Summer Endurance Race is an annual endurance race currently held for ten hours but at times has been a 500 km , 700 km , or 1000 km endurance race , for sports cars held at the Suzuka Circuit . The race , as a 1000 km race , was previously part of the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship , the forerunner to Super GT , and later hosted a round of the 1992 World Sportscar Championship before these series were cancelled . After that the race became part of many different series , including the BPR Global GT Series from 1994 to 1996 , the FIA GT Championship from 1997 to 1998 , and the Super Taikyu endurance series . In 2006 , the race was added to the Super GT calendar for the first time . Previously , the race was open to JGTC/Super GT cars , but only a handful of competitors from the Super GT championship took part . For 2018 , the race moves to the Intercontinental GT Challenge race in for GT3 ( including Super GT-X cars , which is the domestic nomenclature in that series for GT3 ) and selected Super GT300 cars . The race length has varied over the years ; the 2009 Super GT race was shortened to 700 km due to increasing costs and emissions regulations , as well as the economic crisis . The 700 km distance was retained in 2010 , but as a result of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and Super GT energy conservation regulations in force that year , the race was cut to 500 km . From 2012 , the race returned to being a 1000 kilometer event . In 2018 , the race will become a 10-hour event , matching the distance of the IMSA WeatherTech Championship race Petit Le Mans held in Braselton , Georgia ( United States )
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
1000 km Suzuka