[WEC] 2024 Fuji 6 hours

[erwin greven]

Fuji Thursday Notebook

Sportscar365’s first notebook ahead of this weekend’s 6 Hours of Fuji…

by Jamie Klein
September 12, 2024


Photo: Julien Delfosse/DPPI

***Similarly to the Lone Star Le Mans at the Circuit of The Americas, this weekend’s 6 Hours of Fuji, the penultimate round of the FIA World Endurance Championship season, will be contested by a field of 36 cars, split evenly between Hypercar and LMGT3.

***The two changes to the entry list since COTA concern Alpine’s No. 35 car, as reserve driver Jules Gounon temporarily replaces Paul-Loup Chatin, and Proton Competition’s No. 88 Ford Mustang GT3, in which Christian Ried makes a second outing of the season as the designated Bronze driver following his appearance in Sao Paulo.

***Ried is set for a record-extending 87th WEC start at Fuji, which would keep him two clear of Sebastien Buemi at the head of the all-time list. Next up in the ranking are Richard Lietz, another two starts behind on 83 as of Fuji, and Mike Conway on 78.

***Hertz Team JOTA’s No. 12 Porsche 963 conducted a shakedown at Fuji’s Short Circuit, located just outside Turn 1 of the main course near the disused banking, on Wednesday with Will Stevens driving. Team principal Dieter Gass explained this was to check that the electrical issues that plagued the No. 12 car at COTA.

***Gass told Sportscar365: “We didn’t manage to get to the bottom of the problems we had at Austin during the race, so we were looking for a possibility to shake down the car, and we managed to do it outside of the track here. We were confident we had found the problem after the race, but we still wanted to make sure.”

***Five Japanese drivers will be racing on home turf at Fuji: Toyota pair Kamui Kobayashi and Ryo Hirakawa and LMGT3 regulars Marino Sato (United Autosports McLaren), Hiroshi Koizumi (TF Sport Corvette) and Takeshi Kimura (Akkodis ASP Lexus).

***Bizarrely, Sato had never raced a car professionally on Japanese soil until he took part in a Porsche Carrera Cup Japan event at Fuji in August, in support of the SUPER GT race in August. He finished fifth and third across the two races on that occasion.

***Toyota is aiming for its tenth outright victory in its home event, having only ever been defeated once on home turf since the WEC’s 2012 rebirth. That came in 2015 at the hands of Porsche, when current Toyota driver Brendon Hartley was part of the winning crew along with Mark Webber and Timo Bernhard.

***Should Toyota win this weekend, it would become the first manufacturer to score ten race wins at any track on the WEC calendar outside of Le Mans.

***Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe technical director David Floury revealed that Hirakawa had been feeling unwell on race day at COTA and has continued to struggle with an illness in recent days, although he predicts the Japanese driver will be ok to race at Fuji.

***Floury said of Hirakawa: “We hesitated to have him back in the car [at COTA] after his first stint. Since then he has not been very well, but I think he is getting better now.”

***For the third race in succession, the Medium and Hard tire Michelin tire compounds will be available to Hypercar teams. The French marque says the choice was made “to cover the anticipated spectrum of ground temperatures” at the Japanese track, with temperatures of around 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) expected throughout the weekend.

***With only the 8 Hours of Bahrain left on the schedule after this weekend, three championships could be wrapped up with a race to spare at Fuji.

***Hertz Team JOTA’s No. 12 crew has the chance to clinch the FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams, having lost a chance to do so at COTA with its failure to be classified. If the car shared by Callum Ilott, Will Stevens and Norman Nato wins and the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P isn’t second, JOTA will be crowned the champion.

***The LMGT3 drivers’ and teams’ titles could also be locked up at Fuji. If No. 92 Manthey PureRxcing trio Alex Malykhin, Joel Sturm and Klaus Bachler win their class, the No. 91 Manthey EMA car of Yasser Shahin, Morris Schuring and Richard Lietz would need to finish at least third to keep the title race open.

***However, if Malykhin takes the bonus point for pole, the No. 91 car would have to finish second to prevent the PureRxcing trio being crowned in Fuji.

***By contrast, neither the Hypercar drivers’ or manufacturers’ championships can be won this weekend. Even if the points-leading No. 6 Penske Porsche 963 won from pole at Fuji with the No. 7 Toyota and No. 50 Ferrari not scoring, the extra points on offer at Bahrain would leave the No. 6 Porsche crew one point shy of an unassailable margin.

***Dane Cameron is Porsche Penske’s designated reserve driver this weekend.

***Proton Competition’s Ryan Hardwick was delayed in arriving in Japan after his originally scheduled flight on Tuesday afternoon from Atlanta was called off after becoming involved in a taxiway collision with another aircraft. No injuries were reported.

***Further details have emerged on Hyundai’s entry into the WEC, likely for 2026, following the Korean automaker’s announcement on Thursday confirming the Genesis brand to the LMDh formula. Sportscar365 believes that Genesis is likely to have a role in two LMP2 programs (European Le Mans Series and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship) next year.

***While Chip Ganassi Racing has been rumored to run the LMP2 effort in the WeatherTech Championship ahead of its possible factory Genesis operation in the States in 2026, both IDEC Sport and TDS Racing are understood to have held discussions of a possible link-up with Genesis for an ELMS program next year that would be used to help develop prospective drivers and crew.

***ORECA, meanwhile, is understood to have partnered with Hyundai for the Genesis LMDh chassis.

***The ever-popular Circuit Safari, which provides spectators the chance to see WEC machinery running on-track up close while riding buses, returns this weekend, with a 12-minute session pencilled in on Saturday morning just before Free Practice 3. Each team is required to field one car.

***Support action this weekend at Fuji is provided by the Formula Regional Japanese Championship, with two races slated to be held on Saturday.

***Track action begins on Friday with Free Practice 1 at 11am local time (Thursday 10pm EDT), with Free Practice 2 set to follow at 3:30 p.m. (2:30 a.m. EDT).
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/fuj ... otebook-8/

[erwin greven]

Vanthoor Quickest for Porsche in Fuji FP1

Championship-leading No. 6 Penske Porsche 963 tops Free Practice 1 at Fuji Speedway…

by John Dagys
September 12, 2024


Photo: Porsche

Laurens Vanthoor set the quickest time in Free Practice 1 for Sunday’s FIA World Endurance Championship round at Fuji Speedway, leading the way for Porsche Penske Motorsport.

The Belgian in the world championship-leading No. 6 Porsche 963 reeled off a 1:30.561 in the early stages of the 90-minute session to edge out the No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid of Ryo Hirakawa by 0.010 seconds.

Nearly all of the quick times came in the opening laps of the session.

The No. 50 AF Corse Ferrari 499P of Antonio Fuoco was third quickest, followed by the sister No. 5 Penske Porsche of Fred Makowiecki in fourth and the Nyck de Vries-driven No. 7 Toyota in fifth.

The Circuit of The Americas race-winning No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari was sixth, followed by the No. 94 Peugeot 9X8, No. 35 Alpine A424, No. 12 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche and No. 51 Ferrari, which completed the top-ten.

United Autosports paced LMGT3 with its No. 95 McLaren 720S GT3 driven by Marino Sato, who edged out the pair of Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3s on the time sheets, with Alessio Rovera and Davide Rigon at the wheel.

The session’s only red flag came out with 20 minutes to go for the No. 59 United McLaren of Gregoire Saucy, which stopped on track in Turn 10 after contact with the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R of Alex Lynn.

The session restarted with 14 minutes left on the clock.

Free Practice 2, which wraps up Friday’s activities, is set to get underway at 3:30 p.m. local time (2:30 a.m. EDT).

RESULTS: Free Practice 1

https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/van ... -fuji-fp1/

[erwin greven]

BMW Edges Porsche in Tight Fuji FP2

Dries Vanthoor’s No. 15 BMW ends opening day of 6H Fuji practice on top…
by Jamie Klein
September 13, 2024


Photo: BMW

BMW led the way in second practice for this weekend’s 6 Hours of Fuji round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, as Dries Vanthoor narrowly eclipsed Porsche driver Matt Campbell to set the day’s fastest time.

Vanthoor posted a best time of 1:29.577 aboard the No. 15 BMW M Hybrid V8 early in Friday afternoon’s session, having become the first driver of the weekend to break through the 90-second barrier.

Not long after, Campbell put the No. 5 Penske Porsche 963 up to second, just nine thousandths of a second slower than Vanthoor.

Alex Lynn went third-fastest for Cadillac, getting within 0.015 seconds of the fastest time aboard the solo No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R.

Best of the Ferrari 499Ps was the Circuit of The Americas-winning No. 83 car of Robert Kubica in fourth, just over three tenths off the pace, while Toyota’s lead car, the No. 8 GR010 Hybrid of Ryo Hirakawa, rounded off the top five.

Robin Frijns made it two BMWs in the top six with a time 0.379 seconds slower than Vanthoor, beating Antonio Giovinazzi’s No. 51 Ferrari and Oliver Rasmussen in the best of the Hertz Team JOTA Porsches.

In LMGT3, Alessio Rovera put the No. 55 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 at the head of the timesheets with a 1:40.682 set towards the end of the 90-minute session.

That was slightly slower than the 1:40.528 effort with which United Autosports McLaren driver Marino Sato topped Friday morning’s opening practice.

An early effort from Bronze-rated Hiroshi Koizumi was enough to put the No. 82 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R second, with Franck Perera third-fastest in the No. 60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2.

The session ran green for its entire distance, except for a brief full-course yellow systems test at the one-hour mark.

Fuji track action continues with Free Practice 3 on Saturday morning at 10:20 a.m. local time (Friday 9:20 p.m. EDT).

RESULTS: Free Practice 2

https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/bmw ... -fuji-fp2/

[erwin greven]

Hirakawa Quickest in Red-Flagged Fuji FP3

Early flyer for Ryo Hirakawa puts No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid quickest in FP3…

by John Dagys
September 13, 2024


Photo: James Moy/Toyota

Toyota Gazoo Racing topped the time charts for the first time of the weekend at Fuji Speedway, with Ryo Hirakawa going quickest in a red-flagged final Free Practice session prior to qualifying and Hyperpole for Sunday’s FIA World Endurance Championship round.

Hirakawa laid down a 1:29.621 lap time in the No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid early in the 60-minute session, edging out the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R of Alex Lynn by 0.086 seconds.

A flurry of Hypercar teams took to the track in the opening moments of the session for qualifying simulation runs, which saw the No. 50 AF Corse Ferrari 499P of Antonio Fuoco end up third quickest.

Charles Milesi and Kamui Kobayashi completed the top-five for Alpine Endurance Team and Toyota, respectively.

The Ferrari 499Ps of Antonio Giovinazzi and Robert Kubica were next quickest, followed by Oliver Rasumussen’s No. 38 Hertz Team JOTA entry in eighth, which was the quickest of the Porsche 963s.

Proton Competition’s Porsche and the No. 63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63 completed the top-ten.

The factory Porsche Penske Motorsport cars, meanwhile, finished the session 14th and 16th.

LMGT3 was led by the No. 55 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Francois Heriau, thanks to a 1:41.206 lap time.

Heriau’s time was more than one-tenth ahead of Davide Rigon’s sister No. 56 Ferrari, which was set later in the session.

Arnold Robin, in the No. 78 Akkodis-ASP Lexus RC F GT3, completed the top-three in class.

The session was red-flagged with just over 20 minutes to go due to an issue with the Turn 1 curbing, with the session not resuming.

It was preceded by a Full Course Yellow, for debris in Turn 16, early in the running.

FP3 came after a 12-minute ‘Circuit Safari’ session that saw coach buses with paid spectators take to the track alongside WEC machinery, in what’s become an annual tradition at Fuji Speedway.

Robin Frijns posted the quickest time in that session, a 1:30.605 in the No. 20 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8.

Qualifying gets underway at 2:20 p.m. local time (1:20 a.m. EDT).

RESULTS: Free Practice 3

https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/hir ... -fuji-fp3/

[erwin greven]

Cadillac Beats Toyota to First WEC Pole at Fuji

Alex Lynn pips Ryo Hirakawa to deny Toyota pole at home WEC race…

by Jamie Klein
September 14, 2024


Photo: Charly Lopez/DPPI

Cadillac scored its first FIA World Endurance Championship pole position at Fuji as a late flyer from Alex Lynn denied Toyota a front row lockout at its home race.

Toyota driver Ryo Hirakawa looked to be in a strong position to deliver the Japanese manufacturer, as he and stablemate Kamui Kobayashi put the two GR010 Hybrids first and second after their first representative laps in Hyperpole.

That was until Lynn posted a 1:28.901 aboard the No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R to knock Hirakawa off the top spot by a scant margin of 0.041 seconds.

BMW driver Dries Vanthoor then proceeded to split the Toyotas by putting the No. 15 BMW M Hybrid V8 that had topped Friday practice third-fastest, 0.158 seconds away from Lynn’s pole benchmark, demoting Kobayashi to fourth.

Porsche looked to be in a strong position to challenge for pole as Kevin Estre had been second-fastest in the first part of qualifying, but the Frenchman could only manage fifth place in the No. 6 Penske-run 963 in Hyperpole.

Next up were Charles Milesi in the No. 35 Alpine A424 and the only one of the three Ferrari 499Ps to make Hyperpole, Antonio Fuoco’s No. 50 car.

Matt Campbell could do no more than eighth in the second of the Penske Porsches.

Daniil Kvyat put Lamborghini into Hyperpole for the first time this year, putting the solo SC63 ninth on the grid ahead of Julien Andlauer’s Proton Competition Porsche.

Neither of the Ferraris of Antonio Giovinazzi nor Robert Kubica were able to dislodge Kvyat in the closing stages of first qualifying, ending up 12th and 13th behind Robin Frijns in the second of the BMWs.

Peugeot was the sole manufacturer not to have representation in Hyperpole.

AF Corse Ferrari Gets First LMGT3 Pole

Ferrari scored its first LMGT3 pole of the season as Francois Heriau topped Hyperpole aboard the No. 55 Vista AF Corse 296 GT3.

Heriau, who also topped the first segment of qualifying, posted a best lap of 1:40.893 to beat his nearest rival, the No. 82 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Tom van Rompuy, by just 0.082 seconds.

Josh Caygill was third-fastest in the best of the United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evos, the No. 95, ahead of Sarah Bovy’s Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 and the second of the United McLarens, the No. 59 entry of James Cottingham.

Hiroshi Koizumi (TF Sport) and Ryan Hardwick (Proton Competition Ford) both made Hyperpole for the first time season, ending up seventh and tenth respectively.

Unusually, neither of the Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 Rs made the Hyperpole cut, with Alex Malykhin only managing 14th in the points-leading No. 92 PureRxcing entry ahead of Yasser Shahin in the sister No. 91 EMA car.

Sunday’s 6 Hours of Fuji is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. local time (Saturday 10 p.m. EDT).

RESULTS: Qualifying

https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/cad ... e-at-fuji/

[leon_90]

Once again Kubica has shown that he is a hugely overrated driver.
In one fell swoop he has destroyed his car, the sister #51 and the hopes of winning the trophy for private teams.

If he were a great champion as they say, he would have won at least something, instead he has done nothing but crash everywhere he went.
He says he wants to go to another team. I say good riddance.

[SBan83]

Not sure what was in the air near Mt. Fuji but there was a lot of idiotic driving today. Aside from Kubica's bowling ball act, Kobayashi's move into Turn 2(3?) was something you'd expect in a public lobby in Gran Turismo while Schumacher's sudden jink left that caused Bamber to take avoiding action and spin out on the marbles deserved a penalty...I mean, I get you're boxed in behind a slower LMGT3 car but you knew that from a mile away, so why jerk left to avoid it at the last moment when you know you have a car to your left? The only excuse I can think of is the LMGT3 car suddenly slowed down in an ill-advised courtesy move.

[erwin greven]

Porsche’s No. 6 Crew On Cusp of Title with Fuji Win

Victory for Estre, Vanthoor, Lotterer moves them close to WEC drivers’ title…

by Jamie Klein
September 15, 2024


Photo: Drew Gibson/Porsche

Porsche Penske Motorsport drivers Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and Andre Lotterer took a major step towards the FIA World Endurance Championship crown with victory in the 6 Hours of Fuji, as Toyota’s main title contender retired after a crash with the other factory Porsche 963.

The No. 6 Porsche entry emerged from a chaotic race that featured three safety car periods and a further two full-course yellows with a second win of the season, becoming the first car to win multiple races so far this year.

With the No. 7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid failing to score points and the No. 50 Ferrari 499P only finishing ninth, it means Estre, Vanthoor and Lotterer head to the Bahrain season finale with a comfortable 35-point lead with 39 left to play for.

Shortly after the finish, the victory for the No. 6 Porsche was thrown into doubt by an investigation for a tire pressure infringement, but the crew was given only a reprimand.

Not long after the halfway mark, Lotterer eased ahead of Nicklas Nielsen’s Ferrari to retake the lead, having briefly been jumped at the previous round of pitstops.

At that stage, the main threat appeared to come from the No. 7 Toyota, as Nyck de Vries took fuel only during a stop in the middle of the fourth hour to leapfrog ahead of Lotterer.

But that strategic gambit failed to play out as the solo Lamborghini SC63 ground to a halt on circuit with a drivetrain issue in the fifth hour, necessitating a virtual safety car period in which almost the full Hypercar field elected to pit.

That left the No. 7 Toyota, now in the hands of Kamui Kobayashi, down in eighth position for the restart, with Matt Campbell’s No. 5 Penske Porsche just behind.

A handful of laps later, both drivers were engaged in a fierce battle when Kobayashi appeared to make contact with Campbell heading into the fast Turn 3 left-hander, leaving both cars with terminal damage and all but ending Toyota’s title ambitions.

At the head of the field, Estre was able to ease away from the No. 15 BMW M Hybrid of Dries Vanthoor in the closing stages and ultimately secure the win by 16.601 seconds.

Vanthoor and his teammates in the No. 15 car, Marco Wittmann and Raffaele Marciello, delivered BMW its first-ever WEC podium with second place, while Alpine also took its maiden top-three finish with its new A424.

Charles Milesi looked on course to bring home the No. 35 entry he shares with Jules Gounon and Ferdinand Habsburg third in the closing stages after passing the No. 8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid of Ryo Hirakawa not long after the final restart.

That was until Milesi was handed a drive-through penalty for an earlier collision with the No. 81 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, promoting Hirakawa back to third.

Hirakawa was then given a drive-through penalty of his own for failing to respect blue flags when he was being lapped by Estre early in the final hour after his last pit stop.

That meant the final podium position was fought between the No. 12 Hertz Team JOTA Porsche of Norman Nato and Mick Schumacher in the No. 36 Alpine, with JOTA having elected to not change tires at the final round of stops with both of its cars.

With a tire advantage, Schumacher was able to get ahead of Nato inside the final ten minutes and bring home third place in the car he shares with Nicolas Lapierre and Matthieu Vaxiviere.

Two laps later, Nato fell victim to a charging Mikkel Jensen, who delivered Peugeot its best finish with the revised 9X8 2024 in fourth place alongside Jean-Eric Vergne and Nico Mueller.

Fifth place for Nato, Will Stevens and Callum Ilott was still enough to make them the lead privateer car home, wrapping up the FIA World Cup for Hypercar Teams with a race to spare, while sixth went to the sister No. 38 JOTA Porsche.

Milesi recovered to seventh in the No. 35 Alpine, ahead of the No. 94 Peugeot, while the No. 50 Ferrari of Nielsen, Miguel Molina and Antonio Fuoco struggled to ninth, marking the Italian marque’s worst-ever WEC finish with the 499P.

Hirakawa claimed the final point in the No. 8 Toyota he shared with Brendon Hartley and Sebastien Buemi, completing a nightmare race on home turf.

The pole-sitting No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R, which dropped down the order following its puncture shortly before halfway, was eliminated from the race when Earl Bamber crashed at the long Turn 4 right-hander while battling one of the Alpines.

The New Zealander was able to drag the severely-damaged car back to the pits, but the car did not return to the track thereafter.

Also failing to finish was the No. 51 Ferrari, which was already down the order following the second-lap melee triggered by the third-string No. 83 Ferrari before finally retiring with an ERS electronic power control issue.

Manthey PureRxcing Clinches LMGT3 Title; AF Corse Wins

Victory in LMGT3 went to the No. 54 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Davide Rigon, Thomas Flohr and Francesco Castellacci, but second place for the No. 92 Manthey PureRxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R was enough to make Alex Malykhin, Joel Sturm and Klaus Bachler champions with a round to spare.

The No. 92 crew completed a remarkable recovery from 14th on the grid, helped by being one a handful of teams to be able to complete its final driver change under yellow.

This catapulted Bachler into a three-way fight for victory together with Rigon’s Ferrari and the No. 59 United Autosports McLaren 720s GT3 Evo, which had taken advantage of an earlier caution period to force its way into victory contention.

Rigon passed Bachler for the lead just before the five-hour mark, albeit the Italian briefly dropped back to third place during the final round of stops.

The United car briefly regained the advantage as Nicolas Costa handed over to Gregoire Saucy at the final round of stops, but Saucy couldn’t hang on, surrendering the lead to Rigon at Turn 10.

Bachler soon found his way past a struggling Saucy to take second, which was enough to guarantee he, Malykhin and Sturm the LMGT3 title with the sister No. 91 Manthey EMA Porsche failing to score after a late puncture.

Maxime Martin then passed Saucy to grab third for the No. 31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 he shares with Valentino Rossi and Ahmad Al Harthy.

Completing the top five were the No. 81 TF Sport Corvette of Eastwood, Rui Andrade and Tom van Rompuy and the Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 of Sarah Bovy, Rahel Frey and Michelle Gatting.

On old tires, Saucy plummeted down the order in the closing stages, with he and teammates Costa and James Cottingham ending up eighth.

RESULTS: 6 Hours of Fuji

https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/por ... -fuji-win/

[erwin greven]

[Cheeveer]

Was a very nice race. Glad to see that all the contenders are competitive now, Alpine and Lamborghini for the first team were very competitive. Best race I've seen Mick Schumi ever do.