Mikaël Grenier put 75 Express at the top of the timesheets during Night Practice for the 2026 Suzuka 1000km, leading the first dry running of the Intercontinental GT Challenge weekend.
Grenier produced a 2:00.395 aboard the #75 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo early in the 90-minute session, beating Chris Mies’ #64 Miedecke Motorsport by Team MPC Ford Mustang GT3 EVO by 0.182 seconds. Dorian Boccolacci completed the top three for Absolute Racing, while only 0.303 seconds covered the fastest five cars.
After persistent rain affected both Paid Test sessions earlier on Friday, the dry circuit provided teams with their first opportunity to complete representative slick-tyre running ahead of Sunday’s Suzuka 1000km.
Grenier puts 75 Express on top in 2026 Suzuka 1000km Night Practice
Grenier established the benchmark early aboard the #75 Mercedes-AMG shared with Kenny Habul and Philip Ellis. His 2:00.395 came on the fourth lap of the car’s 28-lap programme and remained unbeaten for the rest of the session.
Mies came closest in the #64 Ford Mustang GT3 EVO. The Miedecke Motorsport by Team MPC driver recorded a 2:00.577 to finish 0.182 seconds behind Grenier, continuing the Ford’s strong start to the weekend after Dennis Olsen placed the newly-built car fourth in the opening Paid Test.
Boccolacci followed only 0.014 seconds behind the Ford. His 2:00.591 put the #7 Absolute Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo third after Ayhancan Güven had topped both wet Paid Test sessions earlier in the day.
The three leading Pro entries were therefore separated by just 0.196 seconds as conditions finally allowed the field to show more representative dry pace.
Oosten leads Bronze as LM Corsa tops Pro-Am at Suzuka
Team KRC continued its competitive Friday through Maxime Oosten, who placed the #89 BMW M4 GT3 EVO fourth overall and led the Bronze class.
Oosten’s 2:00.688 left him only 0.293 seconds behind Grenier and 0.097 seconds away from Boccolacci. He also finished 0.245 seconds ahead of the next Bronze entry, the #69 Team WRT BMW in ninth.
Giancarlo Fisichella completed the overall top five and led Pro-Am aboard the #60 LM Corsa Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo. His 2:00.698 left him just 0.303 seconds from the session benchmark, meaning Mercedes-AMG, Ford, Porsche, BMW and Ferrari occupied the first five positions.
The tight order continued behind them, with only 0.543 seconds covering the entire top 10.
Bushi Rex Porsche moves into the leading group
The #8 AO by Absolute Racing Porsche enjoyed its strongest session of Friday as Julien Andlauer placed the ‘Bushi Rex’-themed entry sixth overall.
Andlauer recorded a 2:00.849, leaving the second Absolute-operated Porsche 0.454 seconds behind Grenier. The result marked a significant improvement from the opening Paid Test, when the car sat at the bottom of the classification while the crew focused on bedding in brakes.
PONOS Racing followed in seventh with its #45 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo. Tadasuke Makino helped the all-Japanese Pro entry to a 2:00.881, only 0.032 seconds behind the #8 Porsche.
TEAM 5ZIGEN completed another strong showing for the Japanese contingent in eighth. The #500 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 recorded a 2:00.931, just 0.050 seconds behind PONOS Racing.
Harper puts Team WRT second in Bronze
Dan Harper placed Team WRT ninth overall and second in Bronze aboard the #69 BMW M4 GT3 EVO.
The Briton produced a 2:00.933, finishing just 0.002 seconds behind the #500 Nissan and 0.538 seconds from Grenier’s benchmark. The result gave BMW two cars inside the overall top nine and the leading two positions among the Bronze runners.
LM Corsa’s #80 Ferrari completed the top 10 with a 2:00.938. Only 0.005 seconds separated the Ferrari from Harper, while just 0.010 seconds covered the cars from eighth through 10th.
EBM Giga Racing followed in 11th with its #61 Porsche, while the #77 Mercedes-AMG Team Craft-Bamboo Racing entry finished 12th. Maxime Martin, Kakunoshin Ohta and Luca Stolz share the Pro-class Mercedes-AMG as they continue their Suzuka programme following a second-place finish in the opening Paid Test.
Two red flags interrupt 2026 Suzuka 1000km Night Practice
Although conditions improved significantly compared with the wet daytime sessions, Night Practice featured two red flags.
The first came after Liu Kaishun spun the #72 Harmony Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo on his out lap and became stranded in the gravel at Degner Curve. The Bronze-class entry eventually returned to action and finished 23rd with a best time of 2:02.243.
A second stoppage followed with approximately 16 minutes remaining when Taku Bamba crashed the #181 Norik Racing Ferrari at Degner 2. Race Control added eight minutes to the session following the interruption, extending the finish to 19:28 local time.
However, the additional running produced no significant changes near the front. Grenier’s early benchmark therefore remained untouched as 75 Express completed the session on top.
2026 Suzuka 1000km Night Practice: Top three by class
Pro
- #75 75 Express Mercedes-AMG — 2:00.395, P1 overall
- #64 Miedecke Motorsport by Team MPC Ford — 2:00.577, P2 overall
- #7 Absolute Racing Porsche — 2:00.591, P3 overall
Bronze
- #89 Team KRC BMW — 2:00.688, P4 overall
- #69 Team WRT BMW — 2:00.933, P9 overall
- #80 LM Corsa Ferrari — 2:00.938, P10 overall
Pro-Am
- #60 LM Corsa Ferrari — 2:00.698, P5 overall
- #28 Craft-Bamboo Racing Mercedes-AMG — 2:01.747, P17 overall
- #181 Norik Racing Ferrari — 2:02.435, P26 overall
Am
- #360 Runup Sports Nissan — 2:04.893, P30 overall
The final classification placed Mercedes-AMG at the head of Pro, BMW first in Bronze, Ferrari on top in Pro-Am and Nissan leading the sole Am entry.
2026 Suzuka 1000km Night Practice overall top 10
- #75 75 Express Mercedes-AMG — Mikaël Grenier — 2:00.395
- #64 Miedecke Motorsport by Team MPC Ford — Chris Mies — +0.182s
- #7 Absolute Racing Porsche — Dorian Boccolacci — +0.196s
- #89 Team KRC BMW — Maxime Oosten — +0.293s
- #60 LM Corsa Ferrari — Giancarlo Fisichella — +0.303s
- #8 AO by Absolute Racing Porsche — Julien Andlauer — +0.454s
- #45 PONOS Racing Ferrari — Tadasuke Makino — +0.486s
- #500 TEAM 5ZIGEN Nissan — +0.536s
- #69 Team WRT BMW — Dan Harper — +0.538s
- #80 LM Corsa Ferrari — +0.543s
The dry Night Practice order contrasted sharply with Friday’s rain-hit Paid Tests, but the margins remained close. Five manufacturers occupied the opening five positions, while just over half a second separated Grenier from the car in 10th.
Pre-Qualifying next for the 2026 Suzuka 1000km
Night Practice brought Friday’s Suzuka running to a close after a day that began with two wet Paid Test sessions before finally delivering dry conditions in the evening.
The field returns on Saturday for Pre-Qualifying at 10:40 local time, when teams will continue refining their packages before the sessions that determine the grid for the 50th running of the Suzuka 1000km.
