1000 Km Suzuka

The 1000 km Suzuka is an annual 1000-kilometer (620 mi) endurance race for sports cars held at the Suzuka Circuit (173 laps). It is a round of the Japanese Super GT championship.

The race was previously part of the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship and later of the World Sportscar Championship before these series were cancelled. After that the race has become part of many different series including the Super Taikyu endurance series. In 2006, the race was integrated for the first time in the Super GT calendar. Previously, the race was open to JGTC/Super GT cars, but with only a handful of competitors from the Super GT entering.

Within years, some race length change occurs; the 2009 Super GT race was shortened to 700 km as a countermeasure of increasing cost and CO₂ emission, partly due to the economic crisis, for example. It is unknown whether the race will be trimmed to 700 km in following seasons, although the 2010 event also ran to only 700 km and in 2011 the 1000 km race was dropped entirely and replaced by the 2011 500 km Suzuka. For 2012, the race returned to being a 1000 km event.

One driver holds the record of four event wins: Kunimitsu Takahashi (1973, 1984, 1985, 1989).