Strakka Racing will enter a third Mercedes-AMG GT3 in this year’s Suzuka 10 Hours after confirming the nine drivers set to contest round three of the Intercontinental GT Challenge on August 24-26.
The British squad has added a Pro/Am car to the two Pro entries previously announced for the 47th Summer Endurance Race, which brings together FIA GT3, GT300, ST-X and JAF GT specification supercars for the first time later this month.
Nick Leventis and David Fumanelli, who finished second in the Pro/Am class at the Total 24 Hours of Spa last weekend, are joined in Japan by 2016 Brazilian Stock Car champion, Felipe Fraga.
Lewis Williamson formed one-quarter of Strakka’s Pro/Am crew at Spa but now moves across to partner Maxi Götz and Alvaro Parente aboard the team’s #43 Pro entry, while AMG factory star Maxi Buhk shares #44 with Oliver Rowland and Adrien Tambay.
Nick Leventis: “I’m really happy that Strakka Racing is heading to Japan with a full three-car attack on the Suzuka 10 Hours. Japan is a country we have history in from competing in the World Endurance Championship and also from our prior partnership with Dome, so we’re no strangers to Japanese motorsport. We’re very much looking forward to competing in the biggest GT race at Suzuka and we’re aiming for top results in both the Pro and Pro/Am classes.”
Jay Davenport, Strakka Racing Director: “Coming off the back of a very strong result in Spa, we are delighted to be able to confirm that we will be entering three cars in the Suzuka 10 Hours. This will be the first time we have competed in this particular event and we are looking forward to heading there in our first year as a customer Mercedes-AMG racing team. We have a fantastic driver line-up and we are confident of heading to Japan and securing a good result with all three entries.”
Mercedes-AMG are one of 13 manufacturers confirmed for the inaugural Suzuka 10 Hours, which has become Asia’s sole leg of the Intercontinental GT Challenge this year. It follows renowned endurance races at Spa and the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour, while America’s round – the Laguna Seca Raceway California 8 Hours – closes out the campaign on October 26-28.
ABOUT THE SUZUKA 10 HOURS
The Suzuka 10 Hours is being jointly administered by SRO Motorsports Group, Super GT organisers GT Association, and Suzuka’s management company Mobilityland Corporation.
Uniquely, the race offers FIA GT3 cars from all over the world an opportunity to compete equally against Japanese teams running similar machinery and the JAF GT-spec chassis only found in Super GT’s GT300 category.
August’s 47th Summer Endurance Race builds on the legacy of Suzuka’s previous 1000-kilometre event. Although best known previously as Super GT’s blue riband round, the race has also featured on the FIA GT Championship, BPR Series, World Sportscar Championship and All-Japan Sports Prototype Championship schedules since its establishment in 1966.
Pirelli has been chosen as the event’s official tyre supplier while prize money totalling 100-million Yen has also been confirmed.