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

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 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.

#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid: Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries, #8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid: Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa (Photo by: Andreas Beil)

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.

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.

#5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen, Frederic Makowiecki, #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Robert Kubica, Robert Shwartzman, Yifei Ye (Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images)

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 manage only 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.

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 (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.

WEC Fuji results

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

1

 - 

4

Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Team	#	Drivers	Car	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits	Retirement	Points
1	PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR	6	K. Estre A. Lotterer L. Vanthoor	Porsche 963	213	-		5
2	BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR	15	D. Vanthoor R. Marciello M. Wittmann	BMW M Hybrid V8	213	+16.601 16.601	16.601	6
3	Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR	36	N. Lapierre M. Schumacher M. Vaxiviere	Alpine A424	213	+42.321 42.321	25.720	7
4	PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR	93	M. Jensen N. Müller J. Vergne	Peugeot 9X8 2024	213	+45.846 45.846	3.525	7
5	HERTZ TEAM JOTA HYPERCAR	12	W. Stevens C. Ilott N. Nato	Porsche 963	213	+49.689 49.689	3.843	6
6	HERTZ TEAM JOTA HYPERCAR	38	J. Button P. Hanson O. Rasmussen	Porsche 963	213	+51.916 51.916	2.227	6
7	Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR	35	J. Gounon F. Habsburg C. Milesi	Alpine A424	213	+54.316 54.316	2.400	7
8	PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR	94	P. di Resta L. Duval S. Vandoorne	Peugeot 9X8 2024	213	+54.324 54.324	0.008	6
9	FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR	50	A. Fuoco M. Molina N. Nielsen	Ferrari 499P	213	+57.874 57.874	3.550	6
10	Toyota Racing HYPERCAR	8	S. Buemi B. Hartley R. Hirakawa	Toyota GR010 - Hybrid	213	+58.879 58.879	1.005	7
11	Proton Competition HYPERCAR	99	H. Tincknell N. Jani J. Andlauer	Porsche 963	212	+1 Lap 47.009	1 Lap	8
12	AF Corse HYPERCAR	83	R. Kubica R. Shwartzman Y. Yifei	Ferrari 499P	211	2 laps		10
13	Vista AF Corse LMGT3	54	T. Flohr F. Castellacci D. Rigon	Ferrari 296 GT3	194	19 laps		7
14	Manthey PureRxcing LMGT3	92	A. Malykhin J. Sturm K. Bachler	Porsche 911 GT3 R	194	+19 Laps 22.304	22.304	6
15	TEAM WRT LMGT3	46	A. Al Harthy V. Rossi M. Martin	BMW M4 GT3	194	+19 Laps 25.590	3.286	6
16	TF Sport LMGT3	81	T. Van Rompuy R. Andrade C. Eastwood	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	194	+19 Laps 27.537	1.947	7
17	IRON DAMES LMGT3	85	S. Bovy R. Frey M. Gatting	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2	194	+19 Laps 31.531	3.994	7
18	Vista AF Corse LMGT3	55	F. Heriau S. Mann A. Rovera	Ferrari 296 GT3	194	+19 Laps 38.535	7.004	9
19	D'Station Racing LMGT3	777	C. Mateu E. Bastard M. Sorensen	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3	194	+19 Laps 44.291	5.756	7
20	United Autosports LMGT3	59	J. Cottingham N. Costa G. Saucy	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	194	+19 Laps 44.516	0.225	7
21	Heart of Racing Team LMGT3	27	I. James D. Mancinelli A. Riberas	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3	194	+19 Laps 48.371	3.855	7
22	TEAM WRT LMGT3	31	D. Leung S. Gelael A. Farfus	BMW M4 GT3	194	+19 Laps 54.845	6.474	6
23	AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3	78	A. Robin C. Schmid K. van der Linde	Lexus RC F GT3	194	+19 Laps 1'02.513	7.668	6
24	AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3	87	T. Kimura E. Masson J. Lopez	Lexus RC F GT3	194	+19 Laps 1'08.575	6.062	8
25	IRON LYNX LMGT3	60	C. Schiavoni M. Cressoni F. Perera	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2	193	20 laps		8
26	Manthey EMA LMGT3	91	Y. Shahin M. Schuring R. Lietz	Porsche 911 GT3 R	193	+20 Laps 35.271	35.271	8
27	Proton Competition LMGT3	77	R. Hardwick Z. Robichon B. Barker	Ford Mustang GT3	193	+20 Laps 46.256	10.985	7
28	Proton Competition LMGT3	88	C. Ried M. Pedersen D. Olsen	Ford Mustang GT3	192	21 laps		8
29	United Autosports LMGT3	95	J. Caygill N. Pino M. Sato	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	191	22 laps		8
30	FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR	51	A. Pier Guidi J. Calado A. Giovinazzi	Ferrari 499P	168	45 laps		7	Retirement
31	Toyota Racing HYPERCAR	7	M. Conway K. Kobayashi N. de Vries	Toyota GR010 - Hybrid	163	50 laps		7	Retirement
32	BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR	20	S. Van Der Linde R. Frijns R. Rast	BMW M Hybrid V8	202	11 laps		7	Retirement
33	CADILLAC RACING HYPERCAR	2	E. Bamber A. Lynn	Cadillac V-Series.R	193	20 laps		7	Retirement
34	TF Sport LMGT3	82	H. Koizumi S. Baud D. Juncadella	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	164	49 laps		9	Retirement
35	PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR	5	M. Campbell M. Christensen F. Makowiecki	Porsche 963	163	50 laps		7	Retirement
36	Lamborghini Iron Lynx HYPERCAR	63	M. Bortolotti E. Mortara D. Kvyat	Lamborghini SC63	146	67 laps		4	Retirement
View full results