Team Studie Reveals Schubert Tie-Up, Suzuka 1000km Plans

BMW Team Studie has revealed a new tie-up with Schubert Motorsport in a bid to boost its fortunes for the upcoming GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS season, as well as plans to enter this year’s Suzuka 1000km.

On Wednesday, Studie announced it will return to GTWC Asia under the ‘Plus Racing’ banner for a second season with its No. 5 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, with Seiji Ara once again sharing driving duties with gentleman racer Tomohide Yamaguchi.

Ara and Yamaguchi endured a difficult 2025 campaign in which they scored a best finish of 12th in the second race of the Sepang opener, failing to score points in the overall classification, although they placed 21st in the Pro-Am class rankings.

It followed Studie’s decision to suspend its program in SUPER GT’s lower GT300 class in favor of a return to GTWC Asia after a year away from the SRO-run series.

Team owner Yasuaki ‘Bob’ Suzuki however told Sportscar365 he is confident of a turnaround this year with the aid of Schubert, which has a long history in GT3 competition with BMW and represents the brand in DTM.

“Last year we realized that what we were doing in GT300 wouldn’t work in GTWC Asia,” said Suzuki. “We realized how different the two championships are.

“And so, we have sent our car to Schubert in Germany for a refresh, an overhaul, and they will also support us on the engineering side this year. The car is currently in Germany and will be shipped directly to Malaysia for the opening round.

“I think we’ll be able to fight, and that we won’t be in the same situation as last year. I’m confident we’ll get better results and that we can aim to be at the front.”

Suzuki also clarified that the No. 5 BMW is due to appear in all six rounds of the 2026 GTWC Asia campaign after it cut is 2025 season short by skipping the Beijing finale, a decision made with the team’s lack of competitiveness in mind.

Studie’s new tie-up with Schubert signifies the end of its long-running partnership with Servus Japan, which had also supported its GT300 effort.

Suzuki confirmed plans for Studie to contest the Suzuka 1000km round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge with its regular duo of Ara, Yamaguchi piloting its M4 GT3 Evo, together with one other driver who will be decided later.

BMW has stated a desire for more Asian teams to become involved in its Suzuka efforts in future after winning last year’s race with Team WRT.

Suzuki added that the team currently has “no plans” for a return to SUPER GT in the near-term, having last contested the series in 2024 with Ara and Niklas Kruetten.

“The series is changing a lot, especially with the introduction of one-make tires, and I think it’s better that we focus on other projects for now,” he said.