Both the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R and Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R have been hit with weight increases ahead of this afternoon’s Suzuka 1000km.

Confirmed in a revised Balance of Performance table released on Sunday morning by SRO Motorsports Group, the factory-built Corvettes have been handed a 20kg increase, while the previous C7 generation Callaway model gets a 10kg increase.

It came after Nicky Catsburg, in the No. 2 Johor Motorsports JMR Corvette, set the outright fastest lap in qualifying, but will start ninth due to the combined three-driver average used to determine the grid.

The Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, meanwhile, has been given a 10kg weight break ahead of the penultimate round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge season, with the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 able to now run 5kg lighter than its specification at the start of the weekend.
Porsche’s Type-992 911 GT3 R has undergone a 5kg weight increase but countered with a 1.5mm larger restrictor that will result in a power increase.

The pole-sitting BMW M4 GT3 EVO has also received a slight power increase at mid-to-high RPM levels, while the Ferrari 296 GT3 receives a minor increase at the low-end but slight decrease at the high-end range.

The Suzuka 1000km gets underway at 12:50 p.m. local time (Saturday, 11:50 p.m. EST) with live coverage on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel.

BMW Team WRT scored a dominant victory in Sunday’s Suzuka 1000km, with Kelvin van der Linde taking the points lead in Intercontinental GT Challenge competition in the process.

Van der Linde, Raffaele Marciello and Charles Weerts picked up the German manufacturer’s third IGTC victory of the season, with the South African driver steering the No. 32 BMW M4 GT3 EVO to the win by a 13.647-second margin over the second-placed No. 7 Absolute Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R of Laurens Vanthoor.
It came in a commanding race for the pole-sitting BMW, which virtually led the entire six-and-a-half hour revived Japanese enduro.

Van der Linde and the Vincent Vosse-led WRT squad, meanwhile, picked up back-to-back Suzuka endurance wins, having won the 2019 edition in an Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo.
The No. 32 BMW’s biggest threat came from the No. 888 GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, which went off-strategy with just over two hours to go when Luca Stolz pitted for the car’s second-to-last stop.

However, the race’s seventh Full Course Yellow, which turned into a third safety car period, dashed hopes of a top finish for the Hong Kong-flagged squad as the competition all made stops while under the neutralization prior to the full safety car deployment.
Vanthoor’s co-driver Kevin Estre took over second during the same yellow due to a making shorter stop in the NewMan-liveried Porsche that they shared with Patrick Pilet.

Estre came within three seconds of the No. 32 BMW prior to the car’s final stop after a hard-fought battle with the No. 6 Origine Motorsport Porsche throughout the race that ultimately led to floor damage during Laurin Heinrich and Bastian Buus’ stints.

The No. 2 Johor Motorsports JMR Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Alexander Sims, Scott McLaughlin and Nicky Catsburg completed the overall and Pro class podium, despite a pre-race Balance of Performance hit.
Catsburg was entrenched in a fierce battle with Buus as well as the No. 31 WRT BMW of Max Hesse with just over an hour to go, initially dropping to fifth before carving his way back to third before the final round of stops.

SUZUKA, Japan (September 14, 2025) – Corvette Z06 GT3.R customer team Johor Motorsports Racing recorded a pair of podium finishes Sunday in the Suzuka 1000K led by a third-place overall finish for the No. 2 Corvette of Scott McLaughlin, Alexander Sims, and Nicky Catsburg.

It’s the first podium in Intercontinental GT Challenge competition for the Corvette Racing program.
The Pro-class entry raced its way from ninth on the grid with impressive stints for both McLaughlin and Sims before second-half heroics by Catsburg secured the podium result for the Corvette and JMR.

Catsburg drove the final three hours, 10 minutes and went from sixth when he got in the No. 2 Corvette to third with a little more than an hour to go. He fought with numerous cars inside the final 90 minutes and withstood a five-lap battle at the end to secure third place overall.

JMR doubled up on podium finishes with a third-place showing in Pro-Am for its No. 99 Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Prince Jefri Ibrahim, Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim and Konsta Lappalainen, who made his first start with the team and in a Corvette.
The trio had a solid run for 26th overall and fourth at the start to the top-20 and a podium result by the end.

The next race for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R program is this weekend’s IMSA’s six-hour Battle on the Bricks from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.

NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 2 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“I’m completely destroyed! I don’t think I’ve ever had to fight that hard for P3. We had some superb battles.
Everyone was pretty fair so it was an awesome race. It’s my first race with these guys, and my teammates did an amazing job no mistakes all day. We brought a podium home, so not so bad!”

“To be honest, I was in the car so long that I don’t really remember everything that happened, but a lot happened.
Many, many great battles with a couple of Porsches and a couple of BMWs.
Unfortunately, the Porsche at the end had major pace over me, so the final five or six laps were really about surviving. But we had great fun. The Corvette did well and the team did great, no mistakes. So I’m happy to bring them a podium.
I really hope I can do some more racing with these guys.”

ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 2 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“Driving our Corvette around here at Suzuka has been a wonderful experience.
I think Nicky was doing himself down a little bit. He got us that result. He’s been hands down the quickest guy this weekend for us.
It was a mega, mega race great battles and great fun to watch. I’m really proud of everyone at JMR.

“It was a fantastic job by the whole JMR team to get our Corvette toward the front from a less than ideal starting position. Nicky and Scott did a fantastic job. For Nicky to do three hours in a row, he was our quickest guy and our best chance of holding on to that podium position. He really earned it for us.
From a physical point of view, Nicky was absolutely empty but kept digging deep. That’s a huge moment for us. We had thought about changing drivers for the final stint, but either Scott or I would not have been able to do the job that Nicky did. He was just in the groove and on fire this weekend. Great job by him and the whole team effort for us this week.”

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN, NO. 2 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“Ultimately, working with Nicky and Alex all weekend has been fantastic.
The team at JMR was great on our pit stops.
We’re really proud of this, and I’m really thankful that Nicky held on there for third. It was just an amazing drive. It’s great to be a part of this and of Corvette.”

(After the first stint) “It was very hot out there. I got caught behind some slow cars at the start and that really dragged us back.
But the car has plenty of pace. I was super, super happy with it.”

(What will you remember the most about this race?)
“The track in general. Honestly, though, too, are the Japanese fans. I was surprised how many fans I have personally.
They’re so nice and the people are great. The food is unreal too! I’ve had a blast here and had a great time out there in my double-stint.
The second one was a lot better than the first one, but I really enjoyed it, and it was a lot of fun.”

(More of these races coming?) “Absolutely. I’d love to do it if the calendar works out. I love my GT racing.
There are a couple I want to tick off the list, Spa 24 Hours, Le Mans and all those. It just really depends on my calendar.
Obviously, my IndyCar racing comes first and foremost. Nicky and Alex have been so much fun to work with, along with JMR.
Hopefully I can come back.

“Working with Nicky, Alex and the entire JMR team this weekend has been fantastic. We had great pit-stops, and I’m really proud of this result. It was hot out there, and I got caught behind some slow cars at the start of the race, but the car had plenty of pace. I’m proud of Nicky for holding on for third in an amazing drive.
To be here, getting a podium with JMR is unreal. Ideally you want to win the race, but this is the first time the team has had a Pro car and to be part of that and achieve an overall podium is unbelievable. It was really cool to come here with Corvette and be part of the program with two superstar race drivers in Nicky and Alex. To come here as a Chevrolet-affiliated driver with two other amazing Corvette racers and team up with this team on the rise is really cool. It’s a world-class team, and I’d love to be part of it in the future.”

KONSTA LAPPALAINEN, NO. 99 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“It was an amazing event. A massive thank you to the team, Prince Jefri and Prince Abu Bakar for having me.
Everyone was so friendly and welcoming for my first event with the team. Hopefully in the future we can do another one. It was a good race overall after some difficulties. It’s a real pleasure to be here after that. The team did an amazing job after some trouble Friday. Everyone worked so hard so I’m really proud of everyone on the team.”

PRINCE ABU BAKAR IBRAHIM, NO. 99 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“Third in the race and third overall for our sister car. A great result for everyone. They all did a great job. Every pit stop was flawless, and I couldn’t ask for more. This is the first endurance podium with my brother.
The last podium we had to together was 2019 so it’s been awhile and feels great.”

PRINCE JEFRI IBRAHIM, NO. 99 CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“I’m really proud of the whole team. It was a tough weekend with the weather conditions and a tough race, but everyone did an amazing job,
This is my third round with my brother racing alongside me, and our first podium together in the Intercontinental Challenge, so to finish the race is a proud moment, and he did an amazing job all weekend.

From the mechanics, to my trainer and everyone involved, I’m super-proud of what we achieved.
This is just the beginning, the tip of the iceberg of what our plan is. It’s a new journey and there are more exciting plans ahead.”