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Edition

Australia Australia
Race report
WEC Fuji

WEC Fuji: Porsche extends points lead with win, disaster for Toyota

Porsche takes win as Toyota suffers a disastrous race in front of its home fans

Podium: Race winner #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor
#99 Proton Competition Porsche 963: Harry Tincknell, Neel Jani, Julien Andlauer
#2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid: Brendon Hartley
WEC Fuji trophy
#36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Nicolas Lapierre, Mick Schumacher, Matthieu Vaxiviere
Start action
Start action, #2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn leads
Start action GT: #81 TF Sport Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R: Tom Van Rompuy, Rui Andrade, Charlie Eastwood leads
#85 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan LMGT3 Evo2: Sarah Bovy, Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting
#6 Porsche Penske Motorsports Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor, #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid: Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries
#5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen, Frederic Makowiecki, #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Robert Kubica, Robert Shwartzman, Yifei Ye
#50 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen,#5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen, Frederic Makowiecki
#36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Nicolas Lapierre, Mick Schumacher, Matthieu Vaxiviere,
#2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn
#50 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen, #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor, #7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid: Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de
#2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn
#15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello, Marco Wittmann.
#36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Nicolas Lapierre, Mick Schumacher, Matthieu Vaxiviere
#36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Nicolas Lapierre, Mick Schumacher, Matthieu Vaxiviere
#6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor
#2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn
#15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello, Marco Wittmann.
#8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid: Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa
#8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid: Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa
#2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn leads
#2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn
#2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn
#2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn
#50 AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen
#5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen, Frederic Makowiecki
#15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello, Marco Wittmann.
#36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Nicolas Lapierre, Mick Schumacher, Matthieu Vaxiviere, #12 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963: Will Stevens, Callum Ilott, Norman Nato
#15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello, Marco Wittmann.
Race winner #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor
#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid: Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries
#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid: Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries
Race winner GT, #54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3: Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci, Davide Rigon
#5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen, Frederic Makowiecki
#99 Proton Competition Porsche 963: Harry Tincknell, Neel Jani, Julien Andlauer
#5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen, Frederic Makowiecki
#51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi
#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid: Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries
#36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Nicolas Lapierre, Mick Schumacher, Matthieu Vaxiviere
#6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor
#15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello, Marco Wittmann.
Race winner #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor
Race winner #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor
Race winner GT, #54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3: Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci, Davide Rigon
#15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello, Marco Wittmann.
Race winner #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor
Race winner GT, #54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3: Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci, Davide Rigon
Podium: #36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Mick Schumacher
Podium: third place #36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Mick Schumacher, Matthieu Vaxiviere
Podium: second place #15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello, Marco Wittmann
Podium: #36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Mick Schumacher
Podium: #36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Mick Schumacher
Podium: #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Laurens Vanthoor. #15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Dries Vanthoor
Podium: #36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Nicolas Lapierre, Mick Schumacher, Matthieu Vaxiviere
Podium: Race winner #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor
Podium: #36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Nicolas Lapierre, Mick Schumacher, Matthieu Vaxiviere
WEC Cup podium: #38 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963: Jenson Button, Philip Hanson, Oliver Rasmussen, #12 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963: Will Stevens, Callum Ilott, Norman Nato
Podium WEC Cup: #12 Hertz Team Jota Porsche 963: Will Stevens, Callum Ilott, Norman Nato
Podium GT: #46 Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3: Ahmad Al Harthy, Valentino Rossi, Maxime Martin
Podium GT: #46 Team WRT BMW M4 LMGT3: Valentino Rossi
Podium GT: Race winner #54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3: Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci, Davide Rigon
Podium GT: #92 Manthey Purerxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3: Aliaksandr Malykhin, Joel Sturm, Klaus Bachler
Podium: #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Laurens Vanthoor, #15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Dries Vanthoor
podium: Race winner #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor, second place #15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello, Marco Wittmann, third place #36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine
Podium: Race winner #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor
Podium: third place #36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Nicolas Lapierre, Mick Schumacher, Matthieu Vaxiviere
70

Porsche claimed victory in the penultimate round of the World Endurance Championship at Fuji to close in on the 2024 drivers’ title.

Laurens Vanthoor, Andre Lotterer and Kevin Estre scored the first win for the #6 Porsche 963 LMDh since the season opener in Qatar to extend their championship lead to 27 points ahead of the Bahrain title decider in November.

It followed the #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID of Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries and Mike Conway failing to finish the race after Kobayashi was involved in a collision with the other factory Penske car of Matt Campbell with a little more than an hour to go.

The damage to the #7 GR010 HYBRID was so heavy that the Japanese manufacturer was forced to retire the car from the race, putting Porsche in a strong position to claim its first overall title in WEC since 2017.

A charging opening stint from Vanthoor, followed by an overcut in the first pitstop phase, propelled the #6 Porsche to the front of the field in the second hour of the race.

Although the #50 Ferrari 499P briefly managed to take the lead in the third hour on a slightly different strategy, Lotterer was able to pass Nicklas Nielsen shortly after the halfway mark to reinstate the status quo.

The race was essentially split into two unequal parts, with a caution period at the beginning of the fourth hour bringing all frontrunning cars on the same strategy and resetting the battle for the lead.

As the Lamborghini SC63 driven by Daniil Kvyat stopped at the exit of the final corner with a terminal technical issue, nearly the entire field took the advantage of the virtual safety car period to complete a cheap pitstop.

The VSC was followed by a full-blown safety car, which eventually retreated to make way for a 90-minute sprint to the finish.

The #6 Porsche led the way with Estre behind the wheel, heading the #15 BMW of Dries Vanthoor and the #8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID driven by Ryo Hirakawa.

Estre slowly pulled away from Vanthoor and was able to bring the car home with a winning margin of 16.6s despite a late off in the final hour.

The #6 Porsche was investigated for a possible tyre pressure infringement, but was able to get away with a reprimand.

Second place for Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello and Marco Wittmann marked BMW’s maiden podium in WEC as well as the first in any championship in 2024.

Wittmann started the race from third place and jumped the #8 Toyota of Sebastien Buemi on the opening lap to claim second, a position the #15 crew would hold on to until the finish despite diverging on strategies in the second hour.

#15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello, Marco Wittmann

#15 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello, Marco Wittmann

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

Another first-year manufacturer recorded its first visit to the rostrum, with Mick Schumacher, Nicolas Lapierre and Mathieu Vaxiviere taking third in the #36 Alpine A424 LMDh.

Ex-Haas Formula 1 driver Schumacher repassed the customer #12 Jota Porsche 963 of Norman Nato with just six minutes remaining in the race, having also impressed with his pace early in the first stint.

The #93 Peugeot 9X8 shared by Mikkel Jensen, Nico Muller and Jean-Eric Vergne claimed fourth after Jensen also managed to clear Nato in the final moments of the six-hour contest.

That left the #12 Jota car of Nato, Callum Ilott and Will Stevens in fifth and just ahead of the sister entry crewed by Jenson Button, Oliver Rasmussen and Phil Hanson.

Peugeot managed to get both its cars inside the points, as Stoffel Vandoorne, Paul di Resta and Loic Duval took seventh in the #94 entry ahead of the second Alpine of Charles Milesi, Ferdinand Habsburg and Jules Gounon.

Habsburg dropped to 17th place on the second lap after being caught up in a Turn 1 melee triggered by ex-Formula 1 driver Robert Kubica.

Kubica outbraked himself into Turn 1 and slammed the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P into the back of the #5 Porsche of Frederic Makowiecki, who then pitched the #51 Ferrari of Antonio Giovinazzi into a spin. Giovinazzi, in turn, tagged the Alpine of Habsburg.

Ferrari could best manage a ninth-place finish, with Nielsen, Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina in the #50 car that briefly led with Nielsen at the wheel.

The sole surviving Toyota that Hirakawa shared with Sebastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley finished a distant 10th and last of the points scorers after a frustrating final stint where Hirakawa picked up a drive-through penalty for failing to respect blue flags. He had rejoined the field a lap down on Estre after his pitstop. 

Cadillac led the opening stint of the race with Earl Bamber at the wheel, before a driver change in the first pitstop contributed to the #2 V-Series.R dropping behind the winning Porsche.

Bamber was then trying to regain third place lost to Marciello when he came to blows with the BMW driver at Turn 1 in the third hour, leaving him with a puncture.

A dramatic final-hour shunt for Bamber put paid to any hopes of Cadillac finishing in the points, with the Kiwi barely managing to bring the hobbled car back to the pits.

Ferrari wins in LMGT3, Porsche wraps up class title

#54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3: Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci, Davide Rigon

#54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3: Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci, Davide Rigon

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

Ferrari scored its first victory in the new-for-2024 LMGT3 class, with Davide Rigon, Francesco Castellacci and Thomas Flohr taking the top spot in the #54 AF Corse 296 GT3.

Rigon sealed the victory with a last-lap pass over the #59 United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 of Gregoire Saucy, who eventually slipped out of podium positions.

The #92 Manthey PureRxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R of Klaus Bachler, Aliaksandr Malkyhin and Joel Sturm eventually took second, sealing the drivers’ title with a round still to go.

The #92 Porsche was leading the race under the safety car in the penultimate hour, but Bachler was passed by the McLaren of Saucy. Both Bachler and Saucy were then overtaken by Rigon in an impressive final stint from the factory Ferrari driver. 

The final place on the podium went to Maxime Martin, Valentino Rossi and Ahmad Al Harthy, marking the second visit to the rostrum for the #46 WRT BMW M4 GT3 crew.

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Cla Team # Drivers Car Laps Time Interval Pits Retirement Points
1
PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR
6 France K. Estre Germany A. Lotterer Belgium L. Vanthoor Porsche 963 213

6:00'32.196

5
2
BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR
15 Belgium D. Vanthoor Italy R. Marciello Germany M. Wittmann BMW M Hybrid V8 213

+16.601

6:00'48.797

16.601 6
3
Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR
36 France N. Lapierre Germany M. Schumacher France M. Vaxiviere Alpine A424 213

+42.321

6:01'14.517

25.720 7
4
PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR
93 Denmark M. Jensen Switzerland N. Müller France J. Vergne Peugeot 9X8 2024 213

+45.846

6:01'18.042

3.525 7
5
HERTZ TEAM JOTA HYPERCAR
12 United Kingdom W. Stevens United Kingdom C. Ilott France N. Nato Porsche 963 213

+49.689

6:01'21.885

3.843 6
6
HERTZ TEAM JOTA HYPERCAR
38 United Kingdom J. Button United Kingdom P. Hanson Denmark O. Rasmussen Porsche 963 213

+51.916

6:01'24.112

2.227 6
7
Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR
35 France J. Gounon Austria F. Habsburg France C. Milesi Alpine A424 213

+54.316

6:01'26.512

2.400 7
8
PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR
94 United Kingdom P. di Resta France L. Duval Belgium S. Vandoorne Peugeot 9X8 2024 213

+54.324

6:01'26.520

0.008 6
9
FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR
50 Italy A. Fuoco Spain M. Molina Denmark N. Nielsen Ferrari 499P 213

+57.874

6:01'30.070

3.550 6
10
Toyota Racing HYPERCAR
8 Switzerland S. Buemi New Zealand B. Hartley Japan R. Hirakawa Toyota GR010 - Hybrid 213

+58.879

6:01'31.075

1.005 7
11
Proton Competition HYPERCAR
99 United Kingdom H. Tincknell Switzerland N. Jani France J. Andlauer Porsche 963 212

+1 Lap

6:01'19.205

1 Lap 8
12
AF Corse HYPERCAR
83 Poland R. Kubica Israel R. Shwartzman China Y. Yifei Ferrari 499P 211

+2 Laps

6:00'53.018

1 Lap 10
13
Vista AF Corse LMGT3
54 Switzerland T. Flohr Italy F. Castellacci Italy D. Rigon Ferrari 296 GT3 194

+19 Laps

6:00'50.725

17 Laps 7
14
Manthey PureRxcing LMGT3
92
A. Malykhin
J. Sturm
Austria K. Bachler
Porsche 911 GT3 R 194

+19 Laps

6:00'54.500

3.775 6
15
TEAM WRT LMGT3
46 United Kingdom A. Al Harthy Italy V. Rossi Belgium M. Martin BMW M4 GT3 194

+19 Laps

6:00'57.786

3.286 6
16
TF Sport LMGT3
81 Belgium T. Van Rompuy Portugal R. Andrade Ireland C. Eastwood Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R 194

+19 Laps

6:00'59.733

1.947 7
17
IRON DAMES LMGT3
85 Belgium S. Bovy Switzerland R. Frey Denmark M. Gatting Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 194

+19 Laps

6:01'03.727

3.994 7
18
Vista AF Corse LMGT3
55 France F. Heriau France S. Mann Italy A. Rovera Ferrari 296 GT3 194

+19 Laps

6:01'10.731

7.004 9
19
D'Station Racing LMGT3
777 France C. Mateu
E. Bastard
Denmark M. Sorensen
Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 194

+19 Laps

6:01'16.487

5.756 7
20
United Autosports LMGT3
59 J. Cottingham N. Costa Switzerland G. Saucy McLaren 720S GT3 Evo 194

+19 Laps

6:01'16.712

0.225 7
21
Heart of Racing Team LMGT3
27 United Kingdom I. James Italy D. Mancinelli Spain A. Riberas Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 194

+19 Laps

6:01'20.567

3.855 7
22
TEAM WRT LMGT3
31
D. Leung
Indonesia S. Gelael Brazil A. Farfus
BMW M4 GT3 194

+19 Laps

6:01'27.041

6.474 6
23
AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3
78
A. Robin
Austria C. Schmid South Africa K. van der Linde
Lexus RC F GT3 194

+19 Laps

6:01'34.709

7.668 6
24
AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3
87 Japan T. Kimura
E. Masson
Argentina J. Lopez
Lexus RC F GT3 194

+19 Laps

6:01'40.771

6.062 8
25
IRON LYNX LMGT3
60 Italy C. Schiavoni Italy M. Cressoni
F. Perera
Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 193

+20 Laps

6:00'46.662

1 Lap 8
26
Manthey EMA LMGT3
91
Y. Shahin
M. Schuring
Austria R. Lietz
Porsche 911 GT3 R 193

+20 Laps

6:01'07.467

20.805 8
27
Proton Competition LMGT3
77 United States R. Hardwick Canada Z. Robichon United Kingdom B. Barker Ford Mustang GT3 193

+20 Laps

6:02'11.452

1'03.985 7
28
Proton Competition LMGT3
88 Germany C. Ried
M. Pedersen
Norway D. Olsen
Ford Mustang GT3 192

+21 Laps

6:00'36.213

1 Lap 8
29
United Autosports LMGT3
95 United Kingdom J. Caygill Chile N. Pino Japan M. Sato McLaren 720S GT3 Evo 191

+22 Laps

6:01'30.520

1 Lap 8
BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR
20 South Africa S. Van Der Linde Netherlands R. Frijns Germany R. Rast BMW M Hybrid V8 202