Preview: 6 hours of Fuji

Text: Rick Kiewiet

Images: FIA WEC, McLaren, Rick Kiewiet

Round six of the FIA WEC season takes the paddock to Japan this weekend (25-27 September) for the 6 Hours of Fuji, with the title picture closer than it's been all year. Ferrari's win at COTA has turned what was a two-way Toyota/BMW fight into a genuine three-way scrap, even as de Vries, Kobayashi and Conway remain tied on points at the top with BMW's Frijns and Rast.

Pole positions are overrated...

Fuji Speedway, laid out in the shadow of Japan's highest peak, has hosted 12 WEC races since the championship's 2012 inception and has developed a reputation for defying expectations. No pole-sitter went on to reach the podium in either 2024 or 2025, and last year's race marked the first time no class-winner started from the top three rows of the grid. Its 1.475km main straight is one of the longest on the calendar despite Fuji being the second-shortest lap on the schedule, with cars hitting speeds beyond 330km/h before funnelling into a technical infield.

Who can beat Toyota on home soil?

Few venues favour a manufacturer as heavily as Fuji favours Toyota. The Japanese marque has won there nine times, a 75 per cent strike rate, and every new Toyota Hypercar has won on its debut at the track — the TS030 in 2012, the TS040 in 2014, the TS050 in 2016 and the GR010 in 2022. The TR010 Hybrid, already a winner at Imola and Le Mans this year, will look to continue that trend, and de Vries arrives on the back of leading the last two editions of the race, with Kobayashi holding the Hypercar qualifying lap record at the circuit. But the manufacturer's most recent win here dates back to 2023, and the manner of its COTA defeat — a hydraulic failure costing a near-certain victory with ten minutes left — will sting.

BMW, meanwhile, arrives off the back of a quiet weekend in Texas but has fond memories of Japan: the M Hybrid V8 qualified third and finished second on its Fuji debut in 2024, the marque's breakthrough Hypercar podium. Ferrari's position is the most intriguing of the three. The reigning champion has hauled itself back into contention after wins at COTA and a runner-up finish at São Paulo, yet Fuji remains the only current Hypercar venue where the 499P has never reached the podium in three attempts.

If there's a manufacturer with reason to feel at home at Fuji beyond Toyota, it's Alpine. The A424 delivered the marque's breakthrough Hypercar win at last year's landmark 100th WEC race, Charles Milesi capitalising on a perfectly timed pit stop and a bold late tyre call. It remains the only car on the current grid to have previously won at Fuji, and its podium tally there — two from two prior starts — is bettered only by Toyota among active manufacturers. Alpine returned to the podium for the first time this season just a fortnight ago at COTA, giving weight to the idea that Les Bleus could be genuine contenders again this weekend.

Cadillac has topped Hyperpole at Fuji in both editions since 2024, though the JOTA-run effort goes into the weekend without Alex Lynn, who claimed both those poles and is not expected back until the final two rounds. Peugeot's best finish of the season last year came at Fuji, a second place for the #94 crew, while Aston Martin's Valkyrie has improved on its Fuji result in each of the last two years. Genesis, fresh off a best-yet seventh at COTA, will be hoping to build further momentum, with Loïc Duval — the outright Fuji lap record holder — set to make his 80th series start in the #94 Peugeot.

Can TF Sport make it 2 out of 2?

Corvette's #33 crew of Jonny Edgar, Nicky Catsburg and Ben Keating heads into Fuji atop the LMGT3 standings, with partner squad TF Sport having won at the circuit three times, most recently last year courtesy of Charlie Eastwood, Rui Andrade and Tom van Rompuy. That victory came at the expense of VISTA AF Corse's #21 Ferrari, which crossed the line first only to be demoted by a pit-lane penalty — a result that denied the Italian squad back-to-back Fuji wins and one that means Ferrari is currently on a six-race podium drought at the track, much as it was in 2024 before winning there. Rovera, Mann and Hériau now sit closest to the #33 Corvette in the standings, with a difficult COTA for TF Sport narrowing the points gap further.

Elsewhere, Team WRT's BMWs have finished in the top three in both of their previous Fuji appearances, Mercedes-AMG arrives on the back of promising COTA pace and last year's fastest race lap at the circuit, and Lexus — a two-time 2025 race winner — will be looking to return to the top step on home soil for the Akkodis ASP-run RC F.

Other news

Peugeot has confirmed Robert Shwartzman will join its Hypercar roster for 2027, marking a return to the FIA WEC for the 2024 COTA winner after two seasons contesting IndyCar, where he took pole for the Indianapolis 500 on his debut with Prema. The Russian-Israeli driver will complete several test sessions in the 9X8 before the new season, arriving as Stoffel Vandoorne and Malthe Jakobsen depart the marque and Jean-Éric Vergne returns to a race seat alongside reserve driver Alex Quinn's promotion.

Lando Norris put in his first proper test of the McLaren MCL-HY at Portimão, completing 38 laps alongside Mikkel Jensen and incoming 2027 signing Laurens Vanthoor. It marked the reigning Formula 1 world champion's first extended running in the car since driving it up the hill at Goodwood in July, with Norris saying the day had "collected some valuable data" for the team as McLaren continues preparations for its 2027 Hypercar entry.

Separately, the provisional 2027 Formula 1 calendar has been confirmed with no clashes against the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Nürburgring 24 or the Spa 24 Hours, opening the door for Norris to potentially race at Le Mans with McLaren and for Max Verstappen to add further GT3 outings to his schedule following his N24 appearance this year. The last two F1 drivers to contest Le Mans alongside their grand prix commitments — Fernando Alonso in 2018 and Nico Hülkenberg in 2015 — both won outright.