Toyota scores a 1-2 on its home track, beating the resistance of an excellent Porsche and winning the constructors’ title. The two Ferraris finish at the foot of the podium
– Milan
The conditions for a race dominated by Toyota and with the Ferraris in difficulty were evident from free practice. In the 6 Hours of Fujion the home track, the GR010 of the Japanese giant immediately appeared competitive in dry conditions, as also demonstrated by the first row fully employed in qualification. Likewise, the two Reds were unable to do better than sixth and seventh place, also behind Porsche and Cadillac. Yet, the race was less linear than expected: the Toyotas actually managed to take home the double and the constructors’ titlebut not without difficulty. For Ferrari finished fourth and fifth behind the official Porsche #6, the best possible result with the current Bop conditions.
Excited departure
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Despite the premises, the race was anything but a walk for the Japanese GR010 Hybrids. The start took place on a dry track, even if covered by menacing clouds. A great detachment of Laurens Vanthoor in the #6 Porsche it allowed him to take the lead, with Conway’s #7 Toyota and Buemi’s #8 sliding back after running wide in turn one. Thus the two Ferraris took advantage of it, starting in an exceptional way, with Miguel Molina (#50) immediately second and James Calado (#51) fourth. The Englishman then moved onto the provisional podium in the first laps, taking advantage of a robust defense from his teammate on Conway. From here a great battle broke out between the Le Mans winning car and the two Toyotas, faster but blocked behind the Reds. Calado’s resistance was broken by Conway after more than 35 minutes, also getting rid of Molina about ten minutes later. Completion of the first round of stops after the initial hour of the race sees the Porsche #6 of Vanthoor still leading the Toyotas #7 and #8 in that order, while the two Ferraris find themselves back in fourth and fifth place.
Toyota on the hunt
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From here the chase of the two Toyotas began in an attempt to regain the lead from Porsche: still halfway through the race car #6 of Penske Motorsport, entrusted to Kevin Estre, keeps the lead on the GR010 of José Maria Lopez, while Ryo Hirakawa is third on the other Japanese car. The leading trio regrouped more and more, with the French driver in the Stuttgart car maintaining his position with a great defense. The pass comes just over two hours from the end: the #8 car of Hirakawa, let past by Lopez because it has fresher tyres, manages to bend Estre’s resistance and take the lead. The penultimate round of stops saw the two Toyotas both pass the Porsche, with the #7 returning to the front for a team order. From that moment on, the two Japanese cars set sail: the #7 by Conway-Lopez-Kobayashi wins 39 seconds ahead of the #8 of Buemi-Hirakawa-Hartley and 47 seconds ahead of the #6 Porsche of Vanthoor-Estre-Lotterer. The two Ferraris finished fourth and fifth, struggling with grip throughout the race, with the #50 of Molina-Nielsen-Fuoco ahead of the #51 of Calado-Pier Guidi-Giovinazzi. The result allows Toyota to become world constructors’ champion with one race to spare.
Ferrari in difficulty
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The two AF Corse 499Ps were the protagonists of a great start, before progressively declining during the race as the field progressed.tire wear. An expected result, however, given that the minimum weight was further increased compared to Monza. The Ferraris had to use the harder compound than their opponents, also because an attempt to fit medium tires on the left side (the least used) didn’t work. In the end, both cars were done with one lap behind by the winners, still keeping the other Hypercars at a distance despite some battles with the Porsches of Jota and Proton. The Peugeots did not arrive after the good podium in Monza: in the end they finished seventh and eighth, sandwiched between the two private 963s, while Cadillac had a difficult race between penalties and the loss of a tire after the stop, finishing tenth.
The other classes
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In the classroom Lmp2 smiles the Belgian team Wrt: the crew of Robert Kubica, Luis Delétraz and Rui Andrade wins and extends his lead in the championship standings. Car #22 takes the podium United Autosports (Frederick Lubin-Philip Hanson-Filipe Albuquerque) and the other Wrt car (Sean Gelael-Ferdinand Habsburg-Robin Frijns). Kubica’s car has now 33 points ahead out of Inter Europol Competition’s Le Mans winners and 34 out of United Autosports. In Gte Am the title was already awarded in Monza thanks to the impressive season of Corvette Racing. The American car was also the protagonist at Fuji, finishing in third place with Keating-Varrone-Catsburg. However, it was La who won Ferrari #54 of AF Corse, with Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci and Davide Rigon. Second place instead for the other 488 from Kessel Racing with Takeshi Kimura, Scott Huffaker and rookie Ritomo Miyata, leader of the Japanese Super Formula and specially observed by Toyota.
The rankings
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With the one-two at the 6 Hours of Fuji Toyota outdistanced Ferrari enough to be able to graduate constructors’ champion with one race to spare: with pole and victory he climbs to 178 points, 40 ahead of the Maranello manufacturer with 39 still to be assigned. In the drivers’ standings, however, Fuji benefits the crew of the #7 Toyota, which shortens the gap: with 118 points, he drops to 15 behind his teammates and leader of the World Championship. The two Ferrari remain third and fourth in the championship: #51 with 102 points, #50 with 98.
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