The #8 Audi R18 leads the 6 Hours of Fuji after an hour of racing, but only just, with the #6 Toyota breathing down its neck after the first round of pit stops. The #1 Porsche sits third.
Jarvis led almos the entire hour, with little competition until just after the first set of stops when Mike Conway emerged ahead of the #8 after climbing aboard the #6 Toyota following a very impressive stint from Kamui Kobayashi. But Jarvis was quick to pounce, taking the lead once again on the exit of Turn 1, catching the Brit napping.
Kobayashi actually slipped to fourth at the start though, and had to fight back to get to second, with Benoit Treluyer in the #7 Audi getting past at Turn 1.
The time spent in contention for the win for the #7 didn’t last though, as a hybrid issue forced the Frenchman into the garage, after he complained over the radio of a strange noise under braking following a slow lap. From there Kobayashi went on to take second off Mark Webber in the #1 Porsche halfway through the hour.
In LMP2 meanwhile, the G-Drive Oreca of Will Stevens built up a healthy lead of over five seconds by the end of the pit cycle, after some superb racing took place behind.
Second after 60 minutes was the #44 Manor Oreca which had to fight hard with the #31 ESM Ligier of Ryan Dalziel during a five-way scrap for second in the class. But the running order was turned upside down after first set of stops.
Third in the class was eventually taken by the Strakka Gibson of Johnny Kane ahead of the #36 Alpine which ran second during for much of the opening stint.
The racing in LMP2 was actually the highlight of hour 1, with Nicolas Lapierre having to defend hard in the Alpine from Filipe Albuquerque in the RGR Sport Ligier which slipped to fifth after its driver change, and the #30 ESM Ligier of Antonio Giovanazzi, that after a slow stop emerged from the pits eighth.
GTE Pro was all Ford to open the race, with the #66 of Olivier Pla slipping to second from pole in the opening scramble, giving way to the #67 GT of Harry Tincknell who held onto the lead for the rest of the hour.
Behind the Ford 1-2 was the #51 and #71 AF Corse Ferraris which ran close, and in fact too close at one point when there was contact between them, holding onto third and fourth.
The #98 Aston Martin leads Am ahead of the hard-charging #83 Ferrari which had Manu Collard in at the start, getting past the Larbre Corvette of Ricky Taylor with a bold move up the inside into Turn 1.
