Kruetten Replaces Merhi as 43-Car Entry List Revealed

SUPER GT has published a 43-car entry list for the upcoming season, revealing that Niklas Kruetten replaces Roberto Merhi in the lineup of the Velorex Ferrari.

Kruetten’s name was listed alongside that of Yoshiaki Katayama for the No. 6 Ferrari 296 GT3, and is understood to have turned his first laps with the team during GT Entrants’ Association (GTE) testing at Fuji Speedway on Wednesday.

It spells the end of ex-Formula 1 driver Merhi’s four-year tenure with the team that yielded a single victory for he and Katayama at Fuji last year.

Kruetten meanwhile returns to the Japanese series having been left without a seat when Team Studie elected to quit the championship at the end of 2024.

The German, who spent last year in International GT Open with Team Motopark, was a podium finisher on debut at Okayama sharing Studie’s BMW M4 GT3 with Seiji Ara, with the pair going on to finish fifth in that year’s standings.

Merhi’s departure comes as something of a surprise, as the Spaniard had indicated to Sportscar365 at the end of last season that he expected to remain with the team.

Velorex, which is operated by Team LeMans, was running its Ferrari in pre-Evo spec at Fuji on Wednesday amid what appears to be a delay in the delivery of a new car.

Fellow Ferrari team PONOS Racing is running a brand-new chassis at Fuji in Evo spec for Kei Cozzolino and Takuro Shinohara, who are confirmed to be driving by the entry list — which also confirms the team will be using Yokohama tires.

It marks the second change of tire supplier in as many years for the team, which started with Michelin rubber for its debut season in 2024 before switching to Dunlop.

Notably, PONOS is the only one of the three Ferrari teams, the other being CarGuy MKS Racing, that is confirmed to have its car in Evo spec.

The entry list contains little other fresh information beyond confirmation that Team Mach will return with its Toyota 86 Mother Chassis, with Kondo Racing-bound Iori Kimura’s replacement still undecided, and that R’Qs Motor Sports will also be back with its Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo with an unchanged driver roster.

JLOC’s drivers are still TBD across both cars amid Daniil Kvyat’s impending arrival, but the team has all four of its existing drivers — Takashi Kogure, Yuya Motojima, Natsu Sakaguchi and Kosuke Matsuura — on hand for testing duties at Fuji.

Seven x Seven Racing’s drivers are also listed as TBD despite the fact Sven Mueller is confirmed to be joining the team, the German also present at Fuji on Wednesday.

The arrival of Rookie Racing in the GT300 class with its No. 32 Mercedes-AMG brings the total of cars in the lower class up to 29, offsetting the loss of the No. 3 Nissan Z NISMO in the GT500 class, which drops to 14 cars this year.

Yokohama will supply 17 of the 29 cars in GT300, with Bridgestone expanding its supply to six cars, Dunlop falling to four and Michelin staying stable at two.

There are no surprises on the GT500 portion of the entry list, which features six Toyota GR Supras, five Honda HRC Prelude-GTs and three Nissans, with all three manufacturers having already confirmed their driver lineups.