The short gap between Lone Star Le Mans and the 6 Hours of Fuji is over and the teams are set up and ready to roll in Japan for the penultimate round of the 2024 FIA WEC season.
The Fuji Speedway always produces an intriguing race and this year’s encounter promises to be a thriller as the title battles in both categories reach a crescendo.
Hypercar continued to deliver the goods in Austin, with the race at CoTA producing a sixth different winner in six races after a dramatic final hour which saw Toyota’s #7 GR010 HYBRID fall foul of a costly penalty, handing AF Corse’s privately-funded #83 499P its first win.
A sixth finish for the points-leading #6 Penske Porsche and the #50 factory Ferrari 499P coming home third saw the standings tighten nicely ahead of this weekend’s race.
#6 drivers André Lotterer, Kévin Estre, and Laurens Vanthoor still lead the driver’s championship. However, their lead has been reduced to 12 points over the full-season drivers of #7 Toyota, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries and Ferrari’s Le Mans winners, Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen, who head into this meeting on level terms.
In the Constructors’ Championship, Toyota has taken the lead, but its 11-point margin over Porsche is far from comfortable. Porsche on the other side of the coin needs to respond after dropping to second and regain ground. Ferrari meanwhile, is third, 19 points adrift and still very much in contention.
All eyes are on Toyota, as ever, in Fuji as its record on home soil is simply staggering. When was the last time it didn’t win here you ask? 2015! And while the latest round of BoP changes has seen the GR010 HYBRIDs handed a marginal 5k weight increase and a 4 kw drop in power level under 250 kph, it wouldn’t be wise to bet against another big result in front of its adoring fans.
The flip side of this is that Porsche’s 963 was strong last season at Fuji, with the #6 finishing third after leading early in the race. And the German marque will be as eager as ever to bounce back after its focus during the week in Texas was placed damage limitation above all else by Sunday.
Ferrari is also hoping for a boost in Japan, as its first Joker update (introduced two races ago) to aero efficiency and brake cooling is expected to be most effective in here and in the Bahrain. Last year the 499P struggled to find form at the end of the season, but the brains trust have worked hard to ensure the WEC’s end-of-season flyaways pan out differently on the team’s second try.
Beyond the title contenders, keep an eye on Alpine and BMW this weekend. Both marques hope to kick on this weekend after taking significant steps forward in the performance department at CoTA. Was the improved form from the A424s and M Hybrid V8s a flash in the pan? We will find out soon enough.
There’s just one driver change of note in the top class, with Jules Gounon stepping back in the #35 Alpine for a third start this season. On this occasion he’s not subbing for Ferdinand Habsburg, instead, he’s racing in place of Paul Loup Chatin as part of a plan which Alpine says it drew up ahead of the campaign to enable Gounon – its reserve driver – to get valuable seat time after Le Mans.
Gounon’s starts at Imola and Spa were quiet, but Alpine was still very much finding its feet at that point in the season. Now, he rejoins the team at an interesting time. If the A424’s showing at CoTA proves to be a turning point, this opportunity should see him handed a platform to impress before Chatin returns for Bahrain. A strong showing here could go a long way in securing a full-time seat in the future.
LMGT3 at CoTA was dominated by Heart of Racing’s Aston Martin Vantage GT3, which took pole and went on a lights-to-flag run on race day. It was a truly impressive performance from Ian James, Daniel Mancinelli and Alex Riberas, one which they hope to emulate this weekend in search of a second victory.
Realistically at this point, bar massive dramas for the pair of Porsche and #31 WRT BMW, championship honours are a long shot. James, Mancinelli and Riberas can still win the Drivers’ title mathematically, but Pure Rxcing’s Klaus Bachler, Alex Malykhin and Joel Sturm hold a commanding 28-point lead over the sister EMA Porsche and can seal the title this weekend.
WRT’s #31 M4 GT3 and Heart of Racing’s Aston need to finish ahead of the two 911s and close the gap significantly to stay in with a chance to take this down to the wire, as they sit 34 and 37 points adrift respectively, with 65 points on offer through the final two race weekends. Pure Rxcing is in the driving seat after yet another podium finish in Texas.
It will not be a walk in the park for any of the contenders as a number of teams in the class are beginning to find form and look to snatch valuable points before the end of the season.
The United McLarens, Iron Dames Lamborghini and local outfit D’Station Racing with its Aston Martin all hope for a strong showing here as their plans for the 2025 season begin to take shape. AKKODIS ASP too will hope to put another difficult weekend behind it in time for Lexus’ home race.
Outside of the title battle, there’s a driver change to note at Proton Competition, with Christian Ried adding a second race to his surprise farewell tour in the #88 Mustang for what will be his 87th WEC start. He takes the third seat once again after Ben Keating’s one-off appearance on home turf.
The start of the 6 Hours of Fuji will be at 11:00 on Sunday, September 15.
