Blancpain GT Series Asia’s race-by-race Japanese entries continue to grow after ARN Racing confirmed its participation in both of the championship’s upcoming rounds at Suzuka and Fuji Speedway.
Hiroaki Nagai and Kota Sasaki currently contest their home nation’s Super Taikyu series aboard a Ferrari 488 GT3, and that same combination is now set to battle the best their continent can throw at them.
They’ll be joined on Suzuka and Fuji’s grids by two domestic ST-X class rivals, CarGuy Racing and D’station Racing, both of which have already announced plans to compete in Blancpain GT Series Asia’s inaugural Japanese events against the regular full-season entry. Further local team and driver announcements are expected to follow.
ARN Racing team owner Nagai has contested a variety of GT categories since 2012, including Porsche Carrera Cup Japan and Super GT’s GT300 category. Indeed, it’s in the latter that he and Sasaki currently race a Toyota Prius alongside their Super Taikyu commitments.
Meanwhile, Sasaki is an experienced Super GT driver who won the GT300 championship in 2005 before claiming the Aston Martin Asia Cup title with the same Team Reckless outfit three years later. He’s also a double Nurburgring 24 Hours class winner and currently lies third in the Super Taikyu standings, alongside Nagai, after two rounds.
Following events in Malaysia and Thailand Blancpain GT Series Asia now heads to Suzuka on June 24/25 for the first two 60-minute races of its Japanese double-header. Fuji then hosts the championship on August 19/20 before two rounds in China – Shanghai and Zheijiang – bring the inaugural campaign to a close.