WEC: Toyota Takes 1-2 on home soil as Ferrari dominates in LMGTE Pro
Toyota and Ferrari have dominated their classes with 1-2 performances in 6 Hours of Fuji, the penultimate round of the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship
Toyota Gazoo Racing most certainly harnessed a home advantage as it led from start to finish for the overall victory at Fuji International Speedway, while AF Corse dominated the LMGTE Pro class, with close battles seen in LMP2 and LM GTE Am classes.
The #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar of Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa led home the sister Toyota machine of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López.
#51 AF Corse Ferrari completes a dominant LMGTE Pro class win as Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado led for the majority of the race. Stablemates Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina complete formation 1-2 finish for the Prancing Horse.
No.31 WRT wins in LMP2, while in LMGTE Am category TF Sport closes in on the title.
HYPERCAR
- No.8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar extends its lead in the final two hours as Ryo Hirakawa took the chequered flag with a large lead over No.7 Toyota driven by Mike Conway in the final hours to take a popular 1-2 finish at home race
- Alpine ELF Team takes third place as Nicolas Lapierre, André Negrão and Matthieu Vaxiviere continue consistent points scoring form
- 6 Hours of Fuji result ensures that the #8 Toyota crew and the Alpine trio head to 8 Hours of Bahrain finale next month level on points
- #93 Peugeot TotalEnergies crew of Jean-Éric Vergne, Mikkel Jensen and Paul di Resta takes fourth place, while No.94 9X8 takes a delayed fifth position
LMGTE Pro
- #51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE EVO driven by James Calado and Alessandro Pier takes second victory of the season to extend points lead after what was a comfortable win
- Miguel Molina and Antonio Fuoco in the second of the AF Corse-run Ferraris take second place to ensure the brand’s first 1-2 of the season
- Porsche takes third and fourth with #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 heading home #91 car after a tough race for the German manufacturer as it struggled with straightline speed and tyres
- The sole Corvette Racing entry crosses the line fifth after a difficult race beset by running out of fuel and several track limit violations
LMP2
- #31 WRT takes the second win of the season as Robin Frijns, Dries Vanthoor and Sean Gelael head home the #38 points-leading Jota entry which gambled on going for a late penultimate fuel stop
- Runners-up Antonio Felix da Costa, Will Stevens and Roberto Gonzalez extend their lead in points table to become clear title favourites
- Prema Orlen Team looked set to take third position with Robert Kubica, Louis Deletraz and Lorenzo Colombo but a late splash and dash relegates them to sixth
- As a result, the final rung of the podium goes to the #28 JOTA trio of Ed Jones, Oliver Rasmussen, and Jonathan Aberdein
- The trio holds off the Realteam by WRT entry driven by Norman Nato by just 0.563s!
- AF Corse takes the Pro/Am category honours as Francois Perrodo, Nicklas Nielsen and Alessio Rovera claim third win of the season
LMGTE Am
- #33 TF Sport Aston Martin crew takes their second win of the season to bounce back from their Monza accident and to extend title lead with clinically executed performance
- Ben Keating, Marco Sorensen and Henrique Chaves take a conclusive victory to head home Iron Dames Ferrari
- Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting and Sarah Bovy take their best WEC result after accomplished run to second place
- D’Station completes the podium after a heroic race from the back of the grid.
- Tomonobu Fujii, Charlie Fagg and Satoshi Hoshino claim their first ever LMGTE Am podium and score their first points of the 2022 season
