Porsche and Michelin on top in Japan
Kevin Estre, André Lotterer and Laurens Vanthoor (#6 Porsche 963/Michelin) scored their second win of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship by clinching Porsche's second victory at Fuji Speedway. BMW (2nd) and Alpine (3rd) secured maiden FIA WEC podiums, while Peugeot (4th) claimed its best result of the campaign so far. Toyota and Ferrari suffered challenging races.
The #6 Porsche's second win of the year after its success at March's opener in Qatar has taken Estre/Lotterer/Vanthoor 37 points clear in the provisional Drivers' standings with one round to go. The German make is also back on top of the Manufacturers' classification.
It was Porsche's second win at Fuji following its success there with the Michelin-tired 919 Hybrid LMP1 prototype in 2015. It is the only team to have beaten Toyota at its home fixture since the FIA WEC's creation in 2012.
Hertz Team Jota finished fifth and sixth with its #12 and #38 cars to win the Teams World Cup with Michelin for the second year running.
The 65,800 spectators saw Toyota Gazoo Racing's home round conclude with an accident for its #7 car and 10th place for its #8 prototype, despite both GR010 Hybrids spending much of the race inside the top five.
All 18 Hypercars ran the medium-compound MICHELIN Pilot Sport throughout as the track temperature climbed to more than 40°C. The #36 Alpine even completed 86 laps (equivalent to almost 400km) on the same right-hand slicks.
A multi-car collision caused by some late-braking by Kubica (#83 Ferrari) prompted the first of the day's Full Course Yellow/Safety Car interruptions and delayed several prototypes, including the #5 Porsche, #51 Ferrari and #35 Alpine.
BMW M Team WRT claimed its maiden FIA WEC podium thanks to a strong performance by Vanthoor/Marciello/Wittman in the #15 M Hybrid V8 which figured inside the top three for much of the distance. It was also the first top-three finish for the #36 Alpine (Lapierre/Schumacher/Vaxivière), despite starting from 15th on the grid.
Team Peugeot TotalEnergies bounced back from a difficult qualifying session to clinch fourth with its #93 car. The #94 9X8 was eighth at the flag.
Ferrari had to settle for ninth place with its #50 499P, although it did spend some time in front thanks to an offset pit-stop strategy. The #51 and #83 Italian prototypes both lost ground in the Lap 2 tangle.
Cadillac and Lamborghini had tough races, too, even though the American car-maker's #2 pole-winning car did figure in the lead early on. The Lamborghini SC63 made it through to the Hyperpole shoot-out for the first time but was sidelined by a gearbox problem.
The last round of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship will take teams to Bahrain on November 2.