Insight: How Fanatec GT Asia’s Gamble Paid Off

Jamie Klein takes a look at the rise of SRO's Japan Cup, which has been spun off into its own series this year...

Just about any way you look at it, the third season of Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia’s post-pandemic relaunch has been a success. Stable grids of more than 30 cars, top names from the world of European GT racing mixing it with the locals, and teams from historically less well-represented countries such as South Korea and Indonesia getting involved.

But perhaps most significantly is the fact that the Japan Cup, previously a subclass of the main Fanatec GT Asia series, has been successfully spun off into its own championship.

The logic behind the move was relatively simple. With grids in 2023 already at capacity, the only way to accommodate more cars would be to convince some of the squads that had flocked to the series since it anchored its rebirth in Japan to have their own races on the support bill of the main Fanatec GT Asia event, which would feature GT3 and GT4 cars.

As SRO Motorsports Asia general manager Benjamin Franassovici admits, splitting the grid into two was a gamble, amid doubts over whether enough Japanese teams would want to race among themselves instead of against the best Asia has to offer. 

But in the end, 14 cars contested the first ever standalone Japan Cup event at Sportsland Sugo in June, and 17 are set for this month’s finale of the four-round series at Okayama.

“I remember it was around this time last year that Japan Cup was first proposed," reflects Franassovici. “At Motegi, I summoned all the Japanese teams to plant the seed in their head, to tell them about Japan Cup. That was a difficult thing to sell to them.

“I was struggling to convince them, but I was sure it was the right thing to do. I had some doubts, because the Japanese are sometimes not good at giving you feedback. In December I was thinking maybe I jumped the gun and maybe they’re not ready.

“But we’re full at Okayama, we have 31 GT3s, and then for the finale in Shanghai, we might have 32. We started the season with 33 cars, some cars have left but others have joined, so it has been extremely stable. And with Japan Cup, we’ve done a bit better than we expected, and we’ll have the biggest grid of the year in Okayama with 17 cars.

“We pushed the idea hard and we got there in the end. We’ve proved it was the right thing to do, which is very satisfying. The Japanese teams have embraced it. We do everything in Japanese - the radio, the regulations, the drivers’ briefings. They like the fact it’s a national championship with some international flair that is connected to Fanatec GT Asia.”