WEC: Toyota Takes 1-2 at Fuji; Ferrari Dominates LMGTE Pro

Toyota Gazoo Racing most certainly harnessed a home advantage as they led from start to finish for the overall and Hypercar at Fuji International Speedway, whilst AF Corse dominated the LMGTE Pro class, with close battles seen in LMP2 and LM GTE Am.

The No.8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar of Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa led home the sister Toyota Hypercar of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose-Maria Lopez.

No.51 AF Corse Ferrari completely dominated the LMGTE Pro class win as Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado led for the majority of race. Stablemates Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina completed a formation 1-2 finish for the Prancing Horse.

No.31 WRT wins in LMP2, while in LMGTE Am category TF Sport close in on title.

Headlines 

Hypercar – Won by No.8 Toyota Gazoo Racing 

• No.8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid Hypercar extends lead in final two hours as Ryo Hirakawa takes checkered flag with large lead over No.7 Toyota driven by Mike Conway in final hours to take popular 1-2 finish at home race
• Alpine ELF Team take third place as Nicolas Lapierre, Andre Negrao and Matthieu Vaxiviere continue consistent points scoring form
• 6 Hours of Fuji result ensures that the No.8 Toyota crew and Alpine drivers head to 8 Hours of Bahrain finale next month level on points!

• No.93 Peugeot TotalEnergies crew of Jean-Eric Vergne, Mikkel Jensen and Paul di Resta take fourth place, while No.94 9X8 takes a delayed fifth position

LMGTE Pro – Won by No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 

• No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE EVO driven by James Calado and Alessandro Pier take second victory of the season to extend points lead after comfortable win
• Miguel Molina and Antonio Fuoco in No.52 AF Corse Ferrari take second place to ensure first Ferrari 1-2 of the season
• Porsche takes third and fourth with No.92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 heading home No.91 car after tough race for German manufacturer as they struggle with straight-line speed and tire maximization compared to Ferrari
• Corvette Racing in fifth after difficult race beset by running out of fuel and a penalty for track limit violation  

LMP2 – Won by No.31 WRT Oreca-Gibson

• No.31 WRT takes second win of the season as Robin Frijns, Dries Vanthoor and Sean Gelael heads home the No.38 points leading JOTA entry which gambled on going later on penultimate fuel stop
• Runners-up Antonio Felix da Costa, Will Stevens and Roberto Gonzalez extend lead in points table to now become clear title favorites
• 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
• That means the final rung of the podium goes to the No.28 JOTA trio of Ed Jones, Oliver Rasmussen and Jonathan Aberdein
• They just hold off the Realteam by WRT entry driven by Norman Nato by just 0.563s!
• AF Corse take the Pro/Am category as Francois Perrodo, Nicklas Nielsen and Alessio Rovera claim third win of the season

LMGTE Am – Won by No.33 TF Sport Aston Martin  

• TF Sport take second win of the season to bounce back from Monza accident 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 ever WEC result after accomplished run to second place
• D’Station complete podium after heroic race from back of the grid. Tomonobu Fujii, Charlie Fagg and Satoshi Hoshino claim first ever LMGTE Am podium and first points of the 2022 season
  

Race Results