Craft-Bamboo Racing ready for Suzuka 1000km Intercontinental GT Challenge

nicholas45235
Sep 10
5 min read

Updated: Sep 11

10 September 2025

Craft-Bamboo Racing will field a two-car campaign at the endurance event
Held at one of Japan’s best race tracks, the event will unfold across September 12-14
With an experienced package, Craft-Bamboo Racing is hopeful of success

Craft-Bamboo Racing is set to tackle this weekend’s Suzuka 1000km Intercontinental GT Challenge with a two-car campaign.

The #77 factory entry, with the backing of Spark and HK Asia Medical Group, will compete as Mercedes-AMG Craft-Bamboo Racing in the Pro Class with drivers Maximilian Götz, Kakunoshin Ohta, and Ralf Aron sharing the driving duties.

The #28 Craft-Bamboo Racing entry meanwhile will be piloted by Kevin Tse, Jonathan Hui, and Ben Barnicoat in the Pro-Am class, supported by sponsors Contempo Concept and Pinnacle Project.

The Suzuka 1000km marks the fourth round of the 2025 Intercontinental GT Challenge season and will take place across September 12-14.

Craft-Bamboo Racing heads to Suzuka with numerous past successes at the popular venue behind it, including a 2019 GT World Challenge Asia win with Jeffrey Lee and Alessio Picariello, and a dominant performance in 2023 where Anthony Liu and Dani Juncadella secured a win in a GT World Challenge Asia event. Furthermore, Craft-Bamboo Racing competes in the Japanese based Super Taikyu Endurance Series, finishing 2nd overall in the 2024 season.

The team is also an endurance regular with a number of standout results in that space, including P4 in the 2019 Suzuka 10 Hours race, and numerous strong results at the Bathurst 12 Hour including third on debut in 2015 and pole position and P5 in 2025 – an outing which the team says provided a number of lessons to enrich their Suzuka 1000km approach.

The 5.807km Suzuka Circuit numbers amongst Japan’s best race tracks, and has gained worldwide notoriety thanks to its unusual figure of eight layout.

Its layout offers a demanding yet rewarding challenge to drivers thanks to high-speed sections and a wide array of corner types.

With Götz, Ohta, Aron, Tse, Hui, and Barnicoat, combined with its crew, Craft-Bamboo Racing brings a wealth of racing talent to Japan.

Tse and Götz have taken two dominating victories in the British GT Championship this year (Oulton Park and Snetterton) while Götz also previously raced to P2 at the 2023 Indianapolis 8 Hour with Craft-Bamboo Racing,

Ohta currently sits P3 in the Japan Super Formula Series, while Aron finished second overall in the 2023 ADAC GT Masters.

Hui has tasted recent endurance success with victory at the 2025 Michelin 12 Hour Spa-Francorchamps and is looking to carry on that momentum. Barnicoat meanwhile has a strong track record in endurance racing, having won the LMP2 Pro-Am class at Le Mans in 2024.

With the combined experience of the team and its drivers, Craft-Bamboo Racing is confident of a strong performance this weekend.

The Suzuka 1000km event will commence with test sessions and night practice on Friday 12 September, ahead of pre-qualifying and qualifying on Saturday 13 September.

The race itself will then be held on Sunday 14 September from 12.50pm local time, with the 1000km distance expected to take six hours and 30 minutes to complete.

For full event information and schedules, visit www.intercontinentalgtchallenge.com/event/147/suzuka-1000km.

Race fans can follow along with the Suzuka 1000km live on the Intercontinental GT Challenge website, visit www.intercontinentalgtchallenge.com/watch-live.

Maximilian Götz

Driver #77 Mercedes-AMG Team Craft-Bamboo Racing

““First of all I’m super happy to be part of the team again after Bathurst. I think we have an open bill because we were really strong there and we want to repeat the form shown there. I think the lineup is great and super experienced. We want to be up there up front for the whole weekend. I’m really looking forward to such a great event and also the Japanese fans love motorsports and it's great to see fantastic support up there.”

Ralf Aron

Driver #77 Mercedes-AMG Team Craft-Bamboo Racing

“I’m really happy to have my debut with Craft-Bamboo Racing because it's a great team! I’ve always raced against them and until now I haven't had the opportunity to race with the team. On top of that, we’re in the pro category with two great team mates at the Suzuka 1000 which is such a historic race. It's a really cool event and I'm really happy that I get to do it with such a good group of people.”

Kakunoshin Ohta

Driver #77 Mercedes-AMG Team Craft-Bamboo Racing

“I’m really looking forward to racing in the Suzuka 1000km with the team. I’ve been working with CBR since last year, but this will be our first international race together. We are ready to win.”

Kevin Tse

Driver #28 Craft-Bamboo Racing

"It’s been twelve years since I’ve raced in Suzuka and I’m really looking forward to the most iconic track in Asia. I’m also very happy to be driving with Jon who is a long term friend and of course Ben Barnicoat who is a very fast driver. We’ve definitely got a good chance in our class. Craft Bamboo is always a top asian Mercedes team so yeah we are looking good for a strong finish this weekend!"

Jonathan Hui

Driver #28 Craft-Bamboo Racing

“This weekend’s Suzuka 1,000km race will mark my first visit to the legendary circuit. I’m excited to be sharing the Craft-Bamboo Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Ben Barnicoat for the first time alongside Kevin Tse to fight for Pro Am honors. It’ll be a steep learning curve as practice sessions are limited but I enjoy a challenge. We’ll be pushing hard to get onto the podium.”

Ben Barnicoat

Driver #28 Craft-Bamboo Racing

"I’m really excited to be taking part in the Intercontinental GT Race at Suzuka with Craft Bamboo Racing. It’s an honour to race on one of the world’s most iconic circuits, and to make my debut with this fantastic team who I have followed closely all of my sportscar career. I have two fantastic team mates in Kevin and Jon, so I’m confident we will be fighting for Pro-Am glory!”

Darryl O'Young

Director Mercedes-AMG Team Craft-Bamboo Racing

"We are really excited the IGTC is back to Suzuka. We have had to travel abroad the past few years for the IGTC events in Australia and USA, but to be able to return to Asia is great for the team. We have two very competitive driver line-ups in their respective classes, so our target is clear to fight for both the overall win and class wins. As always, the competition will be very tight in IGTC, so we will do the work to prepare for a strong weekend and hopefully do enough to find the winning edge after 1000km.”

ABOUT CRAFT-BAMBOO RACING

Craft-Bamboo Racing is an official performance team of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing, competing on motorsport’s world stage in sprint and endurance events around the year. Enjoying a multitude of successes through numerous race programs, Craft-Bamboo Racing’s achievements are a testament to the team’s ability to push its boundaries.

The team has years of world championship experience and is truly a unique company in the global motorsports industry, bridging motorsport between Europe and Asia. With its headquarters in Hong Kong and workshops in Sepang and Silverstone, the company is uniquely positioned to deliver global race programs and marketing activations.