The fifth round of the SRO-sanctioned Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC) race took place in Japan at the Suzuka circuit this past weekend of September 13-14, 2025, with a 1,000km race. BMW triumphed for the third time this year, adding to wins already racked up at Bathurst in Australia and the Nürburgring in Germany.
There were three BMW entries among the 33-car field at Suzuka. Team WRT had two Pro class M4 GT3 EVO entries, with works drivers Augusto Farfus, Dan Harper, and Max Hesse in the #31 car and works drivers Raffaele Marciello, Kelvin van der Linde, and Charles Weerts in the #32 (shown in top photo). In the Bronze class, works driver Neil Verhagen joined Team KRC in the #89 BMW with Ruan Cunfan and Maxime Oosten.
Kelvin van der Linde (left), Charles Weerts (middle), and Raffaele Marciello celebrate their win.
The #32 car of Marciello, van der Linde, and Weerts proved to be the quickest car in qualifying, with each driver getting a turn at the wheel and the average of the three times used to decide pole position. The #31 car of Farfus, Harper, and Hesse qualified eighth, with an average around a second off the time of the #32 car. In the Bronze class, the #89 car qualified fourth in class.
The #31 Team WRT M4 GT3 EVO of Augusto Farfus, Daniel Harper and Max Hesse finished sixth.
Once the race got underway, the #32 BMW quickly built a lead after starting from pole and never looked back, as Marciello, Weerts, van der Linde, and the whole WRT team dominated the race amid multiple cautions that allowed their rivals to get closer. At the end, the #32 car had a thirteen-second margin to the second place Porsche. The #31 car initially finished in fifth but had a post-race penalty that dropped them to sixth. The #89 M4 GT3 EVO of Team KRC finished on the class podium, taking second place in the Bronze class.
The #89 Team KRC BMW of Ruan Cunfan, Neil Verhagen and Maxime Oosten finished second in the Bronze class.
With only one race to go in the ICGT championship, BMW is now leading the manufacturer standings by eighteen points over Porsche, and Kelvin van der Linde is leading the drivers’ championship, followed by Marciello, Farfus, and Weerts. “Congratulations to Team WRT, to Kevin, Raffaele, and Charles on this outstanding victory,” said Head of BMW M Motorsport Andreas Roos. “Pole position and then such a dominant race performance; with the BMW M4 GT3 EVO they were in a class of their own. It was fantastic for BMW M Motorsport to be back on the top step after the double success at Bathurst and win at the 24h Nürburgring. Overall, we can be very satisfied given that at the Indianapolis finale we have a strong chance of winning the title in both championships.”
Neil Verhagen (center) sprays the champagne after Team KRC’s second place finish in the Bronze class.
The next and final race on the ICGT schedule is the Indy 8 Hour at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on October 16th-18th, which is also the final weekend of the SRO GT World Challenge, GT America and GT4 America championships.
—David Haueter
[Photos courtesy Gruppe C Photography]
