# Suzuka 1000 km

The Suzuka 1000km, also known as the Suzuka Summer Endurance Race, is an annual sports car endurance race that has been held at the Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture, Japan since 1966. After a five-year hiatus, the event is scheduled to return in September 2025 as part of the SRO Intercontinental GT Challenge.
The event has been held 48 times from 1966 to 2019, as both a standalone endurance race and as part of numerous domestic and international sports car racing championships including the Intercontinental GT Challenge, Super GT Series, FIA GT Championship, All-Japan Sports Prototype Championship, and World Sportscar Championship.

## History
### Suzuka 1000km (1966–1973, 1980–2017)

The Suzuka 1000km was first held as a standalone event on 26 June 1966. It was one of three long-distance endurance races held at Suzuka Circuit during the 1960s, alongside the Suzuka 500km and Suzuka 12 Hours.
The race went on hiatus from 1974 until 1979 as a consequence of the 1970s energy crisis, but returned in 1980 as a non-championship endurance race. In 1981, the Suzuka 1000km was held in the fourth weekend of August for the first time. With the exception of the 1989 race that was delayed to December due to inclement weather, the Suzuka 1000km and Suzuka 10 Hours would continue to take place in the fourth weekend of August every year through its most recent running in 2019.
From 1983 to 1991, the Suzuka 1000km was part of the All Japan Endurance Championship (renamed to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship in 1987). In 1992, the race was added to the FIA World Sportscar Championship calendar, but the series folded after the 1992 season, which meant that the 1993 race would be run as a non-championship round.
In 1994, the Suzuka 1000km became part of the inaugural BPR Global GT Series calendar. Pokka became the new title sponsor of the race, and the Pokka 1000km continued as a championship round of the BPR Global GT Series and its successor, the FIA GT Championship, through 1998.
When the race was dropped from the FIA GT calendar in 1999, the Pokka 1000km reverted to a non-championship endurance race. Through 2005 the race was open to GT500 and GT300 cars from the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC), as well as cars from the Super Taikyu Series.
On 12 August 2005, it was announced that the race would become part of the newly-renamed Autobacs Super GT Series championship, beginning in 2006. Upon its inclusion, the Suzuka 1000km became the longest and most prestigious event on the Super GT calendar during this time period, and also paid the most championship points of any round on the calendar.
Due to the effects of the Great Recession in Japan, the race was shortened to 700 kilometres from 2009 to 2010, and the race was renamed to the Pokka GT Summer Special. A second national crisis, the Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, led to the event being shortened further to 500 kilometres in 2011. The original 1000 kilometre distance was restored from 2012.

### Suzuka 10 Hours (2018–2019)

On 4 March 2017, it was announced that the GT Association (GTA) and Stephane Ratel Organisation (SRO) would join forces to promote a new ten-hour endurance race for FIA-GT3 and JAF-GT300 (now GTA-GT300) sports cars, known as the Suzuka 10 Hours. The 46th annual Suzuka 1000km, held that year as part of the Super GT Series, would be the last edition of the Suzuka Summer Endurance Race in its original format.
The Suzuka 10 Hours became part of the Intercontinental GT Challenge championship in 2018, replacing the Sepang 12 Hours held in Malaysia. The reformatted event attracted top teams and drivers from international GT3 racing, as well as teams from Super GT and Super Taikyu, by offering a ¥100,000,000 prize purse with the overall winner receiving ¥30,000,000.

### Hiatus and 2025 return

The 2020 Suzuka 10 Hours, which had originally been scheduled for 23 August, was one of numerous motorsports events that were cancelled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the travel enacted in Japan during this time. The race was set to return on 22 August 2021, but with strict travel restrictions still in place during the pandemic, the 2021 race was also cancelled.
At the same time, the Super GT Series was also forced to overhaul its calendar in 2020. The series scheduled two 300 kilometre races at Suzuka that year, including one on 23 August, the date originally scheduled for the Suzuka 10 Hours. Super GT originally scheduled just one 300km race at Suzuka for May 2021, but due to a surge in COVID-19 cases in the region, the race was moved back to 22 August, again taking over the date originally scheduled for the Suzuka 10 Hours.
Since 2022, Super GT has scheduled a 450 kilometre race at Suzuka on the fourth weekend of August, though in 2024, the summer race at Suzuka will move to the first weekend of September. Meanwhile, the Suzuka 10 Hours' place as the Asian round on the Intercontinental GT Challenge calendar was taken by the Gulf 12 Hours at Yas Marina Circuit in 2022 and 2023.
During the 2024 SRO press conference at Spa-Francorchamps, Stephane Ratel announced that the Suzuka 1000km will return the following September as part of the 2025 Intercontinental GT Challenge season. The date was officially confirmed by Japan Automobile Federation (JAF), with the event taking place on 12–14 September. The event will allow entries from GT300 teams to use GTA-GT300 spec cars, after an agreement between SRO and the GT Association (GTA) was reached in late 2024.

## Winners

Among drivers, Kunimitsu Takahashi holds the all-time record with four overall victories at the Suzuka 1000 km. Five other drivers – Daisuke Ito, Ryo Michigami, Naoki Nagasaka, Sébastien Philippe, and Juichi Wakisaka, have won the event three times overall.
Several past winners of the race have also won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, including Henri Pescarolo, Vern Schuppan, Masanori Sekiya, Stanley Dickens, Yannick Dalmas, Derek Warwick, JJ Lehto, André Lotterer, Benoît Tréluyer, Loïc Duval, and Kazuki Nakajima. Past winners including Marcel Tiemann, Bernd Schneider, Frédéric Makowiecki, Maro Engel, Kelvin van der Linde, Dries Vanthoor, and Frédéric Vervisch have also won the Nürburgring 24 Hours.
Other notable former winners include three-time 24 Hours of Daytona winner Bob Wollek, 1989 Japanese Grand Prix winner Alessandro Nannini, 2015 FIA World Endurance Drivers' Champion and Formula One Grand Prix winner Mark Webber, four-time Super GT GT500 Drivers' Champion Ronnie Quintarelli, all-time GT500 class wins leader Tsugio Matsuda, and 2018 and 2020 Japanese "double champion" Naoki Yamamoto.
In recent years, the event has drawn interest from previous Formula One world champion drivers, many of whom had raced at Suzuka Circuit for years during their F1 careers. 2009 champion Jenson Button made his Super GT debut in the 2017 running of the Suzuka 1000 km, and in 2019, two-time world champion Mika Häkkinen returned to compete at the Suzuka 10 Hours.
Porsche has more victories in the race than any manufacturer – eleven in total, spanning from 1967 to 1994. The most successful Japanese marques are Honda and Toyota, who have each won the race eight times overall, just ahead of Nissan with seven victories. Toyota's Lexus luxury brand has also won the race five times representing Toyota in the GT500 class of Super GT, from 2006 to 2017.

### List of winners

| Year | Overall Winner(s) | Entrant | Car | Series | Time | |
| 1000 km distance, 6.004 km circuit, 167 laps |||||||
| 1966 | Sachio Fukuzawa [ja] Tomohiko Tsutsumi [ja] | | Toyota 2000GT | Non-championship | 8:02:13.9 | |
| 1967 | Shintaro Taki [ja] Kenjiro Tanaka [ja] | | Porsche 906 | Non-championship | 7:39:21.7 | |
| 1968 | Sachio Fukuzawa [ja] Hiroshi Fushida | | Toyota 7 | Non-championship | 6:59:25.6 | |
| 1969 | Tomohiko Tsutsumi [ja] Jiro Yoneyama | | Porsche 906 | Non-championship | 7:11:23.2 | |
| 1970 | Hiromi Nishino Koji Fujita | | Nissan Fairlady Z432 | Non-championship | 7:49:19.6 | |
| 1971 | Yoshimasa Kawaguchi Hiroshi Fushida | | Porsche 910 | Non-championship | 7:03:44.6 | |
| 1972 | Harukuni Takahashi [ja] Kenichi Takeshita | | Toyota Celica 1600GT-R | Non-championship | 6:38:02.4 140 laps, 840 km | |
| 1973 | Kunimitsu Takahashi Kenji Tohira | | Nissan Fairlady Z432R | Non-championship | 6:24:35.9 150 laps, 900 km | |
| 1974 – 1979 | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held |
| 1980 | Hironobu Tatsumi Naoki Nagasaka | Red Carpet Racing Team | March 75S-Mazda | Non-championship | 6:30:35.07 148 laps, 888 km | |
| 1981 | Bob Wollek Henri Pescarolo | Porsche Kremer Racing | Porsche 935 K3 | Non-championship | 6:51:20.56 | |
| 1982 | Fumiyasu Sato Naoki Nagasaka | Auto Beaurex Motor Sports | BMW M1 | Non-championship | 6:42:41.92 166 laps | |
| 1000 km distance, 6.033 km circuit, 166 laps |||||||
| 1983 | Naohiro Fujita Vern Schuppan | Trust Racing Team | Porsche 956 | All-Japan Endurance Championship | 6:40:24.91 | |
| 1000 km distance, 5.943 km circuit, 169 laps |||||||
| 1984 | Kunimitsu Takahashi Kenji Takahashi Geoff Lees | Advan Sport Team Nova | Porsche 956 | All-Japan Endurance Championship | 6:29:32.91 | |
| 1000 km distance, 5.912 km circuit, 170 laps |||||||
| 1985 | Kunimitsu Takahashi Kenji Takahashi | Advan Sport Team Nova | Porsche 962C | All-Japan Endurance Championship | 6:22:57.516 | |
| 1986 | Jiro Yoneyama Hideki Okada Tsunehisa Asai | FromA Racing | Porsche 956 | All-Japan Endurance Championship | 6:20:26.745 | |
| 1000 km distance, 5.859 km circuit, 171 laps |||||||
| 1987 | Geoff Lees Masanori Sekiya Hitoshi Ogawa | Toyota Team TOM'S | Toyota 87C | All-Japan Sports Prototype Championship | 6:27:02.449 | |
| 1988 | Hideki Okada Stanley Dickens | FromA Racing | Porsche 962C | All-Japan Sports Prototype Championship | 6:08:21.517 | |
| 1989 | Kunimitsu Takahashi Stanley Dickens | Advan Alpha Nova Racing | Porsche 962C | All-Japan Sports Prototype Championship | 5:56:56.701 | |
| 1990 | Kazuyoshi Hoshino Toshio Suzuki | Nissan Motorsports | Nissan R90CP | All-Japan Sports Prototype Championship | 5:51:40.225 | |
| 1000 km distance, 5.864 km circuit, 171 laps |||||||
| 1991 | Roland Ratzenberger Pierre-Henri Raphanel Naoki Nagasaka | Toyota Team SARD | Toyota 91C-V | All-Japan Sports Prototype Championship | 5:44:52.513 | |
| 1992 | Derek Warwick Yannick Dalmas | Peugeot Talbot Sport | Peugeot 905 Evo 1B | FIA World Sportscar Championship | 5:30:09.627 | |
| 1993 | Takao Wada Toshio Suzuki | Team LeMans | Nissan R92CP | Non-championship | 5:53:09.590 | |
| 1994 | Jean-Pierre Jarier Bob Wollek Jesús Pareja | Larbre Competition | Porsche 911 Turbo S LM-GT | BPR Global GT Series | 6:25:09.415 162 laps | |
| 1995 | Ray Bellm Maurizio Sandro Sala Masanori Sekiya | GTC Racing | McLaren F1 GTR-BMW | BPR Global GT Series | 6:38:21.371 | |
| 1996 | Ray Bellm James Weaver JJ Lehto | Gulf Racing GTC | McLaren F1 GTR-BMW | BPR Global GT Series | 6:18:48.637 | |
| 1997 | Alessandro Nannini Marcel Tiemann Bernd Schneider | AMG-Mercedes | Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR | FIA GT Championship | 5:59:31.003 | |
| 1998 | Bernd Schneider Mark Webber | AMG-Mercedes | Mercedes-Benz CLK LM | FIA GT Championship | 5:48:58.452 | |
| 1999 | Osamu Nakako Ryo Michigami Katsutomo Kaneishi | Mugen x Dome Project | Honda NSX GT500 | Non-championship | 6:17:46.665 | |
| 2000 | Juichi Wakisaka Katsutomo Kaneishi Daisuke Ito | Mugen x Dome Project | Honda NSX GT500 | Non-championship | 6:14:47.171 | |
| 2001 | Hironori Takeuchi Yuji Tachikawa Shigekazu Wakisaka | Toyota Team Cerumo | Toyota Supra GT500 | Non-championship | 6:07:29.393 | |
| 1000 km distance, 5.821 km circuit, 172 laps |||||||
| 2002 | Juichi Wakisaka Akira Iida Shigekazu Wakisaka | Esso Toyota Team LeMans | Toyota Supra GT500 | Non-championship | 6:10:44.008 | |
| 1000 km distance, 5.807 km circuit, 173 laps |||||||
| 2003 | Ryo Michigami Sébastien Philippe | Dome Racing Team | Honda NSX GT500 | Non-championship | 6:03:28.033 | |
| 2004 | Ryo Michigami Sébastien Philippe Daisuke Ito | Dome Racing Team | Honda NSX GT500 | Non-championship | 6:08:47.528 | |
| 2005 | André Couto Ronnie Quintarelli Hayanari Shimoda | Denso Toyota Team SARD | Toyota Supra GT500 | Non-championship | 6:26:41.366 170 laps, 987 km | |
| 2006 | Benoît Tréluyer Kazuki Hoshino Jérémie Dufour [fr] | Calsonic Team Impul | Nissan Fairlady Z GT500 | Super GT Series | 5:57:45.468 | |
| 2007 | André Lotterer Juichi Wakisaka Oliver Jarvis | Houzan Toyota Team TOM'S | Lexus SC430 GT500 | Super GT Series | 6:04:10.983 | |
| 2008 | Tsugio Matsuda Sébastien Philippe | Calsonic Team Impul | Nissan GT-R GT500 | Super GT Series | 5:56:31.327 | |
| 700 km distance, 5.807 km circuit, 121 laps |||||||
| 2009 | Hiroaki Ishiura Kazuya Oshima | Lexus Team Kraft | Lexus SC430 GT500 | Super GT Series | 4:16:02.744 | |
| 2010 | Ralph Firman Yuji Ide Takashi Kobayashi | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | Honda HSV-010 GT GT500 | Super GT Series | 4:07:10.085 | |
| 500 km distance, 5.807 km circuit, 87 laps |||||||
| 2011 | Takashi Kogure Loïc Duval | Weider Honda Racing | Honda HSV-010 GT GT500 | Super GT Series | 3:16:09.255 86 laps, 499 km | |
| 1000 km distance, 5.807 km circuit, 173 laps |||||||
| 2012 | Masataka Yanagida Ronnie Quintarelli | MOLA International | Nissan GT-R GT500 | Super GT Series | 5:59:01.662 | |
| 2013 | Frédéric Makowiecki Naoki Yamamoto | Weider Modulo Dome Racing | Honda HSV-010 GT GT500 | Super GT Series | 5:55:04.565 | [59] [60] |
| 2014 | Kazuki Nakajima James Rossiter | Lexus Team Petronas TOM'S | Lexus RC F GT500 | Super GT Series | 5:37:27.911 | [61] [62] |
| 2015 | Daisuke Ito James Rossiter | Lexus Team Petronas TOM'S | Lexus RC F GT500 | Super GT Series | 5:45:55.277 163 laps, 946 km | [63] [64] |
| 2016 | Yuji Tachikawa Hiroaki Ishiura | Lexus Team ZENT Cerumo | Lexus RC F GT500 | Super GT Series | 5:45:34.230 | [65] [66] |
| 2017 | Bertrand Baguette Kosuke Matsuura | Nakajima Racing | Honda NSX-GT GT500 | Super GT Series | 5:51:16.244 171 laps, 993 km | [67] [68] |
| 10 hours duration, 5.807 km circuit |||||||
| 2018 | Maro Engel Raffaele Marciello Tristan Vautier | Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Intercontinental GT Challenge | 10:00:32.584 276 laps, 1603 km | |
| 2019 | Kelvin van der Linde Dries Vanthoor Frédéric Vervisch | Audi Sport Team WRT | Audi R8 LMS Evo | Intercontinental GT Challenge | 10:01:51.048 275 laps, 1597 km | |
| 2020 – 2024 | Not held due to the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic | Not held due to the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic | Not held due to the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic | Not held due to the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic | Not held due to the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic | Not held due to the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic |
| 1000 km distance, 5.807 km circuit, 173 laps |||||||
| 2025 | | | | Intercontinental GT Challenge | | |
* ↑ Incorrectly listed in some sources as "Kawakami Nishino".
* ↑ 1972 Race was stopped after 140 laps due to bad weather.
* ↑ 1973 Race was stopped after 150 laps due to bad weather.
* ↑ 1980 Race was stopped after 148 laps due to bad weather.
* ↑ 1982 Race winner received 1 lap deduction penalty post-race.
* ↑ 1994 Race was stopped after 163 laps (956 km). Race winner received 1 lap deduction penalty post-race.
* ↑ Bernd Schneider changed cars during the race after starting in a different AMG-Mercedes entry.
* ↑ Hayanari Shimoda did not drive during the race.
* ↑ Oliver Jarvis did not drive during the race.
* ↑ Takashi Kobayashi did not drive during the race.
* ↑ 2011 Race was stopped after 86 laps for reaching the time limit.
* ↑ 2015 Race was stopped after 163 laps for reaching the time limit.
* ↑ 2017 Race was stopped after 171 laps for reaching the time limit.

## Multiple winners
### By driver

| Wins | Driver | Years |
| 4 | Kunimitsu Takahashi | 1973, 1984, 1985, 1989 |
| 3 | Naoki Nagasaka | 1980, 1982, 1991 |
| 3 | Ryo Michigami | 1999, 2003, 2004 |
| 3 | Juichi Wakisaka | 2000, 2002, 2007 |
| 3 | Sébastien Philippe | 2003, 2004, 2008 |
| 3 | Daisuke Ito | 2000, 2004, 2015 |
| 2 | Sachio Fukuzawa | 1966, 1968 |
| 2 | Tomohiko Tsutsumi | 1966, 1969 |
| 2 | Hiroshi Fushida | 1968, 1971 |
| 2 | Kenji Takahashi | 1984, 1985 |
| 2 | Jiro Yoneyama | 1969, 1986 |
| 2 | Geoff Lees | 1984, 1987 |
| 2 | Hideki Okada | 1986, 1988 |
| 2 | Stanley Dickens | 1988, 1989 |
| 2 | Toshio Suzuki | 1990, 1993 |
| 2 | Bob Wollek | 1981, 1994 |
| 2 | Masanori Sekiya | 1987, 1995 |
| 2 | Ray Bellm | 1995, 1996 |
| 2 | Bernd Schneider | 1997, 1998 |
| 2 | Katsutomo Kaneishi | 1999, 2000 |
| 2 | Shigekazu Wakisaka | 2001, 2002 |
| 2 | Ronnie Quintarelli | 2005, 2012 |
| 2 | James Rossiter | 2014, 2015 |
| 2 | Yuji Tachikawa | 2001, 2016 |
| 2 | Hiroaki Ishiura | 2009, 2016 |

### By manufacturer

| Wins | Manufacturer | Years |
| 11 | Porsche | 1967, 1969, 1971, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1994 |
| 8 | Toyota | 1966, 1968, 1972, 1987, 1991, 2001, 2002, 2005 |
| 8 | Honda | 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2017 |
| 7 | Nissan | 1970, 1973, 1990, 1993, 2006, 2008, 2012 |
| 5 | Lexus | 2007, 2009, 2014, 2015, 2016 |
| 3 | Mercedes-Benz | 1997, 1998, 2018 |
| 2 | McLaren | 1995, 1996 |

## Event names

* 1966–93, 2025: Suzuka 1000 km
* 1994–08: International Pokka 1000 km
* 2009–12: Pokka GT Summer Special
* 2013: International Pokka Sapporo 1000 km
* 2014–17: International Suzuka 1000 km
* 2018: Suzuka 10 Hours
* 2019: SMBC BH Auction Suzuka 10 Hours