With the seventh 6 Hours of Fuji fast approaching, it's time to reflet
Over the years, the 6 Hours of Fuji has become an unofficial ‘Blue Riband’ event for the WEC, with big crowds, often great racing and at a location which is truly stunning.
While weather has played its part in disrupting a couple of the races there since 2012, the Fuji Speedway has been a near-perfect host to the WEC. From Circuit Safari to the K4 GP demo laps, it’s had it all.
Here’s a look back at some of the key moments from each year’s 6 Hours:
2012: The start of the first ever FIA WEC race in Japan
2012: Starworks wrapped up the LMP2 title with a second place finish
2012: Felbermayr Proton took a surprise GTE Pro win, its second of the season
2012: Toyota though, was the star of the show, winning its home race
2012: Rebellion’s Toyota-powered Lola made it a double-win for Toyota, winning LMP1 Privateer
2013: Super GT regular Gainer International joined the field as a guest entry using a Greaves Motorsport Zytek
2013: Over 1000 school kids from the local area were in attendence, each bringing a piece of artwork!
2013: Looking racey here, but not for long
2013: Under Safety Car due to the rain and fog, just 16 laps were completed
2013: Cars under cover, in what became known as ‘The Race That Never Was’
2013: The fans stayed until the bitter end though
2014: One year later, the fans came back. Here’s the queue for the autograph session!
2014: Another huge crowd on hand
2014: #8 went on to win, solidifying its championship win, in what was Toyota’s third win of the year
2014: The #51 AF Corse 458 also scored its third win of the season in Fuji
2014: G-Drive Racing meanwhile, scored the first ever win for the Ligier JS P2
2015: It rained hard, but the weather didn’t disrupt the race
2015: The Asian Le Mans Series was a support race that year
2015: The clash between Richard Bradley’s KCMG ORECA and Gustavo Yacaman’s G-Drive Ligier is still talked about to this day in WEC press rooms
2015: Pat Long, Pat Dempsey and Marco Seefried would take their first class win together, they were chuffed!
2015: Porsche’s first win on Japanese soil in LMP1
2016: Strakka Gibson and KCMG Porsche, neither combination exists now!
2016: The newly-imposed pit-lane headgear rule for team photographers was ill-fated
2016: Big win for Ford
2016: Toyota back to winning ways, but with a victory margin of under two seconds!
2016: Rebellion sealed the privateer title with its #13 R-One
2017: The K4 GP demonstrations were beyond brilliant
2017: Circuit Safari makes its WEC debut, an experience DSC won’t forget in a hurry!
2017: It was wet again last year, but at least we got some racing!
2017: And yes, fans still turned up in their droves!
