The FIA World Endurance Championship at Fuji will be run on Sunday in Japan and televised on Saturday evening/Sunday morning in the U.S.
FUJI, Japan—Having just missed an opportunity to take the hyperpole event at this year’s 24 Hours of Lemans, Cadillac Racing’s Alex Lynn finally gave the American team their first front-row start Saturday. That accomplishment spoiled Toyota Gazoo’s home race with a time of 1:28:901 and a last-lap effort with one minute left in the ten-minute event. In another first-time win, Francois Heriau took his Vista AF Ferrari to the front row in the LMGT3 class.
Photo courtesy Motorsport
Kamui Kobayashi, who himself and his compatriot, Rio Hirakawa, led most of the qualifying session until Lynn came into his final laps, will begin the race on Sunday on the front row, with the BMW M Team and Dries Vanthoor finishing in third on the second row, next to Hirakawa. Penske Porsche, who had lost their lead in the Constructor’s championship following their last race in Austin, will have Kevin Estre begin in fifth position, alongside the Alpine of Charles Milisi, who continues his good form, in sixth.
Lemans winner Antonio Fuoco will start his Ferrari in seventh place, with Matt Campbell’s second Penske Porsche in eighth place. Former Formula One driver Dani Kvyat gave his Lamborghini team their first top-ten showing in the hyperpole event by placing ninth. At the same time, Julian Andlauer’s Proton Porsche rounded out the top ten.
Along with the Cadillacs, the AF Ferrari Corse team with Heriau, set their first career pole of the season, with a 1:40:893 just ahead of the TF Sport Corvette of Tom Van Rompuy with the Iron Dames Lamborghini of Sarah Bovy finishing in third. Another story of American manufacturers making the top positions was the fourth place, with Hiroshi Koizumi taking fourth on his home circuit in the second TF Sport Corvette.
But the biggest news was that the series’ top drivers were not getting close to the front. Either Manthey Porsche failed to even make it to the top ten, with Aliaksandr Malykhin and Yassar Shahin doing no better than 14th and 15th. Even more problems were for BMW WRT driver Darren Leung, who started one position behind the Manthey’s in 16th, and Ian James, the recent winner of Heart of Racing, who will begin in the back of the grid.
The race, being televised in the U.S. by Motor Trend Television, will begin at 9:30 PM Eastern time on Saturday evening until 11 PM and 3:00 AM on Sunday.
