Following promising training session results, the eleven Porsche 911 GT3 R cars began the Japan classic from favorable starting positions. origine Motorsport’s number 6 car initially stood out, with Laurin Heinrich, Alessio Picariello, and Bastian Buus driving in second place after the first two and a half stints. However,the Neunelfer sustained underbody damage due to the high stresses of the Grand Prix course,impacting their pace and ultimately ending their run in the Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC). Phantom Global Racing’s identical racing car finished in eighth place.

The number 7 car, driven by Estre/Vanthoor/pilet, delivered a strong performance, finishing just 13.647 seconds behind the leading BMW. The sister car dominated the bronze class, with Loek Hartog vying for an overall podium finish, ultimately securing fourth place. Richard Lietz and Antares au shared driving duties with hartog.

“We saw the finest motorsport with excellent fights on the track. Unfortunately, it was not enough to displace the BMW from the top,”

Sebastian golz, project manager Porsche 911 GT3 R, summarized, “Absolute Racing has done a mega job in the overall ranking and the victory in the bronze class.”

Herberth Motorsport, a new customer team from Germany, secured third place in the Bronze class. all eleven Porsche racing cars completed the six-and-a-half-hour race. With four of five races completed in the 2025 season, Porsche holds second place in the IGTC manufacturer championship. The season finale is scheduled for October 18 at the Indianapolis motor Speedway, an eight-hour race.

Kévin Estre commented, “We delivered a good race, but the performance was not quite enough to win. The BMW was simply too strong today. we fought really hard and completely gave everything after six and a half hours. it is not a little more than 13 seconds. That is not much. we were proud of our performance in Japan.”

Laurin Heinrich stated, “We started from fourth place and consistently worked forward. After the second pit stop, we were already in second position.Then damage occurred on the underbody. On the route in Suzuka with its many quick corners, the loss of output is noticeable.”

Klaus Bachler added, “The trips in Suzuka were a lot of fun, but unfortunately we did not achieve what we had planned. Our ‘Pink Pig’ Porsche crossed the finish line in eighth place.At the first two pit stops, there were considerable delays when recharging. We tried everything on the defensive.”