On Saturday, September 26, rain heavily impacted the on-track running. As qualifying began, the FIA WEC soon deemed the conditions too severe to continue with the planned sessions following an early collision involving François Heriau in the No. 21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO during LMGT3 qualifying.
This ultimately resulted in the FIA WEC canceling all qualifying sessions for the 6 Hours of Fuji. It was later confirmed that the race grid would instead be determined by the fastest lap set by each individual car across the three practice sessions held on Friday and Saturday.
MARTINS AND ALPINE ON POLE IN JAPAN!
The cancellation of qualifying puts last year’s 6 Hours of Fuji winners, Alpine Endurance Team, on pole for the first time at Fuji Speedway. The No. 36 Alpine A424 Hypercar will lead the field to green thanks to Victor Martins’ FP2 lap of 1:29.304, which ended up being the fastest time of all Hypercars.
Martins and teammate Jules Gounon will line up P1 on race day, ahead of teammates and last year’s winners Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi in the sister No. 35 Alpine A424.
It’s an Alpine 1-2 after the No. 007 Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH, which was originally set to start on the front row, received a two-place grid penalty. Harry Tincknell accidentally collided with team boss Ian James in the sister LMGT3-entered No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO, dropping the No. 007 Valkyrie to P4.
Alongside Alpine, Genesis Magma Racing is also celebrating a strong result, as the Korean manufacturer secured its best WEC grid start to date. The No. 19 Genesis GMR-001 will line up P3 following Mathieu Jaminet’s impressive FP2 run.
Genesis will have both cars starting inside the top five, with Mathys Jaubert’s No. 18 GMR-001 starting P5 based on his FP2 time. The two Genesis Hypercars will be split by the penalty-hit No. 007 Aston Martin Valkyrie in P4.
Aston Martin’s No. 009 Valkyrie Hypercar will start sixth, ahead of Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA’s No. 38 V-Series.R, which secured P2 last time out at Lone Star Le Mans.
The best of the Toyotas was the No. 8 TR010 Hybrid of home hero Ryo Hirakawa, followed by the No. 93 Peugeot 9X8 and the No. 12 Cadillac V-Series.R, completing the top ten.
FORD MUSTANG BACK ON TOP IN WEC
Ben Tuck takes pole position in LMGT3 in the No. 77 Ford Mustang GT3 EVO after the British driver topped FP2, setting the fastest time on Friday with a 1:39.828 for Ford Racing and Proton Competition.
Tuck’s pole marks the second-ever WEC pole position for the Mustang GT3 after Giammarco Levorato secured the car’s first at COTA last year.
Lining up alongside the Mustang on the front row will be the No. 79 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO, making its second front-row start of the year after also qualifying P2 in São Paulo.
Home manufacturer Lexus will start P3 for the 6 Hours of Fuji following Hadrien David’s FP2 lap in the No. 78 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F GT3.
It’s P4 and P6 for McLaren, as Finn Gehrsitz’s best time for Garage 59 from FP1 puts the No. 58 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo fourth, while the No. 10 McLaren will start sixth. The two McLarens are split by the No. 61 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO in P5.
The No. 87 Akkodis ASP Lexus RC F GT3 starts P7, followed by the No. 34 Racing Team Turkey TF Sport Corvette in P8, the No. 21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari in P9, while the championship-leading No. 33 TF Sport Corvette rounds out the top ten.
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