Credit: Photo Copyright 2023 FIA WEC / FocusPackMedia – Tim Hearn
The #8 Toyota GAZOO Racing Hypercar entry of Brendon Hartley held the lead after four hours of racing at the 6 Hours of Fuji, continuing their efforts against the #6 Porsche Penske machine in the fight at the front.
The fight for the lead continued with the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid and the #5 Porsche 963, as Jose Maria Lopez took over the #7.
Meanwhile the #99 Proton Competition Porsche Hypercar faced a challenging driver change during a pit stop, with Gianmaria Bruni taking over from Harry Tincknell. Specifically, there was a problem with the racing harness not tightening up, and thus was put into the garage to repair it.
In GTE-Am, Corvette Racing were awarded a 30-second stop and go penalty for contact earlier in the race with the #54 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE, which required a side-door replacement due to a broken leader light system.
Kevin Estre in the #6 Porsche Penske Hypercar was temporarily struck with a shifting problem, as across the field, drivers were tackling tyre management dilemmas as they were exceeding track limits.
In GTE-Am, the Iron Dames enjoyed a lead after qualifying second on the grid yesterday as the #3 Corvette C8.R which was in front of them served their penalty, although Ben Keating impressively managed to save almost 30 minutes of fuel in comparison to the other GTEs.
Kevin Estre in the #6 Porsche and Lopez in the #7 Toyota continued to fight, as by the end of the third hour, Lopez ran slightly further before he pitted too.
The pair closed back up after Lopez pitted, and the Toyota GAZOO Racing pit crew solely changed the left side tyres, and Lopez emerged just behind Estre on pit exit.
Joao Paulo de Oliveira in the Vanwall tapped the #23 United Autosports Oreca 07, driven by Ben Hanley, on the right rear corner thus sending Hanley into a spin from the light contact. The #4 Vanwall was later awarded a drive-through penalty for this manoeuvre.
The lead fight became more intense as Lopez chased down Estre, and hung onto the tail of the Porsche as they both negotiated GTE traffic.
Despite the dirty air brought on by the backmarker congestion, they continued nose-to-tail with Estre showcasing his vast traffic management experience as a 24 Hours of Nurburgring winner.
For eighth place in Hypercar, Paul di Resta in the #83 Peugeot 9X8 passed Richard Westbrook’s #2 Cadillac V Series.R after the latter driver ran wide at Turn 1.
Ryo Hirakawa in the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid then joined the lead fight, sticking behind Lopez and eventually passing the Argentinian, as Estre began building a gap.
In GTE-Am, Scott Huffaker in the #57 Kessel Racing Ferrari duelled with the #98 Northwest AMR Aston Martin of Daniel Mancinelli, and thus the #57 took third.
Hirakawa’s efforts continued when Lopez let him passed, and shortly passed Estre with a tactical move into the Dunlop Chicane after the Porsche driver put a lengthy defense on Lopez earlier, before Andre Lotterer took over from Estre in the #6 seat during a pitstop.
At the four-hour mark, the Toyotas lead #8 to the #7 of Kamui Kobayashi, as Lotterer held third in Hypercar.
In LMP2, Louis Deletraz in the #41 Team WRT led ahead of both United Autosports cars, #22 to #23.
GTE-Am had the #85 Iron Dames lead comfortably over the #3 Corvette, as the #77 Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche 911 RSR was third after the pit stop cycle.
Keyword: Hartley leads after four hours at Fuji, Estre asserts lengthy defence against Lopez