Japan Six Hours of Fuji - FIA WEC this Weekend

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The Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R will make its debut in Asia this weekend as TF Sport moves to the Six Hours of Fuji and the seventh round of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Coming off a strong performance two weeks ago at Circuit of the Americas, hopes are high for a podium finish and maybe more in a deep and highly competitive LMGT3 class.

Both of the team’s Z06 GT3.Rs showed impressive pace, with the No. 81 Corvette of factory driver Charlie Eastwood, Rui Andrade and Tom Van Rompuy running as high as second before being hit by another LMGT3 competitor and eventually retiring from the race.

Despite that, momentum is on the side of TF Sport heading to Fuji Speedway. It’s a track the team knows well, having scored two race wins, a runner-up and a pair of pole positions in its previous four trips to the 2.84-mile, 16-turn circuit less than two hours outside Tokyo.

Eastwood was part of a GTE Am victory (2019) and runner-up finish (2018) with TF Sport. In addition, Juncadella contested the GT World Challenge Asia weekend at Fuji last season and scored an overall pole position. His Japanese teammate, Koizumi, is set for his home race and will make his second career WEC start at the circuit, having debuted in the series at last year’s event.

From an engineering perspective, TF Sport can lean on learnings from the Corvette C8.R’s previous two appearances, including last year when the program finished second in GTE Am after claiming pole position.

The Six Hours of Fuji is scheduled for 11 a.m. Japanese Standard Time (JST) on Sunday / 10 p.m. ET on Saturday. MotorTrend TV will air live television coverage from 9:30-11 p.m. ET on Saturday, plus 3-4:30 a.m. ET on Sunday.

Full live-streaming coverage of Free Practice 3, qualifying and the race will be available on the FIA WEC app and the MAX app in the U.S. Radio Le Mans also will stream audio coverage of Saturday’s final practice and qualifying, plus Sunday’s race.

TF SPORT PRE-EVENT DRIVER QUOTES

CHARLIE EASTWOOD, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“Fuji is a track and a place that I absolutely love, as was Austin to be fair. I’ve had some good success at here in the past, and my first win in WEC was at Fuji. Both the track and the place are really nice places to be. Car-wise, we were so strong at COTA.
It shows the commitment and work that both the team and Corvette Racing are doing in the background to keep this car moving forward. So I’m really hopeful again going into Fuji. Although we haven’t a result we wanted so far this year, I feel one is just around the corner.
We’ll be going for that. I think this type of track will suit our Corvette. We just need to start putting the weekends together.”

RUI ANDRADE, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“Fuji is a special place. It’s always a pleasure to go to Japan and such a beautiful country. The culture is incredible. A lot of drivers that I know always takes a few days to explore Tokyo, drive around and go to Mount Fuji. It’s that kind of place where you take things in. It’s such a beautiful place. As far as the track goes, it’s incredible and amazing.
It has a good complex and combination of corners with a super-long straight and then a really fast first sector. It’s pretty high up on my list of favorites.”

DANI JUNCADELLA, NO. 82 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“I was at Fuji last year in GT World Challenge Asia. It’s a track that I really love.
I was on pole, and it was just about the time I was having my meetings with Corvette Racing to finalize my contract! So I have a pretty good memory of that weekend because I didn’t have a lot of sleep because I was excited about those new prospects.
But those are really good memories from Fuji because it is a track I really enjoy. On top of that, Hiroshi is a Japanese driver and if there is one track where he is going to be very competitive, I think Fuji is the one. He’s going to be excited, and I’m massively pumped. I love Japan.

We’ve had a very competitive car the last couple of races. The Corvette has been getting better and better. We seem to be improving reliability-wise and pace-wise. Everything has been going in the right direction. I’m really excited. There has to be a race where we have a chance in the last two hours, and I hope it’s Fuji.”

HIROSHI KOIZUMI, NO. 82 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“It is very exciting for me to race at Fuji Speedway, my home track, with TF Sport and our Corvette. I feel confident for this race because I know the track and our car is very fast. I am hopeful of good performance from myself so that we can have our best finish of the year.”

SEBASTIEN BAUD, NO. 82 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“It was my first time racing in America at COTA and this will be my first time in Japan. It’s very nice because we have had a lot of driving and racing in a lot of countries. It’s great because I get to do this in a Corvette, as this is my dream to do this in a World Championship.

Furthermore, it is the home race for Hiroshi, which is good. I hope we can visit some places with him! But for me, it is very important to have a good result at Fuji. I’m a competitor and I think we are better as a team as we have learned more about the Corvette.
The car is good, and I think we can definitely be on the podium.”

 

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The nice setting of the Fuji Speedway, nestled at the foot of Japan's highest peak, serves as the stage for the 6 Hours of Fuji, the seventh and penultimate round of an unforgettable 2024 season of the FIA WEC. A key event in the World Endurance Championship, the Fuji Speedway hosts the Japanese round of the FIA WEC for the 11th time this year.

With a length of 4.563 km, Fuji is the second-shortest circuit of the season, after Interlagos. However, the Fuji Speedway is renowned for its endless straight, which stretches for 1.475 km. This is where drivers fully exploit the potential of their cars. Last year, Antonio Fuoco reached a top speed of 333.3 km/h in the Ferrari AF Corse 499P No. 50. The Fuji Speedway features 16 turns (10 right, 6 left).

The circuit is owned by the Toyota Group in more ways than one. The Japanese company has won nine of the last ten editions of the 6 Hours of Fuji. Only the 2015 edition, won by Porsche, escaped Toyota's grasp.

Last year, the reigning world champion manufacturer achieved a one-two finish, with the No. 7 Toyota, driven by Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway, and José Maria Lopez, winning ahead of the sister car, No. 8. "We will have many of our Toyota colleagues at the circuit to support us, along with our fans," says Nyck de Vries, who has replaced the Argentine in the No. 7 seat. "This will give us extra motivation to make them proud."

A home victory on its turf—where the GR010 HYBRID power unit is developed at the nearby Higashi-Fuji technical center—would be a first for Toyota this season. The extreme competitiveness of the Hypercar field is evident as the first six rounds of the season have each crowned a different winner, including Toyota's No. 7 and No. 8, winners of the 6 Hours of Imola and the Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo, respectively.

The entry list for the 6 Hours of Fuji includes 36 cars, 18 Hypercars, and 18 LMGT3s, representing 13 different manufacturers. In the Hypercar category, Alpine has exceptionally decided to field its reserve driver, Jules Gounon, in place of Paul-Loup Chatin in the No. 35 car to perfect his learning of the A424.
Total Suspense for the Constructors' and Drivers' Titles

AF Corse's success at Lone Star Le Mans, ahead of Toyota No. 7 and Ferrari No. 50, has shaken up the Hypercar standings. In the Constructors' Championship, the Japanese brand now leads with 147 points, but by a narrow margin. Toyota is only 11 points ahead of Porsche, which has dropped to second for the first time this season. Third with 128 points, Ferrari is far from giving up in this thrilling title race!

The gaps are even narrower in the Drivers' Championship. Winners of the inaugural Qatar Airways 1812 km of Qatar with the Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 No. 6, André Lotterer, Kévin Estre, and Laurens Vanthoor still lead the championship.

However, the trio has only a 12-point lead over the drivers of the Toyota No. 7, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries (Mike Conway is fourth due to his absence from the 24 Hours of Le Mans), and the same lead over Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, and Nicklas Nielsen, winners of the Le Mans classic with the Ferrari No. 50.
Following its triumph in Texas at the Circuit of the Americas, the Ferrari No. 83 of AF Corse has reignited the race for the Hypercar Teams' World Cup.

With two rounds remaining, the yellow-liveried 499P is only 30 points behind the Porsche Hertz Team JOTA No. 12, winner of the TotalEnergies 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. The Porsche Proton Competition No. 99 and the Porsche Hertz Team JOTA No. 38 are third and fourth in the standings, respectively.
Thanks to its unmatched consistency with five podiums in six FIA WEC rounds, the Porsche 911 No. 92 of Manthey PureRxcing sits atop the LMGT3 standings with 118 points.
Following its second-place finish in Austin, the Lithuanian team has extended its lead over its sister car, the No. 91 Manthey EMA, to 28 points. Third with 84 points, the BMW M4 No. 31 of Team WRT is only three points ahead of the Aston Martin Vantage No. 27 of Heart of Racing, which earned its first win at Lone Star Le Mans.

The weekend kicks off on Friday, September 13, with qualifying scheduled for Saturday from 7:20 am. The start of the 6 Hours of Fuji will be at 4:00 am on Sunday, September 15.

 

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After second practice

Alessio Rovera in the No.55 VISTA AF Corse sets the pace in the LMGT3 category with a best lap of 1m40.682s

TF Sport had earlier headed the times in the 90-minute FP2 session as Hiroshi Koizumi set the early pace in the No.82 Corvette on a 1m40.851s best, which was ultimately good enough for second

The local ace used all his knowledge of his home circuit to head the No.54 VISTA AF Corse Ferrari, which got to within 0.073s of the Japanese driver’s best effort with Thomas Flohr behind the wheel

But Franck Perera put in late time to grab third place in the No.60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan. The gap between second to fourth being just 0.027s

Completing the top six were the No.87 Akkodis ASP Lexus (Lopez) and the No.95 United Autosports McLaren (Caygill)

Championship chasing Manthey EMA Porsche is forced to sit out 5-minutes of session after being penalized for crossing pit entry line

 

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Ferrari scored its first LMGT3 pole of the season as Francois Heriau topped Hyperpole aboard the No. 55 Vista AF Corse 296 GT3.

Heriau, who also topped the first segment of qualifying, posted a best lap of 1:40.893 to beat his nearest rival, the No. 82 TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Tom van Rompuy, by just 0.082 seconds.

Josh Caygill was third-fastest in the best of the United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evos, the No. 95, ahead of Sarah Bovy’s Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 and the second of the United McLarens, the No. 59 entry of James Cottingham.

Hiroshi Koizumi (TF Sport) and Ryan Hardwick (Proton Competition Ford) both made Hyperpole for the first time in the season, ending up seventh and tenth respectively.

Unusually, neither of the Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 Rs made the Hyperpole cut, with Alex Malykhin only managing 14th in the points-leading No. 92 PureRxcing entry ahead of Yasser Shahin in the sister No. 91 EMA car.

Sunday’s 6 Hours of Fuji is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. local time (Saturday 10 p.m. EDT).

 

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GOTEMBA, Shizuoka, Japan (September 14, 2024) – Tom Van Rompuy and TF Sport’s No. 81 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R will start on the front row of the LMGT3 category for the Six Hours of Fuji as both of the team’s Corvettes made the 10-minute Hyperpole session for the first time this year.

Van Rompuy posted the second-fastest time in Saturday’s 10-minute Hyperpole session that set the top 10 spots on the grid ahead of the seventh round for the FIA World Endurance Championship. He set a best lap of 1:40.975 (101.097 mph) in the Corvette that he shares with Rui Andrade and factory driver Charlie Eastwood to miss the Z06 GT3.R’s second pole position of the season by just 0.082 seconds.

The biggest story, however, was both TF Sport Corvettes making Hyperpole, thanks to Hiroshi Koizumi’s strong performance in the No. 82 Z06 GT3.R. The Japanese driver advanced for the first time, while Van Rompuy finished in the top-10 for the third straight event and fifth time this season.

Koizumi’s best lap at his home track came on his final effort, a 1:41.310 (100.724 mph) in the Corvette that he will drive with Sebastien Baud and Corvette factory driver Daniel Juncadella. It equaled the best starting spot for the No. 82 Z06 GT3.R of the season, matching the position at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Both Corvettes were within 0.3 seconds in the first 12-minute qualifying session ahead of Hyperpole, showing the continued strength in pace and performance of the Z06 GT3.R.

TF Sport is coming off a strong showing two weeks ago at Circuit of the Americas, where the No. 82 finished eighth in class – thanks to Juncadella’s strong performance in the final three hours – and the No. 81 ran as high as second before being hit by another LMGT3 competitor.

As evidenced by qualifying, momentum is on the side of TF Sport heading to Fuji Speedway. It’s a track the team knows well, having scored two race wins, a runner-up and a pair of pole positions in its previous four trips to the 2.84-mile, 16-turn circuit less than two hours outside Tokyo.

The Six Hours of Fuji is scheduled for 11 a.m. Japanese Standard Time (JST) on Sunday / 10 p.m. ET on Saturday. MotorTrend TV will air live television coverage from 9:30-11 p.m. ET on Saturday plus 3-4:30 a.m. ET on Sunday. Full live-streaming coverage of the race will be available on the FIA WEC app and the MAX app in the U.S. Radio Le Mans also will stream audio coverage of Sunday’s race.

TF SPORT POST-QUALIFYING DRIVER QUOTES

TOM VAN ROMPUY, NO. 81 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – STARTS SECOND IN LMGT3:

“It’s a very good starting position. Thanks to the team for keeping on working on the setup to give me a excellent car. It felt really good and felt good on the lap. It’s really tight, but we’re on the front row. Furthermore, it’s a good position from where to start tomorrow, and hopefully we can gain one more.

“It was a really tight qualifying session, and everyone was bunched tight together. We have a really strong car, especially for the race tomorrow. We are in a really, really good window. So I’m really happy with the result today, and we will fight for a podium and try to go for a win tomorrow.”

RUI ANDRADE, NO. 81 TF SPORT CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“Things are superb so far. FP1 was a little tricky for everyone because the track was pretty dirty. As it cleaned up and into FP2, I think the car balance shifted a lot. For us, we learned the car is still quite strong. From the changes we made already for COTA, we saw that we had a lot of pace and were happy with the progression things had taken. We’ve maintained that for Fuji. It’s a completely different track with different characteristics, but the Corvette still seems quick and strong compared to our competition, so I’m happy with that.”

(Race prospects) “It’s hard to say. Everyone always has a little bit left in the bag. The most important thing is the feeling that we have in the car and the car balance. We were quite happy at the end of FP2. There are still some small tweaks to be made, but it’s always good when you can end a Friday on a high note, and you don’t have so much left to do on setup with Free Practice Three and qualifying. Now it’s about fine-tuning things. It was warmer today and closer to race conditions, so it was good to see for our race setup.”

HIROSHI KOIZUMI, NO. 82 TF SPORT CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – STARTS SEVENTH IN LMGT3:

“I was happy to get into my first Hyperpole! I was aiming for pole position but ended up with P7. In tomorrow’s race, we will win it! This is my first race at Fuji in a year but in a new car with the Corvette and my team at TF Sport. So I’m feeling both excited and nervous! I haven’t had very good results so far this year, but I’ll do my best to achieve a slightly better result for the Japanese fans here at my home track. Our aim is for the podium and hopefully the top step.”

DANIEL JUNCADELLA, NO. 82 TF SPORT CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R:

“Since COTA, we have been very competitive. The Corvette has been very nice to drive, and we have been up there for every session.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t get a result in the COTA race due to some penalties. Now here for Hiroshi at Fuji, he can really feel it’s his home race and he has some extra performance in him! This is a great starting position, and we have high expectations for tomorrow.”