Team WRT won the Bronze category at the 50th running of the Suzuka 1000KM, round four of the Intercontinental GT Challenge. Dan Harper, Anthony McIntosh and Parker Thompson shared the #69 BMW M4 GT3 EVO and came home seventh overall. Team KRC added a Pro-Am podium with Augusto Farfus, while a second KRC car retired after starting from the Bronze class pole.
Japan’s Suzuka circuit hosted the 50th edition of its 1000KM endurance race this weekend, and BMW customer teams left with two class results. The race formed the fourth round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, the series that takes GT3 machinery to endurance events on several continents across the season.
Team WRT controls the Bronze category
BMW M works driver Dan Harper (GBR) shared the #69 BMW M4 GT3 EVO with Anthony McIntosh (USA) and Parker Thompson (CAN). The trio took a clear win in the Bronze category and finished seventh in the overall classification.
Harper said the crew had to recover from an early setback before getting back into contention.
“It’s a great day. We had a bit of bad luck at the beginning, but we came back strongly and the team got us back into the fight for victory with an excellent strategy. My team-mates did a perfect job and handed the car over to me in a great position. I’m happy that I was able to bring the victory home.”
Farfus on the Pro-Am podium
Team KRC took third in the Pro-Am class with the #10 BMW M4 GT3 EVO. BMW M works driver Augusto Farfus (BRA) drove alongside fellow Brazilian Marcelo Tomasoni and Brian Lee (TPE).
It was Farfus’s second outing for the team and his second podium with it. He described his closing double stint as physically demanding, and credited the team’s strategy for the result.
Pole position, then an early exit
The weekend had looked even more promising for the sister KRC entry. Max Hesse (GER), Maxime Oosten (NED) and Ruan Cun Fan (CHN) put the #89 BMW M4 GT3 EVO fourth on the grid overall, which gave them pole position in the Bronze category.
About an hour and a half into the race, the car was hit by a rival, spun onto wet grass and was stranded there for some time. The lost ground proved terminal and the entry was retired shortly afterwards.
“Unfortunately, our race came to an early end, which is a real shame. Until then, the weekend had gone very smoothly for us and we had a very strong qualifying. Unfortunately, after a good start to the race, we initially had contact with a competitor and later had to retire the car. That’s a real shame because I think we could have battled Team WRT for the class victory, and I would have enjoyed racing against Dan. But that’s racing sometimes,” Hesse said.
A fourth BMW was in the field: PLUS with BMW M Team Studie ran the #5 BMW M4 GT3 EVO in its well-known BLEACH livery and finished fifth in the Bronze category.
What the result means
The Bronze and Pro-Am categories are where amateur and semi-professional drivers race alongside professionals, and they are a central part of how manufacturers sell GT3 cars to private teams. Class wins at a long-distance event such as the Suzuka 1000KM therefore matter commercially as well as sportingly for the M4 GT3 EVO programme, which is run almost entirely through customer teams rather than a factory squad.
With four BMW entries covering the Bronze win, fifth in the same class and a Pro-Am podium, the weekend delivered a broad spread of results, even if the #89 car’s retirement removed the most likely intra-brand fight for the class victory.
The Intercontinental GT Challenge season continues with its remaining round on the calendar.
Source: www.press.bmwgroup.com