Kon'nichiwa from round two of the 2019-2020 FIA World Endurance Championship, as the cars and stars move to Japan and the legendary Fuji Speedway, in the shadow of the majestic Mount Fuji. This circuit has hosted the FIA World Endurance Championship since it's inception in 2012, and also, hosted races here in the 1970s and '80s, especially in the '80s, for most of the decade during the glory years of the Group C prototype sports car era. Once again, the gladiators on wheels of the FIA WEC return to this palace of speed in the shadow of the great mountain, for the 6 Hours of Fuji. We are ready for an action packed race, but before you can race, you must qualify.
In qualifying, the weather was sunny and absolutely ideal. For the first time in a number of years, the drivers were set to go out to set lap times in conditions besides pouring rain. So, tire allocations were previously selected for qualifying, by the teams instead of the edict coming down from Race Director Edoardo Freitas, and the race stewards, "there is a wet track, therefore, all competitors must qualify on wet weather tires." The GTE Am class cars on track as always, first. Third quickest in class was the #83 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo being shared by Francois Perrodo, Emmanuel Collard, and Niclas Nielsen. TF Sport would go to second place, on the front row of the GTE Am grid. Their Aston Martin #90, the new spec Vantage AMR, being driven by Jonny Adam from England, Irishman Charlie Eastwood, and Turkish driver, Salih Yoluc.
At the top of the tree in the Am division, though, was the #57, the second of the Project 1 Porsche 911 RSR as in his first time driving at Fuji Speedway, Ben Keating puts the car on pole in GTE Am! How about that?! Porsche, Ferrari, and Aston Martin are doing battle in both levels of GTE competition, both Pro and Am. The best Pro class Aston Martin, came in third quickest, car #95, "the Dane Train" of Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen, who are still running as a duo for the four and six hour races. It remains to be seen who will join them for some of the longer events as we get deeper into the season. Claiming the second fastest time, Ferrari 488 GTE Evo #51. The AF Corse car, in the hands of James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi, again relying on two drivers for the duration of the race to come here at Fuji.
Porsche come out on top in LM GTE Pro, with the #91 911 RSR 19 of Gianmaria Bruni and Richard Lietz running fastest time in qualifying. Then came qualifying for the big guns, the prototypes. The locals fans here at Mount Fuji, rooting for their hometown heroes at Toyota, and their two car squad. The Equivalence of Technology put in some performance changes after the opening race at Silverstone. Would these changes allow the privateer LMP1 teams from Rebellion and Ginetta to make inroads and upset the hometown juggernaut? The newly rebranded Goodyear tires are working out very well in the LMP2 class.
The #38 Jota Sport Oreca 07 qualifies third quickest, to be driven by Portuguese former BMW driver Antonio Felix da Costa, Roberto Gonzalez from Mexico, and Anthony Davidson, the rapid Brit who formerly drove for Toyota, a couple of years ago. Second spot in LMP2 goes to the #22 United Autosports Oreca, with Portugal's Filipe Albuquerque, sharing with Phil Hanson, and for this round, his fellow Brit, Oliver Jarvis, standing in for Paul di Resta who has his DTM commitments with Aston Martin this weekend in a joint race for DTM and Super GT from Japan. Pole in the LMP2 class goes to Jackie Chan DC Racing, with Gabriel Aubry of France, Ho-Pin Tung from China, and Englishman Will Stevens.
LMP1 qualifying sees the third fastest time going to the #6 Team LNT Ginetta with it's AER 2.4 liter turbocharged V6 engine, to be driven by the British trio of Mike Simpson, former 24 Hours of Le Mans overall winner for Bentley, Guy Smith, and Charlie Robertson, an all British trio of drivers in that car. Toyota locks out the front row of the grid, as Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, and Jose Maria Lopez go second, but even they couldn't beat their sister car, #8, the TS050 Hybrid in the hands of Sebastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima, and new boy, Brendon Hartley, who is a Formula 1 refugee coming back to the WEC with Toyota, after winning the overall championship as a Porsche factory LMP1 driver in 2017.
Qualifying is done and dusted, and now, there's only one thing left to do, and that is to run this motor race at Fuji Speedway. Fuji, Japan, 2019 is round two of the 2019 FIA WEC. But, more significantly, it is the 60th ever race in the history of this championship since it's inception in 2012. As mentioned, from Formula 1 to sports cars, Fuji is a race track steeped in history, and the fans who come to this race every year, are extremely aware of, knowledgeable of, and appreciative of that rich racing history. We are ready now, to write yet another new chapter in the history of Fuji Speedway. It's red lights out, and away we go!
The cars fan out, five wide on the front straight as this race gets underway! Bold and daring as this six hour marathon begins. Toyota were 1-2 on the grid, we know that. But, they were very nearly 2-3 as Egor Orudzhev, the starting driver in the #5 Team LNT Ginetta dives for the race lead. The Russian driver, sharing this weekend with Charlie Robertson from England, and Formula 2 veteran Luca Ghiotto from Italy, making the move for this weekend, from open wheel cars to sports cars. Orudzhev is the bloke in that car, and he drives around the #7 Toyota, making his presence known immediately, as there's jockeying for position among the GTE Pro contingent already. Toyota #7 nearly gets the lead away from it's sister car.
Meanwhile, the LM GTE Pro scrap is beginning to boil and simmer already. It'll continue all the way through the race, so, you'll hear about it as you keep reading this race report. Now, look, we see Bruno Senna, nephew of the late, great Formula 1 legend, Ayrton Senna, making his move around both Egor Orudzhev, and around the #7 Toyota. Not sure which driver started that car. It is likely it could have been Kamui Kobayashi, another ex Formula 1 driver, who has found a definite home in the world of sports car racing. Giedo van der Garde in the all Dutch Racing Team Nederland Oreca 07 is working his way through traffic. van der Garde sharing with countrymen Nyck de Vries and Frits van Eerd, who owns the Jumbo supermarkets chain and he is the bankroll behind the team and the car as well as being one of it's drivers. The LMP2 leading car, from the class pole, has gone backwards to fourth spot in class.
Trouble brewing, look, in the GTE ranks. Specifically in LM GTE Am. There's a two or three way pinball machine effect going on there. Satoshi Hoshino, at the wheel of the #88 Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR, clatters into Paul Dalla Lana at the wheel of the #98 Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR. The Canadian, sharing with Ross Gunn from England, and with another Brit, the veteran driver, Darren Turner. So, it is indeed a battle steaming right along between Stuttgart and Maranello in GTE Pro. It's Porsche vs. Ferrari early on in the game here. Bruno Senna hangs on for a good dozen laps, before being scooped up by the #7 Toyota in traffic. In the traffic, it's like the ocean, where the shark is going to eat the minnow, and well, that's what happened here as Kamui Kobayashi swallows Bruno Senna in one gulp and Toyota takes charge at the sharp end with a 1-2.
This GTE Pro scrap rages on as the Ferrari gets eased out onto the gray line by one of the Aston Martin's, onto the runoff area, which thankfully, in modern times is paved and not gravel. Soon, both Aston Martin's make their way around the Ferrari. You have the #95 car, the "Dane Train" of Nicki Thiim and Marco Sorensen, and the #97, Alex Lynn from England, and Belgian Maxime Martin, sharing that car. #95 eventually snags the lead away from the #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19, the sister car in the Porsche GT factory team for Michael Christensen from Denmark, and the rapid Frenchman, Kevin Estre. After pit stops, and with a two tire strategy, Aston Martin #97 hits the lead of LM GTE Pro.
They run 1-2 as we reach the middle portion of this motor race. Rain comes, at the midway point of the race. There are some sprinkles, but it's nothing like we've seen with massive deluges that have afflicted the races here at Fuji in previous years. Still, that caught out the #33 High Class Racing Oreca 07 in LMP2. The driver of that car, does a classic slide job and fortunately, despite losing traction, only does a half spin. That car is being shared by Mark Patterson from the United States, Anders Fjordbach from Denmark, and Kenta Yamashita from Japan, racing at his home circuit this weekend. Shortly after this fracas, a Full Course Yellow was issued for debris on the circuit. Some teams tried to run intermediate tires, but, this was the wrong decision, as the track dried out and we all know what happens on a dry track with a semi-wet or full wet tire, as they turn to jelly really quickly.
The #5 Ginetta, the car of Luca Ghiotto, Egor Orudzhev, and Ben Hanley, was delayed by brake failure. Ben Hanley had no real idea this was happening, as no race car driver would expect it. Step on the brakes trying to go into a corner, and you feel something spongy under your left foot and then think, "oh no! I've got no brakes! I can't stop!" Fortunately, Hanley didn't crash, but, he did have to have the car brought back into the garage after going off into the gravel trap and then having to trundle his way back up the escape road. The battle for the lead in class in LMP2 continues, hot and heavy. The High Class car #33, gives way to the #37 Jackie Chan DC Racing car. Omnipresent in LMP2 though, the #29 Racing Team Nederland car, the van der Garde/van Eerd/de Vries machine. They take the LMP2 lead in the closing stages of the motor race, ahead of Jota Sport.
So, now, the race is heading towards it's conclusion, with no more dramas. Your winners, in LM GTE Am, the #90 TF Sport Aston Martin of Charlie Eastwood, Johnny Adam, and Salih Yoluc. It's a clean sweep of the GT classes for Aston Martin, as Marco Sorensen and Nicki Thiim in the #95 "Dane Train" Aston Martin Vantage AMR take the honors in LM GTE Pro. Racing Team Nederland holds on and win for the first time in LMP2 after taking the class lead in the late stages of this motor race. It's their first win in the LMP2 class in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Your overall and LMP1 winner, Toyota #8 for Brendon Hartley, Kazuki Nakajima, and Sebastien Buemi.
Overall/LMP1: #8 Buemi/Nakajima/Hartley Toyota TS050
LMP2: #29 de Vries/van der Garde/van Eerd Oreca 07
LM GTE Pro: #95 Sorenson/Thiim Aston Martin Vantage AMR
LM GTE Am: #90 Eastwood/Adam/Yoluc Aston Martin Vantage AMR
Toyota goes 1-2 with the #8 finishing ahead of the #7 car, and Kazuki Nakajima, taking his fourth win in his home race here at Fuji Speedway. Round three of the championship will see a return for the second and final time in 2019-2020, to a four hour race format, for the 4 Hours of Shanghai at the Shanghai International Circuit, in Shanghai, China, in a month's time, with that particular race scheduled to be run on November 10th. We'll see you in Shanghai. For now, sayonara from the majestic mountain at Fuji, in Japan.
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