Kobayashi joins Katayama-run team for Spa 24 Hours

Kobayashi will race for the team of ex-Larrousse, Tyrrell and Minardi F1 driver Katayama in the Belgian endurance classic alongside regular Super GT drivers Nobuteru Taniguchi and Tatsuya Kataoka.

"It’s a good challenge for me,” Kobayashi told Motorsport.com at Monza. "The Spa 24 Hours has a long history. I know it’s a nice race so I want to try and see what happens.

"My sponsor is doing the GT300 [in Super GT] with the AMG GT3, so that’s why I had a chance to join as a third driver.”

It will be Kobayashi’s first GT appearance since his 2013 WEC campaign with AF Corse. With the Italian squad he finished fifth in the GTE Pro class in the Le Mans 24 Hours driving a Ferrari 458 Italia GT2. 

Later this year, Kobayashi is also scheduled to drive a Lexus GT500 in the final 1000km race at Suzuka with WedsSport Team Bandoh.

The Toyota works driver is excited to return to GT racing, saying: "It’ll be great. The GT3 car is a bit different from GT500 but it will be nice to do GT3 in Europe as well.

"It’s a really high [level of] competition, so it's nice to have that opportunity.

"I need to practice a bit. In a 24-hour race we could have everything but I think there’s enough of an opportunity before the race to get experience and get a feeling with the car. I think it should be alright."

#4 Goodsmile Racing & Team Ukyo Mercedes SLS AMG GT3: Nobuteru Taniguchi, Tatsuya Kataoka

Photo by: Yasushi Ishihara