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Le Mans / ALMS
LE MANS: WEC Fuji Preview
John Dagys previews this weekend’s FIA WEC Six Hours of Fuji...
Audi and Toyota will face off again in this weekend's FIA WEC Six Hours of Fuji. (Photo: LAT)
The FIA World Endurance Championship is quickly coming to a close, with Sunday’s Six Hours of Fuji marking the penultimate round of the globe-trekking inaugural season.
After a scorching hot enduro in the Middle East, teams will be treated to more reasonable temperatures this weekend in the Shizuoka Prefecture of Japan, on the foothills of Mount Fuji, the nation’s tallest mountain.
Featuring one of the longest straights in the world (0.93 miles), the Toyota-owned Fuji Speedway was a regular stop in the FIA World Sportscar Championship until the late ‘80s but sees its international endurance racing roots rekindled for the first-ever FIA WEC event in the Asian country.
Twenty-eight cars are set to do battle once again, although with some notable changes from the most recent round in Bahrain, which saw Audi claim a dominant 1-2 finish following issues for rival Toyota.
LMP1 sees a boost for the final two races, with OAK Racing’s Oak-Pescarolo returning to action, but now with HPD power.
Dominik Kraihamer and Bertrand Baguette, who spent the past three races in one of OAK’s LMP2 contenders, will be joined by open-wheel ace Takuma Sato, who is no doubt the highest-profile Japanese driver in this weekend’s field.
The French squad will be vying for top privateer honors between two other HPD-powered entries from JRM and Strakka Racing, which scored a surprise overall podium last time out, as well Rebellion Racing, which should have both of its Lola B12/60 Toyotas in action, one sustaining chassis damage in Bahrain.
Rebellion can clinch the LMP1 Privateers’ title this weekend if either of the Anglo-Swiss squad’s entries finish third or higher in class.
While the Manufacturers’ World Championship was decided nearly two months ago in Silverstone, the Drivers’ Championship remains up for grabs between the pair of Audi drivers.
Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler extended their lead over Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen following their third victory in the last four races. The gap between the two Audi squads now sits at 13.5 points, meaning a slip-up by the No. 2 crew could hand the title to the two-time and defending Le Mans winners.
All eyes this weekend, however, will be on Toyota as it chases victory on home soil. Kazuki Nakajima returns to the wheel of the No. 7 Toyota TS030 Hybrid with Alex Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre, who crashed out of Bahrain after suffering contact with another LMP1 car.
With the extra pressure to perform, and proof of its competitiveness this season with its maiden win in Sao Paulo, anything less than a victory will likely come as a disappointment for the Japanese manufacturer.
LMP2 saw the rise of a new contender in Pecom Racing last month in Bahrain, with the AF Corse-run squad scoring its maiden class victory on the heels of a runner-up finish in Brazil.
Pierre Kaffer, Luis Perez Companc and new recruit Nic Minassian’s win has put the Argentinean team within 23 points of championship leaders Starworks Motorsport, which lost out on victory due to an overheated starter motor on its final pit stop in Bahrain.
Starworks’ Enzo Potolicchio, Stephane Sarrazin and super sub Tom Kimber-Smith salvaged a third place finish in class, and if the team, rejoined by Ryan Dalziel this weekend, could pull off the class victory, they will clinch the championship, one race early.
It could be a tall order for the American team’s HPD ARX-03b though, considering the increased competition over the last few rounds from Nissan-powered machines, notably from ADR-Delta, Pecom and OAK.
The always-fast but sometimes fragile ADR-Delta Oreca 03 Nissan sees Shinji Nakano joining John Martin and Tor Graves for this weekend, while the No. 24 OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan should again be a strong contender, especially with Olivier Pla at the wheel.
With OAK rejoining LMP1, its No. 35 entry goes away, leaving a total of 10 LMP2 entries for this weekend.
After a scorching hot enduro in the Middle East, teams will be treated to more reasonable temperatures this weekend in the Shizuoka Prefecture of Japan, on the foothills of Mount Fuji, the nation’s tallest mountain.
Featuring one of the longest straights in the world (0.93 miles), the Toyota-owned Fuji Speedway was a regular stop in the FIA World Sportscar Championship until the late ‘80s but sees its international endurance racing roots rekindled for the first-ever FIA WEC event in the Asian country.
Twenty-eight cars are set to do battle once again, although with some notable changes from the most recent round in Bahrain, which saw Audi claim a dominant 1-2 finish following issues for rival Toyota.
LMP1 sees a boost for the final two races, with OAK Racing’s Oak-Pescarolo returning to action, but now with HPD power.
Dominik Kraihamer and Bertrand Baguette, who spent the past three races in one of OAK’s LMP2 contenders, will be joined by open-wheel ace Takuma Sato, who is no doubt the highest-profile Japanese driver in this weekend’s field.
The French squad will be vying for top privateer honors between two other HPD-powered entries from JRM and Strakka Racing, which scored a surprise overall podium last time out, as well Rebellion Racing, which should have both of its Lola B12/60 Toyotas in action, one sustaining chassis damage in Bahrain.
Rebellion can clinch the LMP1 Privateers’ title this weekend if either of the Anglo-Swiss squad’s entries finish third or higher in class.
While the Manufacturers’ World Championship was decided nearly two months ago in Silverstone, the Drivers’ Championship remains up for grabs between the pair of Audi drivers.
Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler extended their lead over Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen following their third victory in the last four races. The gap between the two Audi squads now sits at 13.5 points, meaning a slip-up by the No. 2 crew could hand the title to the two-time and defending Le Mans winners.
All eyes this weekend, however, will be on Toyota as it chases victory on home soil. Kazuki Nakajima returns to the wheel of the No. 7 Toyota TS030 Hybrid with Alex Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre, who crashed out of Bahrain after suffering contact with another LMP1 car.
With the extra pressure to perform, and proof of its competitiveness this season with its maiden win in Sao Paulo, anything less than a victory will likely come as a disappointment for the Japanese manufacturer.
LMP2 saw the rise of a new contender in Pecom Racing last month in Bahrain, with the AF Corse-run squad scoring its maiden class victory on the heels of a runner-up finish in Brazil.
Pierre Kaffer, Luis Perez Companc and new recruit Nic Minassian’s win has put the Argentinean team within 23 points of championship leaders Starworks Motorsport, which lost out on victory due to an overheated starter motor on its final pit stop in Bahrain.
Starworks’ Enzo Potolicchio, Stephane Sarrazin and super sub Tom Kimber-Smith salvaged a third place finish in class, and if the team, rejoined by Ryan Dalziel this weekend, could pull off the class victory, they will clinch the championship, one race early.
It could be a tall order for the American team’s HPD ARX-03b though, considering the increased competition over the last few rounds from Nissan-powered machines, notably from ADR-Delta, Pecom and OAK.
The always-fast but sometimes fragile ADR-Delta Oreca 03 Nissan sees Shinji Nakano joining John Martin and Tor Graves for this weekend, while the No. 24 OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan should again be a strong contender, especially with Olivier Pla at the wheel.
With OAK rejoining LMP1, its No. 35 entry goes away, leaving a total of 10 LMP2 entries for this weekend.
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