WEC Fuji: Toyota grabs top spot in truncated final practice

Toyota edged out Cadillac and Ferrari to top a shortened final practice for this weekend’s World Endurance Championship round at Fuji.

The hour-long session was cut short with 19 minutes left on the clock due to possible damage to kerbs located at the exit of Turn 1.

TV images showed officials arriving at the corner to inspect the kerbs after the session was initially red flagged with 23 minutes remaining. A decision was soon taken to not resume the session, likely to help the marshals repair the barriers in time for the remainder of the day’s schedule.

The fastest time of FP3 was set by Ryo Hirakawa, the Japanese driver getting down to 1m29.621s in the #8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID just six minutes in to beat the #2 Cadillac V-Series.R of Alex Lynn by just 0.086s.

The Japanese driver’s best effort was about half a tenth slower than the time Dries Vanthoor managed in the #15 BMW M Hybrid V8 in FP2, but fractionally quicker than the chart-setting lap from the corresponding session in 2023, which was impacted by overnight rain.

Third place went to Antonio Fuoco in the #50 Ferrari 499P, a further 0.020s down on Lynn, while Alpine was the only other team to break the 90s barrier as Charles Milesi set a best time of 1m29.760s in the #35 A424.

Kamui Kobayashi was fifth in the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid after lapping the circuit in 1m30.055s, just finishing ahead of the factory #51 Ferrari driven by Antonio Giovinazzi and customer #83 AF Corse entry of Robert Kubica.

The best-placed Porsche was the customer #38 Jota 963 of Oliver Rasmussen in eighth, ahead of another privateer entry - the #99 Proton Porsche whose best lap was set by Julien Andlauer.

The top 10 was completed by the #63 Lamborghini SC63 of Daniil Kvyat, who set a best time of 1m30.550s.

The best Peugeot was classified 11th, four spots ahead of the leading BMW driven by Rene Rast.

Ferrari 1-2 in LMGT3

In the LMGT3 class, Francois Heirau set a series of quick times to lead a 1-2 for AF Corse Ferrari.

Bronze-rated Heirau initially laid a benchmark of 1m41.479s before improving to 1m41.206s in the #55 Ferrari 296 GT3 to end up a tenth clear of the sister car of Davide Rigon.

Ferrari’s closest challenger was the #78 ASP Lexus RCF GT3, courtesy of a 1m41.422s effort from Arnold Robin.

United Autosports finished fourth thanks to Joshua Caygill’s time of 1m41.532s in the #95 McLaren 720S GT3, ahead of the points-leading Manthey PureRxcing Porsche 911 GT3R of Aliaksandr Malykhin.

1 - 2
Cla	Team	#	Drivers	Car	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	Toyota Racing HYPERCAR	8	S. Buemi B. Hartley R. Hirakawa	Toyota GR010 - Hybrid	17	1'29.621		183.291
2	CADILLAC RACING HYPERCAR	2	E. Bamber A. Lynn	Cadillac V-Series.R	18	+0.086 1'29.707	0.086	183.116
3	FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR	50	A. Fuoco M. Molina N. Nielsen	Ferrari 499P	21	+0.106 1'29.727	0.020	183.075
4	Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR	35	J. Gounon F. Habsburg C. Milesi	Alpine A424	20	+0.139 1'29.760	0.033	183.008
5	Toyota Racing HYPERCAR	7	M. Conway K. Kobayashi N. de Vries	Toyota GR010 - Hybrid	21	+0.434 1'30.055	0.295	182.408
6	FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR	51	A. Pier Guidi J. Calado A. Giovinazzi	Ferrari 499P	20	+0.501 1'30.122	0.067	182.272
7	AF Corse HYPERCAR	83	R. Kubica R. Shwartzman Y. Yifei	Ferrari 499P	22	+0.646 1'30.267	0.145	181.980
8	HERTZ TEAM JOTA HYPERCAR	38	J. Button P. Hanson O. Rasmussen	Porsche 963	21	+0.711 1'30.332	0.065	181.849
9	Proton Competition HYPERCAR	99	H. Tincknell N. Jani J. Andlauer	Porsche 963	21	+0.827 1'30.448	0.116	181.615
10	Lamborghini Iron Lynx HYPERCAR	63	M. Bortolotti E. Mortara D. Kvyat	Lamborghini SC63	19	+0.929 1'30.550	0.102	181.411
11	PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR	93	M. Jensen N. Müller J. Vergne	Peugeot 9X8 2024	21	+1.037 1'30.658	0.108	181.195
12	Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR	36	N. Lapierre M. Schumacher M. Vaxiviere	Alpine A424	20	+1.208 1'30.829	0.171	180.854
13	HERTZ TEAM JOTA HYPERCAR	12	W. Stevens C. Ilott N. Nato	Porsche 963	21	+1.437 1'31.058	0.229	180.399
14	PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR	6	K. Estre A. Lotterer L. Vanthoor	Porsche 963	22	+1.459 1'31.080	0.022	180.355
15	BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR	20	S. Van Der Linde R. Frijns R. Rast	BMW M Hybrid V8	22	+1.755 1'31.376	0.296	179.771
16	PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR	5	M. Campbell M. Christensen F. Makowiecki	Porsche 963	22	+1.905 1'31.526	0.150	179.476
17	PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR	94	P. di Resta L. Duval S. Vandoorne	Peugeot 9X8 2024	18	+2.103 1'31.724	0.198	179.089
18	BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR	15	D. Vanthoor R. Marciello M. Wittmann	BMW M Hybrid V8	23	+2.390 1'32.011	0.287	178.530
19	Vista AF Corse LMGT3	55	F. Heriau S. Mann A. Rovera	Ferrari 296 GT3	18	+11.585 1'41.206	9.195	162.310
20	Vista AF Corse LMGT3	54	T. Flohr F. Castellacci D. Rigon	Ferrari 296 GT3	18	+11.692 1'41.313	0.107	162.139
21	AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3	78	A. Robin C. Schmid K. van der Linde	Lexus RC F GT3	17	+11.801 1'41.422	0.109	161.964
22	United Autosports LMGT3	95	J. Caygill N. Pino M. Sato	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	16	+11.911 1'41.532	0.110	161.789
23	Manthey PureRxcing LMGT3	92	A. Malykhin J. Sturm K. Bachler	Porsche 911 GT3 R	11	+12.065 1'41.686	0.154	161.544
24	TF Sport LMGT3	82	H. Koizumi S. Baud D. Juncadella	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	19	+12.083 1'41.704	0.018	161.515
25	United Autosports LMGT3	59	J. Cottingham N. Costa G. Saucy	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	20	+12.086 1'41.707	0.003	161.511
26	Proton Competition LMGT3	88	C. Ried M. Pedersen D. Olsen	Ford Mustang GT3	18	+12.124 1'41.745	0.038	161.450
27	TF Sport LMGT3	81	T. Van Rompuy R. Andrade C. Eastwood	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	18	+12.140 1'41.761	0.016	161.425
28	Heart of Racing Team LMGT3	27	I. James D. Mancinelli A. Riberas	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3	18	+12.248 1'41.869	0.108	161.254
29	IRON DAMES LMGT3	85	S. Bovy R. Frey M. Gatting	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2	19	+12.398 1'42.019	0.150	161.017
30	Manthey EMA LMGT3	91	Y. Shahin M. Schuring R. Lietz	Porsche 911 GT3 R	19	+12.443 1'42.064	0.045	160.946
31	Proton Competition LMGT3	77	R. Hardwick Z. Robichon B. Barker	Ford Mustang GT3	17	+12.519 1'42.140	0.076	160.826
32	IRON LYNX LMGT3	60	C. Schiavoni M. Cressoni F. Perera	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2	20	+12.580 1'42.201	0.061	160.730
33	TEAM WRT LMGT3	46	A. Al Harthy V. Rossi M. Martin	BMW M4 GT3	17	+12.609 1'42.230	0.029	160.684
34	AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3	87	T. Kimura E. Masson J. Lopez	Lexus RC F GT3	19	+12.645 1'42.266	0.036	160.628
35	D'Station Racing LMGT3	777	C. Mateu E. Bastard M. Sorensen	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3	19	+12.849 1'42.470	0.204	160.308
36	TEAM WRT LMGT3	31	D. Leung S. Gelael A. Farfus	BMW M4 GT3	16	+13.683 1'43.304	0.834	159.014
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