Alpine takes landmark win in Fuji thriller

Text & Images: Rick Kiewiet

The FIA World Endurance Championship’s 100th race at Fuji Speedway produced a classic, with Alpine scoring a breakthrough first Hypercar victory with its A424. The #35 of Charles Milesi, Ferdinand Habsburg and Paul-Loup Chatin recovered from early troubles and seized its opportunity when a perfectly timed pit stop before a full-course yellow catapulted it to the front. A bold final call to change only left-side tyres gave Milesi the track position he needed in the closing stages, and he converted it into Alpine’s first overall WEC triumph since its last hypercar victory in Monza, 2022.

Hypercar: Alpine seizes the moment, Peugeot shines, Aston Martin arrives

Behind the race-winning Alpine, Peugeot’s #93 9X8 delivered its most convincing performance since entering the Hypercar class. Vergne, Jensen and di Resta combined strong pace with tidy execution, and Jensen nearly snatched the win until Milesi’s decisive strategy swung the balance Alpine’s way. The result marks Peugeot’s second consecutive podium and a sign that the revised 9X8 is now a genuine contender at the front.

First win for the A424 during the Hypercar era

Porsche Penske’s #6 963 had a strong comeback from 17th on the grid, Laurens Vanthoor hounding Mikkel Jensen to the line but forced to settle for third after a costly pit infringement. The sister #5 Porsche finished fourth to secure valuable points in the manufacturers’ standings, while Peugeot’s #94 took fifth. For the first time, the Aston Martin Valkyrie proved genuinely competitive: Marco Sørensen and Alex Riberas brought the #009 home in sixth after a strong run that included battles with Cadillac and Porsche, marking a major step forward for the British marque. Cadillac’s early domination unraveled in the chaos of the safety cars, leaving the pole-sitting #12 in seventh, while Toyota’s tough home outing continued with only eighth place for the #7 GR010. BMW salvaged ninth with WRT’s #20 M Hybrid V8, as Ferrari endured its worst showing of the season with both factory 499Ps outside the top ten.

The race itself was shaped by a series of neutralisations, including a heavy crash for Raffaele Marciello’s BMW, which tore up the order and erased Cadillac’s early advantage. Several outsiders, including Proton’s customer Porsche, even led stints at the front before falling back once the factory squads regrouped. Alpine’s perfectly timed stop just before the second full-course yellow, combined with its bold tyre call at the final round of stops, proved the decisive move to claim the top step of the podium.

Back to Monza, 2022, where Alpine took its last victory in the Hypercar era

LMGT3: TF Sport inherits victory

The LMGT3 battle was decided in the final moments, with TF Sport’s #81 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Charlie Eastwood, Rui Andrade and Tom van Rompuy taking victory after late heartbreak for Vista AF Corse. Alessio Rovera crossed the line first in the #21 Ferrari, but a five-second penalty for a pit infringement dropped the car to second in classification. WRT celebrated a double podium with its #31 and #46 BMWs, while Manthey EMA’s #92 Porsche completed the top five.

Drama had been building in the class throughout, with the top four teams locked in a duel over fuel and tyre life in the closing stages. Rovera appeared to have done just enough to absorb the penalty, only for the Ferrari to fade dramatically on the final lap as its fuel load ran dry, opening the door for Eastwood to snatch the lead. Further back, Valentino Rossi helped bring the #46 BMW into fourth after a late scrap with Richard Lietz’s Porsche, underlining how competitive the LMGT3 grid has become in its first WEC season.

Titles to be decided in Bahrain

Fuji’s centenary race delivered a pair of landmark results — Alpine’s first Hypercar victory with the A424 and TF Sport’s second LMGT3 win of the season — but left the championship wide open. With Peugeot showing new strength, Aston Martin finally in the mix, and Ferrari faltering, all eyes now turn to Bahrain, where both the Hypercar and LMGT3 titles will be decided in the season finale.