Thompson and Ghost Rider Squad Win Bronze Class on Suzuka Debut

SUZUKA, JAPAN

Parker Thompson added another international class victory to his 2026 season, winning the Bronze category at the 50th running of the Suzuka 1000KM, the fourth round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge. It was Thompson’s first race at the historic Japanese circuit.

The Bronze class requires a Gold- or Platinum-rated driver, a Silver-rated driver and a Bronze-rated driver. That format allowed the FIA WEC lineup of Thompson, McIntosh and Harper to race together again with Team WRT and the #69 BMW M4 GT3 EVO. For Suzuka, the car ran a special reversed version of the Genuine BMW Parts tribute livery the team used at the 6 Hours of Spa earlier this year.

All three drivers showed strong pace in qualifying. However, the #69 started just 11th overall. It was one of several cars penalized for speeding under a red flag during practice. For Sunday’s race start, McIntosh took the opening stint. There were 14 cars in the Bronze class, and several Bronze-class entries chose to start their Silver-rated drivers. Even so, McIntosh held his ground, going wheel-to-wheel with drivers from various classes.

Thompson took the wheel early in hour two but soon after was forced to make an emergency stop to correct a wheel fitment problem. Although the additional stop cost the team multiple positions, Thompson rejoined the fight without losing rhythm, making steady progress through the field. Later in his stint, the team capitalized on a full-course yellow to move to the front of the field, a move that would ultimately allow them to clinch the win.

In the third and fourth hours, McIntosh and Thompson again swapped turns piloting the #69. Platinum-rated Dan Harper joined the action with two hours remaining and held the class lead for the duration of his drive time. A touch of drama came late in the race when a drive-through penalty, issued for an incident of contact on track, considerably narrowed the team’s margin of victory. Even so, Harper maintained the Bronze-class lead, taking the checkered flag seventh overall.

“What a hectic race,” said Thompson. “After the issue in my first stint, I wasn’t sure we’d be able to make anything of this race, but our WRT team was incredible. Only a team like them would find a way to recover from that and win. A tonne of credit goes to Tony. He drove so well at the start and mid-race to put our group in a position to win today. Suzuka is now my favourite track in the world. I’ve had a few new favourite tracks this year, as we’ve had so much success in so many new places, but with Suzuka, it’s going to stick. Absolutely love this place.”

UPCOMING EVENTS

Sep 27 - WEC 6 Hours of Fuji
Oct 1-3 - IMSA Motul Petit Le Mans
Oct 9-11 - CIGT at Monza
Oct 16-18 - WEC 6 Hours of Barcelona
Nov 6-8 - WEC 6 Hours of Monza