Ferrari AF Corse’s #50 499P topped the first practice session of the FIA WEC’s weekend at Fuji, which was held on a drying circuit after a bout of heavy rain showers throughout the morning.
Antonio Fuoco became the fastest of the Hypercar drivers reeling off a 1:35.649 at the death of the session, when multiple drivers began to find pace as the conditions improved. It also made it a 1-2 for Ferrari in the times, making for an encouraging start to the meeting for the Italian team on its first trip to Japan with the 499P.
The #51 ended up second in the times, with a 1:38.258 from Antonio Giovanazzi.
Best of the rest was the #94 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8, after a 1:38.693 at the end of the 90-minute run from Gustavo Menezes. The two Penske Porsche 963s completed the top five after late flyers, with the #6 ahead of the #5.
The pair of GR010 HYBRIDs from home favourite Toyota Gazoo Racing ended up sixth and seventh, both 3.6 seconds off the best time from Fuoco.
In LMP2, JOTA’s #28 ORECA was quickest and notably ran faster than two of the cars in Hypercar, its own Porsche 963 and the Vanwall.
Dane Oliver Rasmussen set the time, a 1:40.781, which was almost a second up on the rest of the ORECAs in the category. The #23 United and #9 examples ended up completing the top three.
GTE saw Dempsey Proton Racing’s #77 Porsche 911 RSR 19 end FP1 with the best time, a 1:43.538 courtesy of Mikkel Pedersen, which was quicker than the bottom two LMP2s.
The #54 AF Corse Ferrari slotted in second in the category, with the #56 Project 1 AO Porsche third. Local team D’Station Racing emerged as the fastest Aston Martin team, with a 1:47.493 to go fifth, a fraction off the #83 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari that was top early in the session before falling to fourth.
Remarkably, considering the tricky conditions, there were no notable incidents during the 90-minute track session. The weather thus far has been a talking point in the paddock, with typhoon alerts issued locally yesterday. The forecast for the rest of the meeting remains somewhat mixed.
Free Practice 2 at Fuji is scheduled for 15:30 later today, local time.
