The annual SRO press conference that takes place at the 24 Hours of Spa weekend brought great news regarding the Intercontinental GT Challenge calendar, as not only the 24 Hours of Nürburgring is kept in the competition but also a long time event that has more history than GT racing itself will mark the IGTC’s return to Asia.
Stéphane Ratel’s company is bringing back the Suzuka 1000km back after what will be eight years without the Summer Endurance Race, which will have a similar format of six hours that the Paul Ricard 1000 used to have, which usually acted as a competitive rehearsal for the teams competing at the 24 Hours of Spa. It will be consequently the shortest event ever held in the IGTC calendar, with two hours less than the Indianapolis 8 Hour, that is kept as the final event of the season and will be held in the following month of the Suzuka 1000km.
The Suzuka 1000km is certinaly one of the events that come right into Ratel’s memories as it was one of the founding events of the BPR Global GT calendar in 1994, which pretty much started GT racing as we know, and the series founded by Ratel himself, Jürgen Barth and Philip Peter had two more editions before it was moved to the FIA GT Championship for two years before it became contest only by Super GT machinery until 2017.
The late 2000s global recession and the Tohoku earthquake had severe effect in the race, shortening its distance in more than one occasion, so the race was pulled out of the Super GT calendar and SRO incorporated a 10 hour race in the IGTC calendar in 2018 to replace the Sepang 12 Hours, which also had its fair share of complications from 2020 onwards, mostly related to the strict travel policy in Japan during the COVID pandemic, leading to multiple cancellations despite announcements in the calendar, and eventually the complete removal of the race, although Ratel declared in 2023 that a fifth race would be dependant of negotiations and interest from teams and manufacturers.
The 2025 IGTC will start at Bathurst as per usual, being brought two weeks forward in comparison to the 2024 edition, while the 24 hour races will see only a week separate Nürburgring from Spa, which is already receiving complains from the teams and drivers as the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be close to these two races, which, if confirmed, cause a frenzy into most programs, which might lead some teams to rethink plans for one race or another.
Suzuka will be host to the penultimate round almost three months later while Indiapolis closes the curtains in October, which also ends the FANATEC GT World Challenge America season.
2025 Intercontinental GT Challenge calendar:
2 February - Bathurst 12 Hour
21-22 June - ADAC-RAVENOL 24 Hours of Nürburgring
28-29 June - CROWDSTRIKE 24 Hours of Spa
TBC September - Suzuka 1000km
4 October - Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS
PHOTO: SRO/Dirk Bogaerts
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