24h Le Mans
After a summer hiatus, FIA World Endurance Championship action kicks offs again in a few days with the 6 Hours of Fuji. Thirty-six cars will take the track for the fifth race of the year.
The circuit in Fuji will host FIA WEC competitors this weekend for the first time since 2019. Thirty-six cars are set to take the start: five in the Hypercar class, 13 in LMP2, five in LMGTE Pro and 13 in LMGTE Am.
In the Hypercar class, look for the duel to get back underway between TOYOTA GAZOO Racing and Alpine Elf Team, as Peugeot TotalEnergies takes advantage of precious in-race track time for the new 9X8. Toyota is currently the leader in the FIA Endurance Hypercar Manufacturers classification, 15 points ahead of Alpine. Team principal and #7 GR010 Hybrid driver, Kamui Kobayashi: "Missing out on the win at Monza was disappointing, but we didn’t have the pace. We need to be stronger in Fuji. Of course, our target as a team is to retain both world championships, therefore we want to win this weekend. Our competition is strong and it will be another challenging race, but that helps us to become better as a team. We will do our very best to be back [on] the podium in front of our home fans.”
Two driver changes have been announced in LMP2: René Rast (otherwise engaged in the DTM grand touring car series) has been replaced by Dries Vanthoor in WRT's #31 ORECA 07-Gibson, and Renger van der Zande will take Nico Müller's spot in Vector Sport's #10 ORECA.
The LMGTE Pro class will see two Porsche 911 RSR-19s, two Ferrari 488 GTE Evos and a Corvette C8.R battle it out for a podium finish. Porsche is the current leader in the FIA Endurance GT Manufacturers standings, 14 points ahead of Ferrari.
Expect plenty of action in LMGTE Am with 13 cars competing in the class.
Click for the 6 Hours of Fuji entry list.
The winners of the 2019 6 Hours of Fuji: the #8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid of Buemi/Nakajima/Hartley overall, Racing Team Nederland's #29 ORECA 07-Gibson in LMP2, Aston Martin Racing's #95 Aston Martin Vantage AMR ahead of Porsche GT Team's #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 in LMGTE Pro and TF Sport's #90 Aston Martin Vantage AMR driven by Salih Yoluc/Charles Eastwood/Jonathan Adam in LMGTE Am.
The start of the 2022 6 Hours of Fuji will be given on Sunday 11 September at 11:00 local time.
