Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific’s 13 entries are heading to Japan to compete at Fuji International Speedway, as Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS and Fanatec Japan Cup race on the same bill for the first time in 2024.

Reigning teams’ champions Origine Motorsport picked up their second overall victory of the season in Buriram, winning Race 2 with Lu Wei and Patrick Pilet in the #4 car. The duo are back for more this weekend, with Wei returning to happy hunting ground, having secured a double podium at Fuji in 2023. Meanwhile, the sister #87 car of Yuan Bo and Leo Ye claimed a pair of top five finishes in Thailand, as the Chinese outfit maintain their spot at the top of the teams’ championship.

2023 series champion Anthony Liu and Porsche Driver Alessio Picariello will be hoping to push on from their positive showing last time out, after securing a podium in Race 2. Eshan Pieris and Tanart Sathienthirakul will team up again in the #911 Absolute Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), following a solid Buriram weekend which saw them clinch a pair of sixth-placed finishes.

Phantom Global Racing welcome back Joel Eriksson, partnering 2019 Pro-Am champion Vutthikorn Inthraphuvasak, while Jaxon Evans continues in the #13 car alongside Sun Jing Zu.

Hiroaki Nagai will be aiming for a return to the points and the Silver-Am podium in the #18 Porsche Center Okazaki car, with two-time Super GT (GT300) champion Kiyoto Fujinami joining him for his first appearance of the season. Tsubasa Kondo and Kiyoshi Uchiyama target continued improvement following a solid start to the season in the #25 machine. Both duos are racing on home soil for the first time this season as the championship enters its Japanese leg.

The second-year driver pairing of Brian Lee and Hideto Yasuoka will participate in the #14 Porsche for GTO Racing Team, as the squad also look forward to racing in their homeland again.

Vollgas Motorsports welcome the return of Kin Jae-hyun for Rounds 7 and 8 of the 2024 campaign, having missed out on the Buriram event through injury. He teams up again with fellow Korean Han Min-kwan as the duo aim for strong points in the Silver-Am category in their debut Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia season.

AMAC Motorsport’s Andrew Macpherson and Ben Porter maintained their 100% class podium rate with another positive event in Thailand. The two-time Am champions will be hoping to keep this strong start to the year going into Fuji aboard the #51 Porsche 911 GT3 R (991.2).

In the Japan Cup, Porsche will have two entries with Sunrise BLVD #82 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, driven by Japanese duo Daiki Fujiwara and Yoshitomo Makino. The pair got their campaign off to a solid start earlier this month at Sportsland Sugo, clinching a class podium in the first event. Fuji will also see the debut of GAMA 83 Racing in the series, as they will be represented by sole driver Makoto Haga driving the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 991 in the Am class.

Awaiting the drivers is the Fuji International Speedway, featuring one of the longest straights in motorsports at a length of 1.475km. Overtaking is likely to happen into Turn 1, before a technical lap will test the drivers in the shadow of the stunning Mount Fuji. This will be the first of three rounds hosted in Japan, as the series also visits Suzuka on 6-7 July and Okayama on 24-25 August.

Track action gets underway on Friday with Practice 1 taking place at 11:10 local time, and Practice 2 later that day at 16:15. Saturday starts with Qualifying at 9:05, before Race 1 begins at 12:40, with lights out for Race 2 on Sunday at the slightly earlier time of 11:00.

Yuan Bo, Origine Motorsport: “Fuji is a beautiful place, and the challenging nature of the track brings out the best in a driver’s ability. It’s always a demanding circuit, but we’re still hopeful of a positive weekend.”

Leo Ye, Origine Motorsport: “I really enjoy racing in Japan so I’m happy that the series now brings us here for the next three events! We’re making good progress as a team and hope to have two more strong points scoring races.”

Lu Wei, Origine Motorsport: “It was brilliant to get a second victory of the year last round, and we hope to continue that trend this weekend by taking good points.”

Patrick Pilet, Origine Motorsport: “It’s always a challenge in Fuji for the drivers, and we know that in the past it’s been a tricky track for Porsche. However, we proved in Buriram that even when people don’t expect us to have a chance, we can still fight for the win!”

Anthony Liu, Absolute Racing: “I’m looking forward to getting back in the car in Fuji because we’ve shown strong pace in the opening two rounds. Together with the team, we’re looking to take the next step and are aiming for the top of the podium.”

Alessio Picariello, Absolute Racing: “I took second with Absolute Racing here last year and we are hoping to be at the front of the field again. We want to win races and for that we need to maximise everything and that’s what we’re looking to do in Fuji.”

Tanart Sathienthirakul, Absolute Racing: “After the Silver class victory in the second race at Buriram, we’re wanting to continue this momentum forward to this first event in Japan. It’s been over two years since I raced here, the country has such a rich motorsport history so I can’t wait to get out on track.”

Eshan Pieris, Absolute Racing: “The last time I raced in Japan was back in 2019 with Absolute Racing in F3 Asian Championship at Suzuka, so I’m looking excited to being back there. However, it will be my first time at Fuji Speedway as we look to take forward the positive results achieved in Thailand last time out.”

Jaxon Evans, Phantom Global Racing: “I’m delighted to be back in the #13 GT3 R this weekend, for what will be my first ever time visiting or racing in Japan! Fuji is in the forefront of our minds, however this event also provides a great opportunity to double up on our prep for the 100th anniversary edition of the ’24 Hours of Spa’ at the end of June. I would like to say a big thanks to Phantom Global Racing for making this all possible, and can’t wait to get on track.”

Hiroaki Nagai, Porsche Center Okazaki: “It’s exciting to be racing around Fuji and I’m looking forward to driving alongside Kiyoto Fujinami. It was a tricky weekend in Thailand, but the whole team is working hard to return to where we were in Sepang.”

Kiyoto Fujinami, Porsche Center Okazaki: “I appreciate the opportunity that the Porsche Center Okazaki have given me this weekend in Japan, and I can’t wait to get on track in GTWCA for the first time in two years! I will look to maximise my performance during this event to help the team achieve the best possible outcome.”

Kiyoshi Uchiyama, Porsche Center Okazaki: “I’ve enjoyed the first two races of the season, even though the results haven’t been to the level that we wanted. I’ve driven around Fuji multiple times, so I hope that this experience will lead to an improvement.”

Tsubasa Kondo, Porsche Center Okazaki: “It’s the first of three races in my home country so I’m very much looking forward to that, and hoping to secure a good result to ensure a positive weekend for the team.”

Hideto Yasuoka, GRO Racing Team: “Fuji Speedway is a circuit that I’ve visited on numerous occasions, so I’m hopeful of a strong event. The weather looks like it’s going to be constantly changing, and it could throw up mixed conditions on track, which is my favourite to drive in. My main focus is getting the car set up well with Brian and having two clean races with no mistakes.”

Kim Jae-hyun, Vollgas Motorsports: “I’m delighted to be back this weekend after my injury. It was frustrating to miss Buriram, but I’ve been recovering well and preparing strongly. I’m fully fit now and ready to go, I’m excited to be back in the car and we’ll be aiming to take positive results.”

Han Min-kwan, Vollgas Motorsports: “Following the event in Thailand, I felt that I had improved as a driver and my confidence has grown. I’m pleased that my teammate is back fit and will be returning at Fuji, we’ll aim to put all of our preparation into action to score strong points in the two races.”

Ben Porter, AMAC Motorsport: “We can’t wait to return to Japan as we’ve always been welcomed so kindly by the people, and in particular the amazing motorsport fans. Our results this season have been reasonable, but we’ve made a handful of costly errors which have hampered our efforts. Every member of the team has been working hard in the break, so we hope to come out swinging at Fuji Speedway.”

Alexandre Gibot, Managing Director Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Ltd: “I’m looking forward to Round 3 in Fuji as we hit the halfway point of the season. We’re hoping for a positive weekend here in Japan, but it’s always going to be extremely competitive due to how high the level of performance is in this series. We’re also delighted to have GT World Challenge Asia racing alongside Japan Cup, and wish our entries the best of luck! Fuji is a demanding and technical track, and I’m sure it’s an event that our drivers will relish. I know that everyone has been and will continue to work tremendously hard to deliver the best possible results, and we’re looking forward to a weekend of great racing.”