Toyota World Endurance Championship racer Kamui Kobayashi will return to the Spa 24 Hours next month driving a Ferrari 488 GT3 for the HubAuto Corsa team.
Kobayashi, who took his third pole in four years at the Le Mans 24 Hours last weekend, will team up with 2018 Spa 24 winner Tom Blomqvist and Marcos Gomes for the centrepiece GT World Challenge Europe race on 24-25 October.
It will be the 34-year-old’s second attempt at the Belgian classic, having made his first outing in the race back in 2017 driving a Goodsmile Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3.
His previous outing in a GT3 car came at last year’s Suzuka 10 Hours, where he also drove for Goodsmile, finishing tenth.
“HubAuto are delighted to have Kamui join Tom and Marcos for the Total 24 Hours of Spa,” said team boss Morris Chen.
“Kamui brings a wealth of endurance racing experience. Combined with the enduro experience of Tom and Marcos, we have a very confident driver line up.”
Blomqvist and Gomes, the 2015 Brazilian stock car champion, both drove for HubAuto in last weekend’s Le Mans 24 Hours, sharing a Ferrari 488 GTE with Chen in the GTE Am class.
Blomqvist held the lead briefly during the early evening, but the car failed to finish due to engine trouble.
It was the first Le Mans outing for the Taiwanese squad, which secured its entry after winning the GT class of the Asian Le Mans Series last winter.
HubAuto was a regular of the Intercontinental GT Challenge last year, winning the second round of the season at Laguna Seca with Ferrari factory driver Miguel Molina, Tim Slade and Nick Foster sharing driving duties.
Ex-Formula 1 racer Heikki Kovalainen and Super Formula champion Nick Cassidy also drove for the team later in the season.
It also entered the Bathurst 12 Hours – the opening round of this year’s Intercontinental GT Challenge of which Spa is also a part – with Gomes, Slade and Daniel Serra, but had to withdraw after a practice accident.
Australian Supercars regular Slade was due to drive for the team at Le Mans but couldn’t take up his seat due to COVID-19 travel restrictions and was replaced by Blomqvist.