Asian LMS: Victory for Algarve Pro Racing in Fuji

With very light snow falling as the grid formed up for the second round of the 2018/19 Asian Le Mans Series, the race was set to be run in very frosty conditions. The action on track however was hot right from the start!

2016/17 Champions Algarve Pro Racing are back to their winning ways, with current drivers Andrea Pizzitola and Harrison Newey claiming a hard fought victory in the 4 Hours of Fuji. 

Starting the race in the #24 Ligier JS P2 Judd, Harrison Newey took the lead into the first corner. He held the lead until a well-timed pit call from the United Autosports team saw the pole sitting #22 Ligier JS P2 Nissan with Phil Hanson behind the wheel get the jump on the #24. 

The battle between the pair continued throughout the race before a safety car period with just 30 minutes to go bunched the field up. At the restart the #24 with Andrea Pizzitola behind the wheel was just in front of Paul Di Resta in the #22 and the battle just intensified. It was Andrea and Algarve Pro Racing that held on to claim the victory, with Paul and United Autosports team in second.  

In third place, and taking the win in LMP2 Am was ARC Bratislava in a impressive comeback drive. Early in the race the #4 ARC Bratislava Ligier JS P2 dropped back after an incident saw Miro Konopka tangle with another competitor. Ling Kang put in a solid middle stint to help the team climb up the order. After the safety car, and with Darren Burke driving, they closed the gap to the class leading #23 United Autosports Ligier JS P2 Nissan. After another tight battle, Darren caught and passed the #23 to claim 3rd place outright and the LMP2 Am trophy win. 

In LMP3, just as in the Agile 4 Hours of Shanghai, it was the #65 Viper Niza Racing Ligier JS P3 of Nigel Moore that got the jump on the field again, running as high as 3rd outright in the opening stages of the race.

Ultimately the battle for the LMP3 class victory came down to the final moments of the race. After leading the class towards the end of the race thanks to a well-timed pitstop to change to slick tyres, the safety car proved to be poorly timed for Martin Hippe in the #13 Inter Europol Competition Ligier JS P3. After the race resumed, he had the #3 United Autorsports Ligier JS P3 of Kay van Berlo right on his tail. The battle between the two once the racing resumed was tight, with Kay getting the jump early, but Martin refused to give up, fighting for the position until the end of the race. 

In the end it was Kay that took the victory by just 3.5 seconds, with Martin taking second. In third place was the #79 Ecurie Ecosse / Nielsen Racing of Antony Wells and Colin Noble. The pair put in a very strong effort to come back from starting at the rear of the grid to claim the final place on the LMP3 podium.

Hometown heroes, Car Guy claimed a very popular victory in front of the Japanese fans in their #11 Ferrari 488 GT3. After contact in the opening stages of the race, the team made an unscheduled pitstop, dropping them well behind the GT field.  Takeshi Kimura, Kei Cozzolino and James Calado all drove strongly during the race, ensuring Car Guy claimed their second GT class victory from the opening two Asian Le Mans Series races. 

In second place was the #51 Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GT3 driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi, Ozz Negri Jr and Francesco Piovanetti. They also had a challenging opening phase of the race after dropping to the back of the order, before fighting their way back, making their second place all the more impressive. 

In third place was the #66 Tian Shi Racing Team, Audi R8 LMS of Xu Wei, Max Wiser and Zhang Ya Qi. They were also the top GT Am entry.

The Asian Le Mans Series now has a month’s break now before the teams head to Thailand for the 4 Hours of Buriram on 12 January, 2019. The race there will be held on the Saturday to coincide with the very popular Children’s Day in Thailand.  

Race results

FIA WEC: Pole postion for Toyota and Aston Martin in Fuji

After a dramatic qualifying session, Fernando Alonso and Sebastien Buemi in the #8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid claimed pole position for their home race in Fuji tomorrow. 

© Joao Filipe/AdrenalMedia.com

Initially, the #7 Toyota of Jose Maria Lopes and Kamui Kobayashi earned pole position when Sebastian Buemi saw his best time being deleted due to track limits violation. But when Lopes entered the pitlane too fast after his flying lap, his only laptime was deleted, forcing them to the back end of the LMP1 grid. An average laptime of 1.23.648 put the #8 on pole then for tomorrow’s race. 

© Rebellion Racing

Quickest of the non-Hybrids and on front row tomorrow was the #1 Rebellion R13 of André Lotterer and Neel Jani with an average time of 1.24.359, 0.711 seconds shy of the Toyota. The #3 sister car of Thomas Laurent and Gustavo Menezes will be third on the grid and ova the #17 SMP Racing BR1 of Egor Ordhzev and Stephane Sarrazin next to them. Row three will be filled by the #11 SMP Racing and the #4 ByKolles Eens CLM/P1 while Dragonspeed will have the second Toyota next to them on the fourth row of the grid. 

After the free practice sessions, the non-hybrid LMP1’s have been given an extra EoT break in a new attempt to make them more competitive against the Toyota’s. The normally aspirated cars (Rebellion, Dragonspeed) now have an increased fuel weight per stint (55,5 kg vs 54,4 kg), the turbo powered LMP1’s (ByKolles, SMP Racing) also got an increased amount of fuel up to 50,3 kg. Also the maximum amount of petrol energy per lap has been increased for all non hybrid cars. 

© Joao Filipe/AdrenalMedia.com

In the LMP2 class, Anthony Davidson and Roberto Gonzalez scored the first pole position in the FIA WEC for Dragonspeed. Their average laptime of 1.28.906 in the #31 Oreca held off both Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca’s; the #38 of Stephane Richelmi and Gabriel Aubry and the #37 of Jazeman Jafaar and Nabil Jeffri.  Championship leaders Signatech Alpine were fourth fastest, TDS Racing completing the top 5 for Oreca once again.  Racing Team Nederland (Dallara) and Larbre Competition (Ligier) took sixth and seventh place. 

© Aston Martin Racing

Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen claimed pole position in the LMGTE Pro class with their #95 Aston Martin,  the first pole position for the new Aston Martin Vantage. With an average laptime of 1.36.093, the “Dane train” outpaced the surprising #82 BMW M8 GTE of Tom Blomqvist and Antonio Felix Da Costa (1.36.275). The second Aston Martin (#97) of Maxime Martin and Alex Lynn took the third sport on the grid and will have the #67 Ford GT of Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell next to them.  Rounding out the top 5 was the first Ferrari, #71 of Davide Rigon and Sam Bird. The Porsches who had been top runners in all practice sessions had a bit a disappointing session, only managing 8th and 10th place on the grid. Qualifying in the Pro class was very close again with all ten cars in just over a second.   

© Porsche

Dempsey Proton Competition scored its second pole in the Super season with the #88  of Matteo Cairoli and Satoshi Hoshino. Quite a debut for the 57 year old Hoshino in the FIA WEC. Their combined average laptime of  1.38.366 was just 0.064 seconds quicker than Pedro Lamy and Paul Dalla Lana in the #98 Aston Martine Vantage. Third fastest was the second Proton Porsche of Matt Campbell and Christian Ried. 

The start for the 6 Hours of Fuji will be given at 11h00 on Sunday morning local time, that’s 4h00 CET so an early morning wake up call if you want to watch the race in Europe (or a short night if you’ve survived Petit Le Mans on Saturday evening/night). 

Friday practice sessions

© Toyota Gazoo Racing

Toyota also set yesterday’s pace with Fernando Alonso (#7) on top of both free practice sessions. Alonso set a best time of 1.23.973 in the afternoon session, just over a second faster than Jose Maria Lopez in the #7 TS050 Hybrid. 

All laptimes in the second session were significantly faster as the morning session was driven on a damp and drying track. Issues with some of the kers disrupted both practice sessions though, both sessions being red flagged for some time to deal with damage to some kerbs which had to be removed. The quickest non-hybrid LMP1 was the #3 Rebellion of Thomas Laurent.  Despite the new BoP which was introduced for the race weekend in Fuji, the gap with the leading Toyota was still just over 1.7 seconds (1.25.697). Jenson Button put his #11 SMP Racing BR1 on fourth place. 

© TDS Racing

In LMP2, Matthieu Vaxiviere set the quickest time over both 90 minute sessions with a 1.30.630.  Vaxiviere’s time was the only one from the first practice session which wasn’t improved in the afternoon session. Freshly crowned Le Mans champions Signatech Alpine Matmut were second fastest, Andre Negrao just 0.050 seconds off the TDS Oreca. Third quickest was Silverstone winner Ho-Pin Tung in the #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing.  Nyck De Vries in the #29 Racing Team Nederland was the fastest non-Oreca driver in sixth place overall. 

© Aston Martin Racing

Nicki Thiim in the #95 Aston Martin Vantage was the man to beat in LMGTE Pro yesterday. His time of 1.37.659 was 0.162 seconds faster than Harry Tincknell in the #67 Ford GT who held off Davide Rigon in the #71 AF Corse Ferrari.  Both Porsches followed in fourth and fifth. Despite their BoP adjustments, the BMW’s didn’t get any further than 8th and 10th on Friday, although all GTE Pro cars were within a margin of 0.845 seconds. 

© Joao Filipe/AdrenalMedia.com

Dempsey-Proton racing set the pace in the LMGTE Am class, with the #77 of Matteo Cairoli quickest in 1.38.989 ahead of Matt Campbell in the #88 sister car. The #61 Ferrari F488 GTE of Keita Sawa was third fastest in the shadow of Mount Fuji, leading the two other Ferrari’s of Spirit of Race and MR Racing. 

Qualifying results LMP1/LMP2
Qualifying results GTE

Results Free Practice 1
Results Free Practice 2
Results Free Practice 3


Kristof Vermeulen.

FIA WEC: 6 Hours of Fuji preview

The FIA World Endurance championship arrives in Japan this weekend for the fourth race of the 2018/2019 Super season. 34 cars are due to start in the seventh edition of the 6 Hour race in the shadow of Mount Fuji. 

Toyota arrives at their home race leading the championship with the #8 TS050 Hybrid of Fernando Alonso, Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima on top with 65 points after 3 races. After Toyota’s disqualification in Silverstone, the Rebellion #3 of Thomas Laurent, Gustavo Menezes and Mathias Beche is now second in the championship, only 2 points behind the leading Toyota.  The #7 Toyota is third with 46 points so far.  Will Rebellion be able to keep up with the Toyota’s this weekend after the updated Balance of Performance (see below) ?  If so, the race for the championship might be open again.

Dragonspeed will run its BR1/Gibson with just two drivers this weekend.  With Henrik Hedman and Pietro Fittipaldi both to miss the 6 hours of Fuji, team regular Ben Hanley will be joined by James Allen.  The 22 year old Australian driver will make hes debut in the LMP1 class after 2 succesful seasons in the ELMS with Graff.  The crew of the #11 SMP Racing is back to its usual line-up with Matevos Isaakyan joining Stéphane Sarrazin and Egor Orudhzev again in the AER powered BR1.  

Oliver Webb in the #4 ByKolles will be joined by Tom Dillman and James Rossiter. Where as the first provisional entry list for Fuji featured one AER powered Ginetta, that car is now gone from the list, the team missing their second race in succession in the championship. 

In LMP2 it’s Signatech Alpine Matmut who arrives in Fuji as championship leaders, after being declared Le Mans winners last week. The #36 Alpine of Nico Lapierre, André Negrao and Pierre Thiriet has a lead of 4 points over the #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing of Silverstone winners Ho-Pin Tung, Gabriel Aubry and Stéphane Richelmi. The second Jackie Chan Oreca, #37, is third in the championship with 61 points. 

TDS Racing has to replace Loic Duval in their Gibson powered Oreca 07 for this weekend, the Frenchman on DTM duty for the season finale at Hockenheim. He will be replaced by Formula E champion Jean-Eric Vergne. There’s also a driver change to be noted at Larbre Competition where Keiko Ihara will race next to Romano Ricci and Erwin Creed in the #50 Ligier.  

The championship lead in the GTE Pro class is for the Porsche #92 of Kevin Estre and Michael Christensen with 71 points. They have a lead of 14 points over Olivier Pla and Stefan Mücke in the #66 Ford GT. The Ferrari #51 of Allesandro Pier Guidi and James Calado are in third positiion so far with 43,5 points. 

Only one driver change to be noted in the GTE Pro class: Augusto Farfus will also race at the DTM finale in Hockenheim and is being replaced by Tom Blomqvist who returns to the #82 after Le Mans. 

Porsche also leads the GTE Am class, with the #77 Proton Competition of Christian Ried, Julien Andlauer and Matt Campbell scoring 76 points so far. The #61 Clearwater Ferrari is second with 43 points, with the Team Project 1 Porsche just 2 points behind.  

Gianluca Roda won’t race the #88 Proton Competition Porsche in the GTE Am class, his place will be filled by Japanese driver Satoshi Hoshino.  Gulf Racing UK also has a new driver in the #86 Porsche: Austrian Thomas Preining will takes Alex Davison’s place and make his debut in the FIA World Endurance Championship.  

Balance of Performance adjustments

In the latest bulletin of the FIA WEC Endurance Commission, several adjustments for the Balance of Performance (BoP) have been announced for the 6 Hours of Fuji this weekend. 

The Toyota TS050 Hybrids will have to carry 26 kg of extra weight with them, now up to a minimal weight of 904 kg, while the non-hybrid LMP1’s have a minimum weight of 818 kg for the atmospheric cars and 833 kg for the turbocharged ones.  It seems as Toyota has given its consent for these adjustments as the regulations for the Super season clearly stated their would be no changes to the specs of the TS050 Hybrid.

The two lap stint advantage over the non-hybrids has also been dropped due to a fuel allocation increase for the non-hybrid cars and adjustments to the refueling restrictors, which should equalize the refueling times for all LMP1’s. 

Both GTE classes also see a few changes in the BoP for Japan. After a difficult start of the season, BMW gains the most in the Balance of Performance adjustments for this weekend.  Their M8 GTE will be 20 kg lighter, an additional increase in turbo boost pressure and a 2 liter fuel capacity increase. 

The Ford GT’s are to receive a weight increase of 18 kg and a small reduction of turbo boost. Porsche also gets a weight increase, although just 2 kg, and a 0.3 mm smaller air restrictor. Both Fords and Porsches also will have one liter less fuel on board. There’s no changes announced for the Astons and Ferrari’s.  In the Am class, the Porsche 911 RSR gets a weight increase of 10 kg.  The “old” Aston Martin Vantages also see their weight increased by an extra 5 kilograms.

Track action starts Friday at 11h00 local time in Fuji. 

Entry List

Timetable

Text: Kristof Vermeulen

Pictures: Kristof Vermeulen & JellyBaby.Media

FIA WEC - 6 Hours of Fuji: Toyota takes 1-2 in wet & foggy home race

What a difference a year makes ... last years race at the foot of Mount Fuji was flawless with 6 hours of uninterrupted racing, this years race saw 6 safety cars and 2 red flags. It's not the first time the 6 Hours of Fuji are hit by bad weather conditions, remember the 2013 monsoon edition. 

This year not only the rain affected the race on Sunday but most of all mist and clouds taking away visibility. Conditions changed by the minute, resulting in multiple safety cars, slow zones and eventually in 2 red flags. An eventful race with the Toyota's taking a 1-2 finish in front of the Porsches, closing down the gap a bit in the manufacturers championship and keeping their title hopes alive. 

© FIA WEC/Adrenal Media

The race got underway behind the safety car for the first five laps, mainly due to restricted visibility on the start/finish straight. When the green flag was waived after 5 laps, there still was a slow zone introduced at the main straight.  Earl Bamber held on to first place in the #2 Porsche, André Lotterer behind him in the #1 Porsche was quickly attacked by both Toyota's. Buemi in the #8 Toyota got past Lotterer in the first lap, but was lucky not to score any damage when both cars touched.  Lotterer lost a dive plane in that incident, and fell back to fourth when Kobayashi got past him.  The German didn't give in to the Toyota, and after some fierce battles in tricky conditions he got back into third. 

 The safety car rolled out again just before the 1 hour mark, as visibility got worse again. This allowed most cars to go for their first pitstop of the race and several driver changes.  Conditions didn't improve, bringing out the first red flag of the afternoon. The #2 Porsche was still in the lead but didn't have a pitstop yet, ahead of both Toyota's. 

The restart was given at 12h50, again with a slow zone between turn 15 and turn 1 as visibility remained a problem on the main straight.  Bamber got straight into the pits for his first stop, handing over the lead to both Toyota's but losing over a minute to the race leaders. Timo Bernhard took over the #2 Porsche but struggled to get heat into his tyres and had almost no grip, causing him to lap 3 seconds slower than the Toyota's who seemed to be in excellent shape.  Minutes before the next safety car he got lapped by Nakajima in the leading #8 Toyota. 

As rain intensified another safety car was rolled out for about 25 minutes, changing the order again in the LMP1 class.  When the safety car got back in & safety zones were removed, Nakajima was leading in the #8 Toyota by 19 seconds from Nick Tandy. All three leading cars kept on racing close to eachother, each leading the race at a certain point during the pitstop cycles.  Meanwhile 2 more safety cars were sent out, the first when Andy Priaulx in the #67 Porsche drove into the leading GTE Pro Porsche and wandered into the barriers afterwards, the second when poor visibility created another yellow zone in the first sector of the track. 

© Toyota Motorsport Gmbh

The poor visibility brought out the second red flag after 4 hours and 24 minutes, freezing all positions. With 30 minutes left visibility was slightly improvoing but still poor. Yannick Dalmas went out in the safety car, taking Gérard Neveu as a passenger to check on the track conditions. A restart behind the safety car was announced, assuming we'd get a 10 minute sprint race to the flag. The conditions got worse again though, and the whole field was led into parc ferme, ending the race about 15 minutes early. 

Toyota scored a well needed 1-2 victory in their home race, with the #8 TS050 Hybrid of Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Anthony Davidson on the top spot of the podium. They also closed the gap in the manufacturers championship down to 39 points with 12 hours of racing to in China and Bahrain. 

In LMP2 the #31 Vaillante Rebellion took its second victory of the season and closes up the gap with the championship leading #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing down to 10 points. The #13 Rebellion sister car had a less succesful Sunday afternoon, spinning in the first corner at the start of the race and going hard into the barriers in the fourth hour of the race after contact with Eric Vergne in the #24 Manor.

Bruno Senna had the best start in the #31, quickly building up a comfortable lead. Behind the Brazilian, the battles for the top 5 were fierce with Nico Lapierre in the #36 Signatech Alpine Matmut charging through the field up to second place. When the first safety car came out, Alex Brundle held on to third in the #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing with the #38 sister car close behind him. As the race was red flagged after 1h20' and after the first sequence of pitstops, the #31 was leading the #38, with the #36 now in third place. 

After the restart the #28 TDS Racing got up to second place due to a different strategy, but still behind the leading Rebellion. The #37 Jackie Chan Oreca would fall down the order complety when electrical gremlins forced them into the garage for repairs. Lots of battles were fought out before the second red flag, with André Negrao fighting back to second in the #36 Alpine.

When the second red flag came out, the #38 DC Racing Oreca was in third place. An order that wouldn't change anymore.  Completing the top 5 were the #28 TDS Racing which was still on route for a strong finish of the race and the #24 CEFC Manor TRS Racing. 

In the GTE Pro class, James Calado & Alessandro Pier Guido took their third won of the season and the lead in the championship after an eventful race. Richard Lietz had the best start leading ahead of Harry Tincknell in the #67 Ford and Pier Guidi in the #51 Ferrari who jumped from fifth to third.  In the second hour of the race, the second Ford GT got into the top 3 when they leapfrogged the #51 Ferrari who pitted just before the red flag. 

When the green flag was waived again, Pier Guidi kept on chasing Makowiecki in the #91 Porsche, and managed to pass the Frenchman with a ballsy move in the chicane, sliding his Ferrari into the lead right before another yellow flag in sector 1 and the second red flag due to a lack of visibility.  As the race wouldn't be green flagged anymore, the #51 took victory, with both Porsches behind; #91 in second and #92 in third.

The Ford #67 had a disastrous race in Japan. It all started with a one minute stop & go penalty for exiting the pit lane under red light. Later on Priaulx tried to unlap himself from Kevin Estre in the leading #92 Porsche but completely missed his braking point, driving into the Porsche. Both cars could drive on, but a puncture and a spin into the barriers ended their race and lost them the lead in the championship.  The Aston Martins struggled for grip and pace on their Dunlops and never even had a chance to get to a podium finish. 

© FIA WEC/Adrenal Media

The #54 Spirit of Race Ferrari of Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci and Miguel Molina took their first ever victory in the FIA WEC yesterday. Keita Sawa in the #61 Clearwater Ferrari led the GTE Am field when the safety car came out for the first time.  When the race was red flagged for the first time they fell back to second behind the #98 Aston Martin which hadn't made a pitstop by then. After the restart the order was shuffled again, the #61 now back up front with the #54 Spirit of Race Ferrari in second and the #77 Dempsey-Proton Porsche in third. 

The #54 ran a faultless race in challenging conditions, getting into first place after the third round of pitstops, leaving the Clearwater Ferrari behind them. The Dempsey-Proton Porsche held on to third place, although an a reasonable distance from both Ferrari's. When the second red flag came out, the first win for the #54 was in the bag. The championship leading #98 Aston Martin had the same problem as the Pro cars all weekend, and finished 2 laps down from the winning Ferrari. 

The fight for the championship is really too close to call now, with all three title contenders within 3 points from eachother. Clearwater has taken the lead again with 149 points, two more than Dempsey-Proton, who are trailed by Dalla Lana & co in the #98 Aston by one point.

The next race for the World Endurance Championship will be held in Shanghai, China on November 3rd.

Race results

Kristof Vermeulen.
Pictures: Lennart Sorth/Club Arnage & Adrenal Media

FIA WEC - 6 hours of Fuji: Porsche claims pole in LMP1 & GTE

Trying to avoid the expected heavy rain, qualifying got underway a bit earlier than planned this afternoon. The GTE cars kicked off todays qualifying session in mixed conditions, but managed to get out with intermediate tyres. By the time the qualifying session for the LMP's got underway conditions got worse again, pulling out the full wets again.

© FIA WEC/Adrenal Media

Frederic Makowiecki and Richard Lietz scored their first pole position of the season in the GTE Pro class with their #91 Porsche 911 RSR. With an average laptime of 1.47.577 they kept both Ford GT's behind them. Andy Priaulx & Harry Tincknell were second fastest, 0.441 seconds behind the Porsche. Stefan Mücke & Olivier Pla parked their #66 Ford on third place, just over half a second behind the #67. The #71 AF Corse Ferrari and #92 Porsche completed the top 5.

© FIA WEC/Adrenal Media

Clearwater racing took their first pole position in the World Endurance Championship, maximising their advantage of track knowledge as the sole Asian team in the class. Weng Sun Mok and Matt Griffin set a time of 1.49.408, holding off Matteo Cairoli & Christian Ried in the #77 Dempsey-Proton Porsche and Pedro Lamy & Paul Dalla Lana in the #98 Aston Martin. The 3 teams battling for the championship on the top 3 spots of the class, GTE Am will be one to watch tomorrow !

Conditions got worse when the LMP cars went on track for their 20 minute qualifying session. Some teams still managed to start on intermediate tyres, but had to switch to full wets early in the session.

The battle for pole position again went on between both Porsche 919 Hybrids, who scored their fourth front row lockout of the season. Brendon Hartley and Earl Bamber took pole position with an average time of 1.35.068, only 28 thousands of a second faster than Nick Tandy (who set the fastest time overall) and André Lotterer.

© FIA WEC/Adrenal Media

The extra point for pole position extends the #2 crews lead in the championship to 52 points. If they finish ahead of the #8 Toyota tomorrow, Timo Bernhard, Earl Bamber and Brendon Hartley will be crowned as the 2017 drivers champions. More good news for Brendon Hartley came out yesterday evening, when STR Toro Rosso announced Hartley as their second driver in next weeks F1 race in Austin. That's 3 different cars in 3 different championships in 3 consecutive weekend for the Kiwi.

Toyota had a frustrating run in qualifying. The #8 TS050 of Sébastian Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima seemed to have the pace to challenge Porsche for pole position, but was delayed in traffic twice, losing out the best performance of their tyres. With an average time of 1.35.355 they qualified third, ahead of the #7 Toyota which struggled for pace and grip on the wet track.

© FIA WEC/Adrenal Media

Vaillante Rebellion also scored a front row lockout in the LMP2 class. Nelson Piquet Jr and David Henemeier Hansson claimed their first pole position of the season in the #13 Oreca 07. With an average laptime of 1.44.196, they were over 0.7 seconds faster than the second Vaillante of Bruno Senna and Julien Canal. Championship leaders Ho-Pin Tung and Thomas Laurent in the #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing took third place in 1.45.078. Austin winners Signatech Alpine put the #36 also on the second row of the grid, the #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing completed the top 5.

This morning, on track action started with a "Circuit Safari" ... The concept: put race fans & media in a bus on the track and release the race cars.  It's kind of a Japanese tradition and has been organised for the first time today during a WEC race. Every team had to send out 1 car on track during the session, but evetually all cars went out for an unprecedented show on the Fuji Speedway.  It certainly made for some unique footage as can be seen below: 

In the third and final practice session, Toyota set the pace again after being quickest in yesterday's afternoon session too. Sébastien Buemi put the #8 TS050 Hybrid on top with a lap of 1.35.414, 0.850 seconds faster than Earl Bamber in the #2 Porsche 919 Hybrid. André Lotterer was fastest again in the #1 Porsche in third, Mike Conway set the best time in the #7 Toyota.

© Toyota Motorsport Gmbh

Jackie Chan DC Racing continued to dominate in the LMP2 class, now with the #37 Oreca 07 of Alex Brundle in 1.43.745. Nelson Piquet Jr came 0.002 seconds short in his #13 Vaillante Rebellion to snatch away the top spot. The second Vaillante Rebellion of Bruno Senna was third fastest, 0.316 seconds behind its sister car.

© FIA WEC/Adrenal Media

Porsche looked strong again in the GTE Pro class, both Richard Lietz (1:47.724) and Fred Makowiecki (1:48.125 ) in the #91 Porsche 911 RSR outpacing the rest of the field. Michael Christensen was third fastest in the #92 Porsche (1:48.358), ahead of Harry Tincknell in the #67 Ford GT. Matteo Cairoli was oustanding in the #77 Dempsey-Proton Porsche in GTE Am, his time of 1.49.387 putting him right in the mix with the Pro cars. Matt Griffin in the #61 Clearwater Ferrari and Francesco Castellacci in the #54 Spirit of Race completed the final top 3 of the morning session.

Fuji post-qualifying press conference

The race is due to start at 11.00h local time tomorrow, unless the weather decides differently.

Qualifying results
LMP1 & LMP2
LM GTE Pro & Am

Kristof Vermeulen.

FIA WEC 2017 - 6 Hours of Fuji: Wet practice on Friday

Wet weather and (very) tricky conditions today for the first free practice sessions ahead of the 6 Hours of Fuji on Sunday. After a rather uneventful first session, the second practice was shortened due to a 50 minute red flag when Vitaly Petrov had a rather big off in his Manor Oreca, requiring repair works to the barriers.

© Porsche

Porsche had the best start of the day with both 919 Hybrids on top of the timetable after the fiirst 90 minute practice session. André Lotterer went fastest in the #1 Porsche in a 1.35.527, beating Earl Bamber in the #2 sister car with 0.133 seconds. Jose Maria Lopez was the fastest Toyota driver, putting the #7 TS050 on third place, just under half a second behind Lotterer. Sébastian Buemi was fourth fastest in the #8 Toyota.

© FIA WEC/Adrenal Media

In LMP2 Alex Brundle got around fastest in his #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca 05 in a 1.42.735. Matthieu Vaxiviere in the #28 TDS Racing was a stong second fastest, 0.490 seconds behind Brundle. The #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing was third fastest in the hands of Ho-Pin Tung, with Ben Hanley in the #24 CEFC Manor TRS Racing behind him. Gustavo Menezes in the #36 Signatech Alpine completed the top 5, 0.992 seconds behind Brundle. 

© Porsche

Porsche not only dominated in LMP1, the GTE Pro class was also the German's territory with both 911's quickest in the morning session. Michael Christensen clocked a 1.47.365 in the #92, giving him an advantage of 0.252 seconds ahead of Richard Lietz in the #91 sister car. Both AF Corse Ferrari's followed the Porsches, Davide Rigon third fastest in the #71 (1.47.627), Alessandro Pier Guidi fourth in the #51 488 GTE. Ford took fifth and sixth place, the Aston Martins struggled for pace in the bad conditions, giving in over 5 seconds compared to the top runners.

© FIA WEC/Adrenal Media

Ferrari was on top of the GTE-Am class, Miguel Molina fastest in 1.47.655 in the #54 Spirit of Race, 0.591 seconds ahead of Matt Griffin in the #61 Clearwater Ferrari. The pink #77 Dempsey-Proton Porsche came in third fastest with Matteo Cairoli behind the wheel. 

Take a lap around the Fuji Speedway with Sébastian Buemi and Allan McNish

The second session was even wetter than the first session with heavy rain falling down on the track.  15 minutes into the session, Vitaly Petrov went hard into the barriers at the 100R corner, causing the session to be red flagged for about 50 minutes due to repairs to the barries. FP2 turned into a shortened session  in which the fastest times were set early on before the red flag and only 30 drivers set a time. 

© FIA WEC/Adrenal Media

José Maria Lopez was fastest in his #7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid in 1.39.202, over 1.3 seconds ahead of Neel Jani in the #1 Porsche. Kazuki Nakajima went third fastest in the #8 Toyota, with Timo Bernhard behind him in the #2 Porsche. 

© JOTA Sport

Jackie Chan DC Racing was quikest again, but now it was Thomas Laurent in the #38 who set the fastest time. His 1.47.437 was 0.084 seconds faster than Bruno Senna in the #31 Vaillante Rebellion.  Despite his crash, Vitaly Petrov still clocked the third fastest time in the session with 1.48.004. Rounding out the top 5 were Roman Rusinov in the #26 G-Drive and Mathias Beche in the second Vaillante Rebellion (#13).

© FIA WEC/Adrenal Media

Olivier Pla took the top spot in GTE Pro in his #66 Ford GT with a laptime of 1.52.658, holding off both Porsches. Fréd Makowiecki followed close in the #91 Porsche, just 0.052 seconds behind his fellow Frenchman. Kevin Estre was right on the heels of his teammate, 0.009 seconds slower in third place. The first Ferrari was the #51 AF Corse of James Calado in fifth place, both Aston Martins closed the GTE Pro classification this afternoon. 

© FIA WEC/Adrenal Media

In GTE-Am the Clearwater Ferrari of Keita Sawa now was fastest in 1.53.381, even quicker than both AF Corse Pro Ferrari's. Francesco Castellacci in the #54 Spirit of Race Ferrari came in second fastest with Ben Barker behind him in the #86 Gulf Racing UK Porsche. 

Fuji pre-event press conference:

Results FP1

Results FP2

Kristof Vermeulen. 

FIA WEC 2017 - 6 Hours of Fuji: Preview

The FIA World Endurance Championship arrived in Japan this week for the seventh race of the 2017 season in the shadows of Mount Fuji.

The 6 Hours of Fuji is the home race for Toyota Gazoo Racing, not just as the Japanese round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, but also because the Higashi-Fuji technical centre where Toyota's engine and hybrid systems are being developed, is just a few kilometers from the track.  Since its return to the World Endurance Championship, Toyota has won 5 out of races on their home soil in Japan. The performance gap the TS050 had compared with the Porsche has been significantly reduced in Austin last month, so Toyota will be eager to chase their third win of the season this weekend.

Last years winners Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi are joined by José Maria Lopez this season in the #7 TS050 Hybrid. Anthony Daivdson returns to his driving duties after missing the race in Texas, joining Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima again in the #8 Toyota.

The future of Toyota in the FIA World Endurance Championship remains unclear so far. An announcement is expected for this month, but accoring to the team's latest press release isn't necessarily during the Fuji event.

© Porsche

Porsche arrives in Fuji as leaders in the championship with a total of 242 points, giving them an advantage of 73,5 points over Toyota. The German manufacturer also leads the drivers championship with Brendon Hartley, Earl Bamber and Timo Bernhard who have scored 159 point so far in the #2 919 Hybrid.  Kazuki Nakajima and Sébastien Buemi occupy second place with their #8 Toyota, but are already 51 points behind.

If the trio racing in the #2 Porsche finish ahead of the #8 Toyota, they will be crowned as world champions on Sunday evening. Porsche can also claim their third successive manufacturers championship if they manage to score a fourth one-two victory of the season. To achieve that goal, Porsche will race with the high downforce kit on the 919 Hybrid, which will be tuned towards medium downforce within the prescribed possibilities.

In LMP2 the crew of the #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca will be out for a good finish after 2 disappointing races in the Americas, losing out a lot of their lead in the championship. A season low ninth place finish after a desastrous race in Mexico and a non podium finish in Austin didn't really add to their title challenge. The #31 Vaillante Rebellion scored 40 points in the last 2 races compared to DC Racing's 14, reducing the gap to just 20 points with 3 races to go (130 points vs 110).

Third in the championship is Signatech Alpine Matmut who scored their first victory of the season in Austin and always have been strong in Fuji. The #37 DC Racing Oreca leads the rest of the field in fourth place, but already 33 points behind the Signatech Alpine.

In the drivers championship it's the #38 crew on top of the leaderboard with Ho-Pin Tung, Oliver Jarvis and Thomas Laurent at 130 points. Bruno Senna and Julien Canal share second place with 110 points, ahead of Gustavo Menezes in third with 102 points. Nicolas Prost -who missed out the race in Germany – is fourth with 92 points so far.

One driver change is to be noted compared to Austin last month: James Rossiter replaces Alex Lynn in the #26 G-Drive Racing Oreca.  Rossiter raced with ByKolles earlier in the season in the 6 Hours of Silverstone and Spa. It's unsure if we will see Lynn back at the wheel of the G-Drive after the Fuji round.

Ferrari has been the most succesful team so far in the GTE Pro class with 3 wins out of six races and a 1-2 finish in Texas last month. They lead the manufacturer championship with a total of 203 points, 40 points ahead of Ford in second place.  Finishing first and second in Austin last month has certainly boosted their confidence, opening the road to the 2017 championship for Ferrari.

Ford looked strong in the beginning of the season, but struggled for pace since the 6 hours of the Nürburgring. Fuji might be a turning point for Porsche though, since they dominated the race last year, taking the two top spots of the podium.  With 163 points, the American team is just one point ahead of Aston Martin that won at Le Mans and Mexico and has been closing the gap with Ford in the past races. Porsche has collected podium places in almost every race since Le Mans, and is now fourth in the championship, just 4 points shy of Aston (157 points).

Ford might have lost touch with Ferrari in the manufacturers championship, in the drivers championship, they still hold the lead with Andy Priaulx and Harry Tincknell in the #67 Ford GT. The Brits have collected 102 point so far and are leading Fréd Makowiecki and Richard Lietz in the #91 Porsche with 6 points (92).  Davide Rigon is third in the championship with 95,5 points, half a point ahead of his co-driver Alessandro Pier Guidi in the #51 Ferrari.  The drivers of the second Ferrari (#71) James Calado and Sam Bird are tied with Pier Guidi in fourth place with 95 points. Rounding out the top five are defending champions Marco Sorensen & Nicki Thiim in the #95 Aston Martin, both with 81 points.

Daniel Serra won't be racing with Aston Martin anymore this season. The #97 Vantage now also features a two driver line-up with Darren Turner and Jonny Adam for the remainder of the year.

The fight for the championship in the GTE Am class has been very close all season long so far and will be a 3 car battle for the remaining races of the season.  Championship leaders Dalla Lana, Lamy and Lauda dominated the race in Suzuka last season, putting evey other car in class a lap behind after 6 hours. Winning again this weekend could give them a bit of breathing space in a so far thrilling championship.

FIA WEC debutants Clearwater Racing had the best start of the season with an unexpected win at Silverstone.  After Le Mans, in which non of the full season entrants managed to finish on the podium, Aston Martin and Porsche have been in a close battle for the lead in the 2017 championship, both winning 2 races so far.

Winning in Austin last month gave the #98 Aston Martin of Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy and Mathias Lauda the lead again in the championship with a total of 136 points. Out of the 6 races which have been run so far in the 2017 championship, the trio scored 5 pole positions, only missing the top spot of the grid in Mexico. Despite an unlucky race in Austin, the #77 Dempsey – Proton Racing Porsche still holds on to second place with a combined total of 132 points, just 4 points behind the Aston.  A very close third is the #61 Clearwater Racing Ferrari with 130 points after being able to score points in each race.

The #54 Spirit of Race Ferrari (77 points) and #66 Gulf Racing UK Porsche (61 points) complete the leaderboard in the GTE Am class, but too far behind for a top spot by the end of the season.

In the drivers championship Dalla Lana, Lamy and Lauda are leading with 130 points, 4 points ahead of Christian Ried, Marvin Dienst and Matteo Cairoli. Keita Sawa, Matt Griffin and Weng Sun Mok are third with 116 points.

The #77 Dempsey-Proton Porsche of Christian Ried, Matteo Cairoli and Marvin Dienst will race in a distinctive pink livery in Fuji this weekend, in support of the Pink Ribbon foundation for breast cancer awareness. In the other Porsche in the AM class, the #96 Gulf Racing UK, Mike Hedlund replaces Mike Wainwright. Hedlund has race with one of the Dempsey-Proton Porsches at Le Mans this year, finishing ninth in the Am class.

Track action starts in Japan on Thursday morning at 11.00h with the first 90 minute practice session for the World Endurance Championship.

Useful links: 

Timetable
Provisional Entry list
Spotter Guide


Kristof Vermeulen.