Team Studie appears poised to exit SUPER GT, with the BMW squad seemingly set to shift its focus to the GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS this year, fielding the newly upgraded M4 GT3 EVO.
As BMW’s sole customer team, Studie has maintained a consistent presence in the GT300 category since 2020, running the M4 GT3 for the past three seasons.
Last December, team owner Yasuaki ‘Bob’ Suzuki disclosed to Sportscar365 plans to upgrade the team’s M4 to the latest EVO specification. However, the team was absent from last week’s GT300 test at Fuji Speedway, and no official confirmation regarding its 2025 program has been provided.
On Monday, Studie conducted a shakedown of an M4 GT3 EVO at Fuji, specifically prepared for GT Asia, with longtime Studie driver Seiji Ara behind the wheel.
This followed Suzuki’s post on his personal blog last Friday, indicating that the team is preparing to compete in the GT Asia season opener at Sepang, which coincides with the SUPER GT season opener at Okayama.
For 2025, Studie was reportedly evaluating a switch from Michelin to Dunlop tires. Dunlop is set to supply six GT300 teams this season, including new entrant PONOS Racing, while Michelin has confirmed it will support only two teams: the No. 20 Shade Racing and the No. 30 apr Toyota GR86 GTs.
Sportscar365 has reached out to Suzuki for further details on the team’s 2025 plans.
The last time Studie was absent from the SUPER GT grid was in 2019, the second year of a two-season hiatus during which it competed in GT Asia with GT4 machinery.
The team returned with a Pro-Am driver lineup of Ara and Tomohide Yamaguchi for two seasons before transitioning from the M6 to the M4 GT3, featuring Augusto Farfus in 2022 and Bruno Spengler in 2023.
Ara and new teammate Niklas Kruetten secured a fifth-place finish in last year’s championship standings, with Kruetten expressing eagerness to continue for a second season.
Previously, Studie competed in both SUPER GT and GT Asia simultaneously in 2022-23, though its GT Asia participation was limited to the Japan-based rounds.
About the Author
