The Ferrari 499P started from sixth place in qualifying for the 100th WEC race, the “Fuji 6 Hours.”

WEC

A good position to accumulate points reliably

The 7th round of the FIA ​​WEC (World Endurance Championship), the “Fuji 6 Hours,” held at Fuji Speedway, is a memorial race marking the 100th race of the WEC. Ferrari has won four races this season: two with car No. 51, one with car No. 50, and one with car No. 83. Ferrari has earned 203 points in the Manufacturers’ Championship, leading by 65 points over second-place Porsche. Furthermore, in the Drivers’ Championship, the crew of car No. 51 is in first place with 115 points, car No. 83 is in second place with 100 points, and car No. 50 is in fourth place with 75 points.

Qualifying took place on September 27th in dry conditions with an air temperature of 24°C and a track temperature of 31°C, and Antonio Giovinazzi at the wheel of car number 51 (Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, and Antonio Giovinazzi) finished in 6th place. Giovinazzi, who is now in a good position to accumulate points, spoke optimistically, saying, “Considering the struggles we faced in free practice, this is a positive result. This is the best we can do at the moment. Our long-run pace in the final will be better than our one-shot time, so we’ll aim to secure points and move up an even higher position.”

The Cadillac V-Series R took pole position for this milestone race. Alex Lynn set an impressive time in the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota car, giving Cadillac its third front row sweep of the season. Lynn was presented with a special helmet for his 100th pole position in the WEC. Marco Sørensen took third place in an Aston Martin Valkyrie, achieving the model’s best qualifying result since its WEC debut.

Final battle for the championship

Meanwhile, customer team AF Corse’s #83 car (Robert Kubica, Ye Yifei, Phil Hanson) secured 10th place on the grid, but their #50 car (Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Niklas Nielsen) could only manage 15th place.

At the wheel, Fuoco vowed to make a comeback in the final, saying, “I was prepared for a tough qualifying, and that was the case. For the Hyperpole, I needed a perfect lap and good luck in traffic, but we lacked both. I also made a small mistake on my final attack, which is disappointing. The final will be difficult, but I want to move up the rankings and earn points that will contribute to the championship.”

The six-hour final race will begin at 11am tomorrow, September 28th. With dry conditions expected, attention will be focused on how far the Ferrari team can improve their position to gain an advantage in the championship race.

PHOTO／Ferrari SpA

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Will Ferrari achieve its long-awaited championship? Questions asked just before practice for the 6 Hours of Fuji, Round 7 of the WEC

This season’s FIA WEC (World Endurance Championship) will be contested over a total of eight races. Ferrari has come to Japan for the seventh race, the Fuji 6 Hours, as the points leader in both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships. Will they achieve their long-cherished dream at Fuji, the memorable 100th race of the WEC?