing.

“To be doing it alongside Jake and the AWD team makes it even more special.

“I’m excited to finally go wheel-to-wheel in a series I’ve admired for a long time with a bunch of other very competitive drivers.”