The #85 Iron Dames Porsche 911 RSR GTE-Am crew are “still hungry” for their maiden World Endurance Championship victory, after finishing fourth at the 6 Hours of Fuji.

The female-driven team secured their fifth successive top-five finish at the penultimate round of the 2023 calendar, at Fuji Speedway.

Qualifying featured a close battle between Iron Dame Sarah Bovy, and Corvette Racing’s Ben Keating.

Eventually, it was the General Motors outfit who qualified on pole with a final flying lap of 1:33.338, narrowly beating Bovy’s pace of 1:33.373 which put them second on the grid.

After fighting with them during the opening stages of the race, and although the #33 Corvette C8.R served a drive-through penalty, the Iron Dames’ Porsche could not match the 30 extra minutes of fuel saving Keating had accomplished.

“We can be happy today with P4 and with everything we have done together,” said Bovy.

“Of course, the podium was very close, and we were hoping for it at some point.

“At the end we showed that the pink car was fighting at the front of the race, all race, like through all of the WEC season.

“For sure we will once more try to chase for that first victory in Bahrain which is a track that we like a lot.

“We will leave Fuji with a taste for a bit of redemption.”

With two pole positions this season – at Sebring and Monza – in addition to three second-placed qualifying performances, the team have yet to finish on the top step of a WEC GTE podium, but they did achieve the feat last year in the European Le Mans Series.

Rahel Frey added: “We can be quite happy with P4 in the end and with good points for the championship as we made the gap to P3 bigger.

“For sure we are still hungry for a win. We will try one more time in Bahrain.”

Michelle Gatting said: “We knew from last year that the Fuji race wouldn’t be the strongest one for the Porsche.

“Finishing P4 is a solid performance, and it means important points for the championship. 

“We look forward to going to Bahrain and to end our season on a high.” 

Their P4 finish moved the three drivers up to second place in the GTE-Am championship, with Corvette having already sealed the Teams’ championship at Monza, and will do so with the Drivers’ championship in Bahrain.

The 8 Hours of Bahrain will conclude the 2023 season – an endurance challenge with heat, humidity, and the desert dust pushing cars to the limit.

Reliability has been one of the strong points for the Iron Dames, and so Bahrain will require even more patience than the Fuji race.

It will mark their final chance this year to claim their first-ever WEC race victory, but will they be able to overcome the might of Corvette Racing, who do not seem to let their guard down as on-track rivals?

WRT’s Louis Deletraz, part of the driving squad for the #41 Oreca 07-Gibson, which won the FIA World Endurance Championship’s 6 Hours of Fuji, was pleased about the victory as Team WRT extended their lead in the LMP2 championship standings.

After qualifying in second place with a 1:32.273 lap time, the two-time European Le Mans Series champion asserted strong pace after the LMP2 qualifying session was closely fourth against United Autosports.

The Swiss driver recognised expectations were surpassed regarding the #41’s title fight against the #34 Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07.

Along with Rui Andrade and 2021 ELMS title partner Robert Kubica, they climbed their way to a victory, after the Hypercar drama in front of them meant Andrade sought for P6.

After the #41’s first pit stop, they went into fourth position as Robert Kubica, along with the sister #31 WRT of Ferdinand Habsburg, battled with United Autosports who also asserted strong form with both of their LMP2 Orecas.

Deletraz said: “The team did a strong job in the pits, and we did a clean job on the track. I tried to save fuel, this worked and allowed us to take the lead in the pits.

“It’s not sealed for the championship, we still have to finish the job and we know since Le Mans 2021, it is never done until it’s done, but we are in a better position than expected ahead of the last race.”

“I am really happy, it was an amazing job by the team and we just missed a one-two,” said Andrade, as WRT claimed a 1-3 finish in LMP2.

“We extended our lead in the championship and are in a more comfortable situation.

“The car has been strong all year, so it’s looking good. Now it’s time to enjoy the moment, take some rest and focus on Bahrain.”

Kubica added: “It wasn’t an easy weekend with the changing conditions, but today we took the right decisions, we executed well, we managed to come back and to win.

“It is important to stay in front of our main rivals, and we are in a good position ahead of Bahrain.

“I am happy to continue the string of podium finishes in such a competitive field. This highlights the quality of the work and the approach.”

They now reside on 135 points in the LMP2 standings, with the #34 Inter Europol Competition taking only two points from their P9 finish, thus putting their championship total so far to 102 – just one point ahead of the #22 United Autosports crew.

At the 8 Hours of Bahrain season finale on 4 November, 38 points are awarded for the win. For comparison, ninth position is given just three points.

The Le Mans-winning Polish bakery outfit will hope for better fortune in Bahrain, as they have a 33 point gap to close down — that is if United Autosports do not take Inter Europol’s P2 championship spot by scoring higher than them.

The Peugeot Sport team recognised their trouble-free reliability experience for the 9X8 Hypercar, alongside disappointment after an uncompetitive 6 Hours of Fuji, the penultimate race on the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship calendar.

After qualifying towards the rear of the Hypercar field, in positions 10th and 11th, Peugeot secured seventh and eighth after the six-hour race at Fuji Speedway.

This race last year, it was the team’s second race in the WEC with a relatively new Peugeot 9X8, which showcased gearbox reliability issues after running in the podium positions.

Their #93 and #94 entries made it to the chequered flag with no mechanical issues, although there was a moment when the #60 Iron Lynx had tapped Paul di Resta in the #93 into a 360 degree spin after the Dunlop Chicane.

Olivier Jansonnie, Peugeot Sport technical director, said: “It was a difficult race for us, especially because of the rhythm, that was pretty much the same during the free practices.

“The performance of Porsche surprised us a lot and we were not expecting them at this level, they had a really good race.

“Both our cars ended the race without any mechanical issues which is very satisfying.

“Now we have to find our rhythm, for example, here, we were behind especially in the 3rd sector which prevented us from fighting at the front.

“We will keep working for Bahrain, we have one test session left to try to improve our performance and make progress for the next race.”

“It was quite a frustrating race as we did not have the performance we were expecting today, especially in our car, the #93,” added Mikkel Jenson.

“We need to understand why we were lacking so much rhythm during the race as during the free practices earlier in the week.

“We have a lot of work to do now to improve our performance before the last race of the season.”

At the 6 Hours of Monza, the team had just claimed their maiden World Endurance Championship podium, but were unable to carry their form in Japan.

Porsche Penske were an unexpected rival to Toyota, although their #5 Porsche 963 suffered a power steering failure, in which the power steering unit needed to be replaced.

With Toyota having claimed the 2023 WEC Hypercar Manufacturers’ championship, Peugeot’s attention will be towards a redeeming performance in Bahrain, 4 November, where their #94 9X8 finished fifth in last year’s season finale.

Kamui Kobayashi, Jose Maria Lopez, and Mike Conway have won the FIA World Endurance Championship’s 6 Hours of Fuji for Toyota, after a race-long battle with both the team car, the sister #8 Toyota, and the #6 Porsche 963.

Laurens Vanthoor, who started the #6 Porsche, took the lead at the start, going up the inside of Conway in the pole-sitting Toyota. Conway slipped to third as Miguel Molina, in the #50 Ferrari 499P, went from sixth on the grid to second, although he did make contact with Sebastien Buemi in the #8 Toyota, although no action was taken by the stewards.

After a quick safety car period to recover the stricken Luis Perez Companic in the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo, who had got stuck in the gravel at T1, the race restarted. Conway attempted to pass Molina for P2, but was pushed wise, losing P3 to James Calado in the sister #51 Ferrari.

This put the Toyotas fourth and fifth, once Buemi had cleared Alex Lynn in the #2 Cadillac V-Series.R.

Over the course of the stint, Conway and Buemi battled with Calado, but Calado had the pace to keep the Japanese-German c ars behind. However, Calado began to struggle with tyre wear, and Conway finally overtook his British countryman, with Buemi following through a little while afterwards.

Conway also then got Molina to retake P2, but by this point Vanthoor had a nine second lead. The Belgian then pitted, giving Conway the lead, until the Briton too pitted five laps later.

With the pit stops now shaken out, Vanthoor leads by 17 seconds from Conway, with Buemi third and Antonio Felix da Costa in the #8 JOTA Porsche 963 a surprise fourth, thanks to quick pit work from the JOTA crew. 

At the second hour, Kevin Estre replaced Vanthoor at the wheel of the #6 Porsche, but at this point Lopez, now in the chasing #7 Toyota, was catching the Frenchman. Estre reported an upshift problem on board the Porsche, which may have affected the car’s pace.

However, he retained the lead, even when Lopez had caught up to the back of the Porsche. The two had a fantastic battle as they weaved in and out through the traffic, with the lead ebbing and flowing. Lopez’s Toyota had more pace but not enough to overtake, while Estre couldn’t quite pull away but was doing enough to keep the lead.

The battle between the two leaders enabled Ryo Hirakawa, in the #8 Toyota, to catch both of them, making a two-car battle and three-way fight for the lead. The younger, braver Hirakawa passed Lopez, and then passed Estre with a daring move into the Dunlop Chicane, outbraking the Frenchman as Estre lifted and coasted as he tried to eek out enough energy to finish the lap, upon which he pitted as scheduled, to be replaced by Andre Lotterer.

Hirakawa, now the leader, pitted a few laps later, with Brendon Hartley taking over. Lopez also pitted, with the experienced Kobayashi, the man who’d set the pole lap that Ferrari’s James Calado described to the media as “magical”, now in the #7 Toyota to finish the race.

Hartley led but Kobayashi wasn’t far behind. The Kiwi was struggling with balance problems on board his car, telling his engineers that he had understeer in the slow speed corners and oversteer in thne high speed bits.

The Japanese driver duly caught and passed Hartley, who said on the radio, “if he gets close he can pass”.

Kobayashi used his knowledge of the Fuji Speedway circuit — gained not just from WEC races but from his time racing in the Super Formula and Super GT series — to pull away from Hartley. He wasn’t challenged from thereonin, finishing 38.175 seconds ahead of his teammate at the flag.

Hartley continued to struggle with balance problems for the entire stint, although he managed to nurse his car home almost nine seconds ahead of Lotterer in the #6 Porsche. 

It wasn’t Ferrari’s day at Fuji, finishing fourth and fifth, with Antonio Fuoco bringing home the #50 Ferrari 20 seconds ahead of Alessandro Pier Guidi in the #51.

Calado and Molina sat second and third for much of the first hour, delaying both Toyotas and allowing Vanthoor to pull away in the lead. But the Italian cars once again struggled with high tyre degradation, and once Conway and Buemi got passed towards the end of hour 1, the Japanese-German machines pulled away from the liveried cars, leaving Ferrari to come home a somewhat lonely fourth and fifth, with Fuoco just over a minute behind Kobayashi.

The #38 JOTA Porsche 963 of Antonio Felix da Costa, Will Stevens and Yifei Ye finished sixth, although it could have been much more for the gold-coloured car. An uncharacteristically scrappy opening stint for Antonio Felix da Costa gave the car a drive-through penalty, as a result of hitting an LMP2 when attempting an overtake.

It wasn’t just any LMP2, however — it was JOTA’s other car, the #28 JOTA Oreca 07-Gibson. Previous to taking the penalty, fast pit work by the team enabled Da Costa to get as high as third, but the penalty dropped the car to 10th in class, and from then on it was a recovery drive. 

The two Peugeots were seventh and eighth, Gustavo Menezes in the #94 Peugeot 9X8 followed by the sister #93 car with Jean-Eric Vergne bringing the car home. The two French cars were largely anonymous pace wise, although the leadiung Peugeot only finished a lap down to the Toyotas. Peugeot will also be encouraged by the reliable run for both cars, with the #93 only suffering a small issue mid race.

Neel Jani brought the #99 Proton Porsche 963 home in ninth. Much like JOTA, Proton’s race promised so much more, with Proton running as high as fourth at one point, with Harry Tincknell on board. However, when Tincknell pitted, ready to be replaced by Gianmaria Bruni, the team faced an odd problem the seatbelts, whereby one had bhecome unsecured from the chassis — an obvious safety issue.

Although they managed to fix this, it ended any chance of competing for a better result, and they finished eight laps down after six hours.

The #2 Cadillac V-Series.R of Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Richard Westbrook finished 10th after issues with tyre wear all race, 10 laps down.

Second-placed finishers Phil Hanson, Filipe Albuquerque and Frederick Lubin, in the #22 United Autosports, started on pole, with the WRT behind them. However, the latter slipped down the order, with an early United Autosports 1-2, as the sister #23 car moved up from third on the grid to second. 

This lasted, in fits and bouts, for much of the race. However, as you’d expect from WRT, they were always there or thereabouts, and clever strategy plus excellent driver from all three drivers allowed them to take the win over the Anglo-American squad.

Third was the sister #31 WRT machine, pilotted by Sean Galael, Ferdinand Habsburg, and Robin Frijns. Again they were always there or thereabouts throughout the race, leading at certain points, but didn’t quite have the pace of their teammates.

And in GTE-Am, Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellaci, and Davide Rigon claimed victory in the #54 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo, in yet another close battle with multiple cars, including the team who finished second — the #57 Car Guy Ferrari 488 GTE Evo of Takeshi Kimura, Scott Huffaker and Ritomo Miyata.

For much of the race it looked like the win would once again go the way of the #33 Corvette C8.R crew of Ben Keating, Nico Varrone, and Nicky Catsburg. Keating somehow managed to save 30 minutes of fuel compared to the other cars in his car — something he attributed to right-foot braking and coasting down the downhill sections of the undulating Fuji circuit — but a penalty for a clash with the eventual class-winning Ferrari put paid to hopes of a win, with the yellow American Corvette eventually taking third.

The #8 Toyota GAZOO Racing Hypercar entry of Brendon Hartley held the lead after four hours of racing at the 6 Hours of Fuji, continuing their efforts against the #6 Porsche Penske machine in the fight at the front.

The fight for the lead continued with the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid and the #5 Porsche 963, as Jose Maria Lopez took over the #7.

Meanwhile the #99 Proton Competition Porsche Hypercar faced a challenging driver change during a pit stop, with Gianmaria Bruni taking over from Harry Tincknell. Specifically, there was a problem with the racing harness not tightening up, and thus was put into the garage to repair it.

In GTE-Am, Corvette Racing were awarded a 30-second stop and go penalty for contact earlier in the race with the #54 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE, which required a side-door replacement due to a broken leader light system.

Kevin Estre in the #6 Porsche Penske Hypercar was temporarily struck with a shifting problem, as across the field, drivers were tackling tyre management dilemmas as they were exceeding track limits.

In GTE-Am, the Iron Dames enjoyed a lead after qualifying second on the grid yesterday as the #3 Corvette C8.R which was in front of them served their penalty, although Ben Keating impressively managed to save almost 30 minutes of fuel in comparison to the other GTEs.

Kevin Estre in the #6 Porsche and Lopez in the #7 Toyota continued to fight, as by the end of the third hour, Lopez ran slightly further before he pitted too.

The pair closed back up after Lopez pitted, and the Toyota GAZOO Racing pit crew solely changed the left side tyres, and Lopez emerged just behind Estre on pit exit.

Joao Paulo de Oliveira in the Vanwall tapped the #23 United Autosports Oreca 07, driven by Ben Hanley, on the right rear corner thus sending Hanley into a spin from the light contact. The #4 Vanwall was later awarded a drive-through penalty for this manoeuvre.

The lead fight became more intense as Lopez chased down Estre, and hung onto the tail of the Porsche as they both negotiated GTE traffic.

Despite the dirty air brought on by the backmarker congestion, they continued nose-to-tail with Estre showcasing his vast traffic management experience as a 24 Hours of Nurburgring winner.

For eighth place in Hypercar, Paul di Resta in the #83 Peugeot 9X8 passed Richard Westbrook’s #2 Cadillac V Series.R after the latter driver ran wide at Turn 1.

Ryo Hirakawa in the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid then joined the lead fight, sticking behind Lopez and eventually passing the Argentinian, as Estre began building a gap.

In GTE-Am, Scott Huffaker in the #57 Kessel Racing Ferrari duelled with the #98 Northwest AMR Aston Martin of Daniel Mancinelli, and thus the #57 took third.

Hirakawa’s efforts continued when Lopez let him passed, and shortly passed Estre with a tactical move into the Dunlop Chicane after the Porsche driver put a lengthy defense on Lopez earlier, before Andre Lotterer took over from Estre in the #6 seat during a pitstop.

At the four-hour mark, the Toyotas lead #8 to the #7 of Kamui Kobayashi, as Lotterer held third in Hypercar.

In LMP2, Louis Deletraz in the #41 Team WRT led ahead of both United Autosports cars, #22 to #23.

GTE-Am had the #85 Iron Dames lead comfortably over the #3 Corvette, as the #77 Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR was third after the pit stop cycle.

Mikkel Jensen of the #93 Peugeot 9X8 suggested rain could give Peugeot a promising chance in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s 6 Hours of Fuji, following a difficult qualifying run by the French manufacturer.

During qualifying, where the final session is a 15-minute outing for the Hypercar class, rain returned onto the Fuji Speedway track surface just three minutes before the end, causing tyre management difficulties for Peugeot with limited ability to match the front runners.

Whilst Toyota claimed 1-2, Peugeot finished in 10th and 11th places, only surpassing the Vanwall for qualifying position in the Hypercar class.

Jensen, who qualified the #93 in 11th, said: “We had very tricky conditions for the qualifying and we struggled with our tyre pressure.

“It was very hard in these conditions, but the race is six hours so tomorrow will be different.

“The conditions might be different as well and our guys showed to be quite good in the wet so if it does rain, I think it could play in our favour so we will see how it goes tomorrow.”

Jean-Marc Finot, Stellantis’ Motorsport Senior Vice President, consolidated: “Our qualifying session did not meet our expectations, we finished P10 and P11.

“We struggled to get our tyres in the right window for both our cars and in particular the #94 which had a lock up and we had to change the tyres.

“When it started to rain, it prevented us from setting better lap times.

“The stakes will be different tomorrow during the race and the difficulties we faced during the qualifying won’t be the same.”

Hypercar qualifying initially started well for Peugeot, until both cars had their fourth lap times deleted due to exceeding track limits, with race control declaring the track wet beforehand due to dampness from rain earlier in the day.

The slick compound on a damp track made issues with increasing their tyre pressure and temperature to optimal qualifying shape, before the rain noticeably increased in presence in the final few minutes.

However, their pace during a rain-stricken FP1 showed promise for Peugeot, as the #93 9X8 did provisionally claim the fastest lap in the hands of Paul di Resta, before Porsche and Ferrari asserted pace for the remainder of the session, as times quickened up because of the track surface drying out.

The weather forecast for the race predicts a dry, hot and humid six-hours, with rain most likely to come within the final couple of hours.

Factors such as fuel, strategy and tyre management will be considered crucial for the race, in order for Peugeot to claim strong finishing positions.

WEC’s penultimate round of the 2023 season commences on Sunday 10 September, from 3 am UK time.

Phil Hanson, of the #22 United Autosports Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2, was thrilled with his first ever FIA World Endurance Championship pole position ahead of Sunday’s 6 Hours of Fuji.

For the sixth and penultimate round of the 2023 season, United Autosports’ Hanson claimed his maiden LMP2 pole position in qualifying earlier today, with a time of 1:32.182.

The 24-year-old has been with the Leeds-based team since 2018 where he competed in United’s first 24 Hours of Daytona, in addition to his first full-time European Le Mans Series campaign.

His first full WEC season with United Autosports marked his maiden WEC LMP2 title with teammates Filipe Albuquerque and current Peugeot Hypercar driver Paul di Resta.

“Really happy with pole position today, especially at Fuji where we haven’t been the strongest in the past,” Hanson reflected after the session.

“So to come here and be as competitive as we have been, and ultimately to put it on pole … and for me to be the one who did it … I’m incredibly grateful and very happy with the job I’ve done.

“I’ve got confidence in the car for tomorrow but with all the mixed conditions and lack of long running, I think there’s going to be a bit of learning.

“But I think we’ve got a good package, and starting from pole is the first piece of the puzzle to the ultimate reward at the end, which is our only goal and ambition tomorrow.”

LMP2 was a closely-matched field in qualifying, with the Vanwall Hypercar team starting behind them.

Moreover, such rivals as the #28 JOTA and the #41 Team WRT entries will be keen to grasp the lead off the #22, with a mixed array of conditions thus far in the race weekend.

The #22 crew of Phil Hanson, Filipe Albuquerque and Frederick Lubin will target the car’s second win after their first at the Sebring season-opener.

Sunday’s six-hour race will commence from 3 to 9 am UK time.

Kamui Kobayashi of the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid set the quickest lap time in the third and final free practice session ahead of qualifying for the 6 Hours of Fuji.

Proceedings began in damp conditions with fog ever present, so intermediate tyres were initially used before the track evolved and became drier.

High humidity during final free practice for the FIA World Endurance Championship’s 6 Hours of Fuji, hitting 89% during the one-hour session.

The running was smooth and continued, apart from minor contact between the Le Mans-winning #34 Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07 LMP2 of Fabio Scherer and the #54 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo at Turn 1.

The pair made contact at the acute hairpin which resulted up with a rear-right puncture for the #54 and was nursed back to the pits.

Scherer admitted it was his mistake after exiting the pits on cold tyres, misjudging his braking point. A drive-through penalty has been awarded which will be suspended until the Bahrain season finale.

With qualifying as the next session, teams and drivers focussed on preparing for the fast-paced sessions which would determine their grid position ahead of tomorrow’s penultimate round of the WEC.

This meant that some teams opted for more track time for all besides one of their three drivers.

In Hypercar, there were several cars trading the top spots as lap times were close to one another, and the fastest ones being set later when the track was at its utmost evolution.

By the end, it was Kobayashi for the #7 Toyota GAZOO Racing entry who set a fastest time of 1:30.068, ahead of the #94 Peugeot 9X8 which finished in second place as Loic Duval set a best time of 1:30.476.

Third in Hypercar was the #38 Team Jota Porsche 963, Hybrid which set a quickest time of 1:30.501 in the hands of Antonio Felix da Costa.

Behind was the other #93 Peugeot, which claimed the team’s first podium finish last time out at the 6 Hours of Monza, and finished with a fastest time of 1:30.695 by Mikkel Jensen.

Fifth place was occupied by the other customer Porsche 963 of #99 Proton Competition which set a fastest time of 1:30.710 by Harry Tincknell, ahead of the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 499P which did a 1:30.798 from James Calado.

The other #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid finished in seventh place when Ryo Hirakawa, a two-time champion in Super GT and reigning WEC champion, put a 1:30.826 lap time.

In eighth was the #2 Cadillac Racing entry, with Alex Lynn who set their fastest time of 1:30.914.

Both Porsche Penske entries rounded out the top-10, with the #5 followed by #6 car.

LMP2 was topped by the #23 United Autosports crew, as Olly Jarvis set their fastest time of 1:34.258.

Alpine came second which came from Matthieu Vaxiviere who posted a 1:34.595.

Third place in the LMP2 class was occupied by other #22 United Autosports machine, with their Phil Hanson putting a best lap of 1:34.608.

In fourth was the #10 Vector Sport after Gabriel Aubry posted their fastest time of 1:34.719, followed by Ben Viscaal’s 1:34.777 in the #9 Prema Racing.

Despite the small altercation with the LMP2 earlier in the session, the #54 AF Corse was fastest in the GTE-Am field.

Davide Rigon set a quickest lap time of 1:39.074, followed closely by home-favourites #777 D’station Racing who completed a fastest time of 1:39.260 in the hands of Tomonobu Fujii.

The #77 Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR GTE which went fastest in FP1 was third, as the #33 Corvette Racing of Nicky Catsburg put a quickest time of 1:39.690.

In fifth spot was the #57 Kessel Racing Ferrari in which Ritomo Miyata drove their fastest time of 1:39.705.

Next will be the qualifying session, which will take place from 06.40 am to 07.45 am as each class will receive its own session as per usual.

Antonio Fuoco set the fastest lap time in a rain-struck opening free practice session in the #50 Ferrari 499P at Fuji, with a 1:53.649 over the 36-car World Endurance Championship field.

The first free practice session at Fuji Speedway began in wet conditions, and later in the 1-hour and 30-minute session, the track dried up as the surface became quicker to drive on.

Despite Typhoon Yun-yeung posing a potential threat to the running of the session, proceedings started on time and the running took place without drama nor any notable incidents.

A full-course yellow was deployed at the 1-hour point, which was purely procedural as opposed to the result of any incident.

As the track surface dried late into the session, several Hypercars traded the top spot on the time sheets, as they made the switch from wet to slick tyres.

Behind Antonio Fuoco, who has claimed two pole positions for Ferrari AF Corse’s first Hypercar season, was their sibling #51 Ferrari 499P which was over 2.6 seconds behind with a 1:38.258 by Antonio Giovinazzi.

Peugeot’s #94 9X8 was third in Hypercar, after Gustavo Menezes drove a fastest lap time of 1:38.693.

In fourth and fifth spots are the two Porsche Penske Motorsport entries, the #6 Porsche 963 with Laurens Vanthoor behind the wheel putting a 1:38.729 over the #6 963 in which Michael Christensen had been fastest.

Sixth and seventh spots were taken by the two Toyota GAZOO Racing home-favourites, with Mike Conway in the #7 GR010 Hybrid, ahead of the #8 with Brendon Hartley four-hundredths of a second behind on a 1:39.291.

Paul di Resta put the #93 Peugeot eighth-fastest with a time of 1:39.309, in the car which claimed the manufacturer’s maiden WEC podium last time out at Monza.

Rounding off the top-10 in Hypercar is the #2 Cadillac Racing machine in the hands of Alex Lynn, and the #99 Proton Competition Porsche 963 who made their Hypercar debut at the 6 Hours of Monza.

JOTA were fastest in the LMP2 category, after Oliver Rasmussen put in a late lap of 1:40.781 to go faster than the team’s Hypercar entry, and nearly two seconds ahead of the second-placed #9 Prema Racing Oreca 07-Gibson, where Filip Ugran set their fastest time.

Ben Hanley, who is taking place for Tom Blomqvist this weekend, put the #23 United Autosports entry third in LMP2 with a 1:42.924.

Fourth and fifth in the class were claimed by the #10 Vector Sport of Gabriel Aubry, and the #34 Inter Europol Competition of Albert Costa.

The largest lead difference was in the GTE-Am category, as Mikkel Pedersen lead the way in the #77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19, with a 1:43.538.

Almost four seconds behind this time, Davide Rigon landed second place in GTE-Am in his #54 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo, running a fastest time of 1:47.198.

Third spot in the GTE-Am category was claimed by Alessio Rovera in the #83 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari, after setting a 1:47.250.

Behind him were D’station Racing in their #777 Aston Martin Vantage AMR, which set a 1:47.493 in the hands of Casper Stevenson, at the beginning of their home race weekend.

Rounding off the top-five in GTE-Am were Northwest AMR, who completed a fastest time of 1:47.752 with thanks to Daniel Mancinelli.

The second free practice session will take place today at 7.30 am UK time, with more rain forecast and thus casting doubt into its planned running.

After a two month wait, the FIA World Endurance Championship is back at Fuji Speedway later this week, and there are several talking points to be shared ahead of an exciting penultimate round of the 2023 season.

The circuit marks its 60th anniversary this year, and will host an exciting weekend of WEC action in the presence of the famous Mount Fuji.

As the sixth and penultimate round of the 2023 schedule, more is at stake within the championship standings as we approach the season finale, whereby Hypercar and LMP2 champions will be definitively crowned, as Corvette Racing effectively secured the GTE-Am titles.

Amidst the prolonged wait since Monza in July, there are still several talking points to consider for what should be an exciting weekend in the land of the rising sun.

Toyota as the ones to beat in Hypercar

So far this year, the increased Hypercar competition has put on a thrilling show during the races, as the fight for the win is less predictable and showcases the work of notable drivers who stand out from the tightly matched field.

Last year, the WEC returned to Japan for the first time since 2019, during which the Covid-19 pandemic had made it unfeasible on a logistical level to make a stop in Japan.

Toyota won last year’s race on home territory, securing their eighth win in nine total WEC Fuji appearances, an impressively consistent record at their home venue.

Their only Hypercar rivals last year, however, were the grandfathered Alpine A380 – the former Rebellion R13 LMP1 car – and a relatively new Peugeot 9X8, which arguably dampened Toyota’s glory on the lack of competition.

But this year, although Ferrari won at Le Mans, it has become clear that the Toyota GR010 Hybrid was the Hypercar which set the pace over everyone else. Accordingly, at Fuji, Toyota are the ones to beat.

After their Monza win, Toyota’s #8 crew of Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa lead the Hypercar standings on 115 points, ahead of the second-placed #7 crew of Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Jose Maria Lopez on 92 points.

Toyota currently lead the manufacturers standings on 152 points as both their cars have delivered strong performances in tandem with one another, however Ferrari are behind them on 126 in total.

The Le Mans-winning #50 crew (Alessandro Pier Guidi, Antonio Giovinazzi and James Calado) sit on identical points with the #7 Toyota, as their sister #51 Ferrari 499P sits behind on 85 points.

Their aim to win on home ground at Monza did not come to fruition thanks to the #7 Toyota’s strong pace throughout, although claiming the maximum double-points from Le Mans has certainly boosted their chances in overcoming the Toyota dominance in odds to other Hypercar competitors.

The top six in the Hypercar standings are in the mathematical run for the Hypercar Drivers’ Title, however the number of contenders will reduce after Fuji to only those within a 39-point margin to the #8.

Needless to say, both Ferraris and Toyotas are the favourites heading into this penultimate race and will need to conduct utmost effective fuel and tyre strategies.

For Peugeot, it will be an exciting race debut for their reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne as he will step into the #94 for an injured Nico Mueller.

LMP2’s title protagonists

This will be the final visit by LMP2 machinery in the WEC’s selection of categories, with LMP2 only making its appearance at the Le Mans round after the end of this season.

Last year, Team WRT won the race and currently, their #41 Oreca 07-Gibson leads the standings prior to Fuji on 110 points.

Closely behind are a team whose efforts have often gone underrated in the WEC, Inter Europol Competition.

Prior to their maiden Le Mans victory, they had just finished on the podium for the first time at Spa-Francorchamps.

Louis Deletraz, Robert Kubica and Rui Andrade have proven themselves as a strong trio scoring podiums at all five races thus far, although unsurprising for the former drivers who together won the European Le Mans Series title last year.

Albert Costa, Fabio Scherer and Kuba Smiechowski triumphed at the Centenary Le Mans after winning from 13th, and displaying both strong race pace throughout the disruption which the rain caused across the field, and they made it without any reliability woes, a factor which halted a potential win last year when an alternator needed to be replaced.

At only 10 points behind the #41, they will need to score not just a healthy points haul, but to ideally finish ahead of the #41; the greater difference in points between the two cars, the better chance they have at snatching the title lead into the 8 Hours of Bahrain.

The #23 United Autosports trio will be keen to make the most of any incident or reliability woes from the others, and potentially propel themselves into the championship lead.

It is worth considering that in the #23, Ben Hanley will take the place of Tom Blomqvist who is occupied with Indycar duties, and Andrea Caldarelli replaces Mirko Bortolotti in the #63 Prema Racing, who is busy with DTM at the Sachsenring.

The demands of Fuji Speedway

The previous round took place at Monza, a notorious ‘temple of speed’, however prosing tight chicanes which required patience and composure from the drivers in the midst of lapped traffic. An example where this was not applied would be Sebastien Buemi’s ambitious entry into the Ascari chicane, where he made contact with the #777 D’Station Racing Aston Martin Vantage GTE, and ended their Monza race.

Since Fuji is D’Station’s home circuit, their hopes will be high as to perform in front of their home fans, scoring a podium last year behind the Iron Dames and TF Sport. That’s promising for the Aston Martin package, as the Iron Dames are yet to seek their maiden WEC win.

Fuji Speedway boasts a long start-finish straight, followed by the acute Turn 1 hairpin. The width of the circuit enables cars to run two wide easily, with exception to the Dunlop Chicane.

Furthermore, the track is a fast configuration with a technical, tricky final sector. Such highlights, such as the demanding 100R corner, could tempt drivers into going through it aggressively.

As a result, tyre management will be a focus for the drivers, with the fast corners require instinct to judge how much speed is safe for managing optimal tyre temperature and degradation, as 100R is one of nine right-handers around the 16-corner circuit. Meanwhile the final sector requires patience, especially when prototypes lap the GTEs.

The weather is likely to be cloudy but with a high humidity level, which should additionally put drivers under pressure to fight the heat.

A reminder of the schedule

Japan has a time zone of GMT+9, which means the schedule timing is alternate compared to what we are used to with the 2023 schedule stopping in North America and Europe.

The one-and-a-half hour first and second free practice sessions take place in the early hours of the morning in the UK. FP3 (which will be live on the WEC YouTube channel), qualifying and the race which will be broadcasted live, and those are the much-anticipated sessions to watch.

In FP3, teams make their final preparations ahead of qualifying, which is split into three 15-minute sessions for each of the three WEC classes, and so will run qualifying simulation runs in advance of the real thing.

After qualifying, the next day will follow; six hours of daylight racing at Fuji Speedway.