Mike Conway (GBR) / Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) / Jose Maria Lopez (ARG) #07 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 Hybrid. 08.09.2023. FIA World Endurance Championship, Round 6, Six Hours of Fuji, Fuji, Japan, Friday. – www.xpbimages.com, EMail: [email protected] © Copyright: Moy / XPB Images
Kamui Kobayashi has taken pole for Toyota for the FIA World Endurance Championship’s 6 Hours of Fuji, with the Japanese driver setting a 1:27.794 in the #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid.
Second was his teammate Brendon Hartley, in the sister #8 Toyota, but the Kiwi was well over six tenths off his teammate and the Toyota team principal.
Third was Kevin Estre in the #6 Porsche 963, 0.893 slower than Kobayashi.
The session had been declared wet when the GTEs, which went out first in the session, although it was mostly dry by the time the Hypercars went out on track.
Importantly though, this meant the Peugeot 9X8s could deploy their hybrid energy earlier than the other hybrids. But would this benefit the French cars in the session?
Antonio Felix da Costa was initially quickest in the session, setting the first representative lap time, a 1:29.111, as drivers worked to get the tyres up to temperature in the cold temperatures.
Alex Lynn, behind the wheel of the #2 Cadillac V-Series.R, went faster than Da Costa, with #51 Ferrari 499P’s James Calado slotting into second, just under three tenths off Lynn.
Porsche’s Estre then took provisional pole, but was almost instantly bettered by Kobayashi, who set a 1:27.794, which would not be bettered for the rest of the session.
Hartley slotted into second, but couldn’t get closer to his teammate. With five minutes remaining, rain started to fall over Fuji Speedway, ensuring no one would iumprove their lap times in the final few minutes of the session.
Fred Makowiecki, in the sister #5 Porsche, then made it a Porsche 3-4, 0.030 slower than his teammate. Lynn took fifth, the last car within a second to Kobayashi, while the two Ferraris could only manage sixth and seventh, Calado ahead of his teammate Nicklas Nielsen in the sister #50 Ferrari.
Da Costa, after topping the session early on, could only take eighth, with Proton’s Gianmaria Bruni ninth in the #99 Proton Porsche 963. The two Peugeots were 10th and 11th, Mikkel Jensen followed by Loic Duval, the 9X8s better deployment time not helping them to beat the other hybrids. Last in Hypercar was Tristan Vautier in the #4 Vanwall Vandervell 680, 4.405 off Kobayashi.
In LMP2, United Autosports’ Phil Hanson was fastest, taking pole in the #22 United Autosports Oreca 07-Gibson, with a 1:32.182.
Albert Costa, who ended the session fifth, was initially quickest with a 1:34.710. Hanson’s teammate Oliver Jarvis, in the sister #22 United Autosports Oreca, then set a 1:32.710 to go top of the timesheets, with Andrea Calderelli 0.746 slower.
Jarvis then went faster again, almost three tenths faster than his previous time. Gabriel Aubry then slotted into second, but was almost half a second slower than Jarvis, behind the wheel of the #10 Vector Sport Oreca 07-Gibson.
Hanson then came through to go second, making it a United Autosports’ 1-2, just over a quarter of a second slower. Louis Deletraz, in the #41 WRT Oreca 07-Gibson, then took the top spot, only 0.050 faster than Jarvis to claim provisional pole.
It didn’t last, though, with Hanson then toppling Deletraz to go even quicker, with his eventual pole lap, a 1:32.182, fast enough to take pole, his first in WEC competition.
Deletraz was on a quicker lap with two purple sectors, but as his Oreca’s tyres started to fade he lost a few tenths in the third sector, ending the lap 0.091 off Hanson.
Jarvis was third, 0.271 off his teammate and countryman, while Pietro Fittipaldi in the #28 JOTA Porsche 963 was fourth, and Aubry fifth.
Ben Keating took pole in GTE-Am, with a splendid 1:38.338 for the American in the #33 Corvette C8.R.
With the track declared wet, some drivers, including GTE veteran Christian Reid in the #77 Dempsey-Proton Porsche 911 RSR, ventured out on wets, but immediately came in after an exploratory lap to change to slicks.
It was Ahmad Al Harthy in the #25 ORT by TF Aston Martin Vantage AMR who initially set the pace, setting consecutive fastest lap times as the drivers got the tyres up to temperature, with his ultimate fastest being a 1:39.344.
However, as others pit laps in Al Harthy could not improve further and he finishjed the session 12th.
Back at the top, it was a battle once again between Keating and Sarah Bovy in the #85 Iron Dames Porsche 911 RSR. Keating went top, then Bovy immediately toppled him with a 1:38.373, Keating 0.346 slower than the Belgian.
The duel continued, with Keating going on a monstrously quick lap, seven tenths faster than the Porsche in the middle sector, where the yellow Corvette had the edge on the pink Porsche.
At the end of the lap, Keating set the 1:38.338, which Bovy could not improve on, with her best just 0.035 slower to take second and a front row start for the race the next day.
In third was Satoshi Hoshino, racing at his home track, in the #777 D’Station Aston Martin Vantage AMR, over half a second off Keating.
Keyword: Toyota on top at home in Fuji with a 1-2, Porsche third