It’s impossible to look at Fuji and the FIA WEC without recalling the typhoon-induced torrential rain which cut short the 2013 6 Hours of Fuji – despite the best efforts of race organisers, circuit officials and the teams. However, it would be a great disservice to Fuji International Speedway and the thousands of passionate Japanese fans to dwell on that. Instead, let’s start by focussing on the sunshine-blessed 2012 event which took place in front of 32,000 fans on race day and which was a triumph for Japan manufacturers.
LMP1 and LMP2
Toyota Racing’s Kazuki Nakajima took the chequered flag in front of a packed Toyota grandstand, the second victory of the season for the No.7 Toyota TS030 Hybrid shared, on this occasion, with Nicolas Lapierre and Alex Wurz. Just 11 seconds separated the winners from the No.1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro of André Lotterer, Marcel Fässler and Benoît Tréluyer who were followed home by the No.2 Audi of Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen. The same No.7 Toyota would be declared winner too in 2013 after just 16 racing laps, with Kristensen, McNish and Loïc Duval second in the No.2 R18.
In 2012 the No.12 Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota of Neel Jani and Nicolas Prost finished a lap ahead of its nearest LMP1 Privateer rival, the No.22 JRM HPD-Honda of David Brabham, Karun Chandhok and Peter Dumbreck – the JRM crew having had a fantastic duel with the No.21 Strakka Racing HPD ARX 03a-Honda. With reduced competition a year later, the No.12 Rebelllion of Mathias Beche and Andrea Belicchi finished an unchallenged third overall, just ahead of the LMP2 class winner.
In LMP2, it was a straight Nissan v Honda battle in the inaugural season of the WEC. In 2012 the No.25 ADR Delta ORECA 03 Nissan of John Martin, Tor Graves and Shinji Nakano beat Starworks Motorsport’s HPD ARX03b-Honda to the win. OAK Racing’s No.24 Morgan Nissan was third, but the French team redeemed itself in 2013 by claiming the LMP2 win – the No.35 of Bertrand Baguette, Ricardo Gonzalez and Martin Plowman lifting the laurels. The Le Mans 24 Hour winners headed the No.26 G-Drive Racing ORECA 03 Nissan of Roman Rusinov, John Martin and Mike Conway.
LMGTE Pro and Am
Team Felbermayr Proton’s No.77 Porsche 997 GT3 RSR of Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz won the inaugural FIA WEC 6 Hours of Fuji, ahead of the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari of Gianmaria Bruni and Giancarlo Fisichella. Aston Martin Racing’s No.97 Vantage V8 of Stefan Mucke and Darren Turner was third – a situation turned on its head a year later.
While the closed cockpits of the GTE cars may have offered the drivers some protection in the driving rain, the prototypes’ spray reduced visibility to almost zero. The No.97 Aston Martin entry of Mücke, Turner and and Frédéric Makowiecki was classified as the winner of LMGTE Pro, ahead of the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia of Fisichella-Bruni and the No.91 Porsche AG Team Manthey 911 RSR of Jörg Bergmeister-Patrick Pilet.
Larbre Competition enjoyed its second LMGTE Am win of the 2012 season in Japan, the No.50 Corvette of Patrick Bornhauser, Julien Canal and Pedro Lamy beating the No.57 Krohn Racing Ferrari 458 Italia of Tracy Krohn, Nic Jonsson and Michele Rugolo. One year on, Aston Martin celebrated the half-points awarded for the shortened race with a 1-2 in class, Bruno Senna, Christoffer Nygaard and Kristian Poulsen taking the No.95 Vantage V8 to first place ahead of the No.96 of Jamie Campbell-Walter, Stuart Hall and Johnny Adam.
FIA WEC Fastest Race Laps
2012
LMP1 K.Nakajima Toyota TS030 Hybrid 1:28.088 186.5 kph
LMP2 N.Panciatici Signatech ORECA 03 Nissan 1:33.453 175.8 kph
LMGTE Pro R.Lietz Team Felbermayr Proton Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 1:41.170 162.4 kph
LMGTE Am P.Ruberti Team Felbermayr Proton Porsche 911 RSR 1:42.122 160.9 kph
2013
LMP1 A.Lotterer Audi R18 e-tron quattro 2:04.095 132.4 kph
LMP2 K.Weeda Lotus T128 2:19.120 118.1 kph
LMGTE Pro R.Stanaway Aston Martin Vantage V8 2:32.061 108.0 kph
LMGTE Am M.Palttala IMSA Performance Porsche 911 RSR 2:18.803 118.3 kph
Fiona Miller
Photo: OYAMA-CHO (SHIZUOKA PREFECTURE, JAPAN), FUJI INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY, 6 HOURS OF FUJI: 1) 2012 RACE WINNERS, TOYOTA RACING; 2) 2013 LMP1 PRIVATEER WINNERS REBELLION RACING; 3) 2013 LMP2 PODIUM; 4) 2013 RACE BEHIND THE SAFETY CAR; 5) LOYAL JAPANESE FANS CAME IN 2013 DESPITE THE WEATHER
