Fuji 4 Hour Report: Toyota heads Porsche in tight quest for glory

Hypercar Leader – No.8 Toyota  

• Porsche Penske continues to lead in mid-race period but has to resist massive Toyota pressure as both No.7 and No.8 close in 
• Kevin Estre takes over from Laurens Vanthoor but sees the lead diminished as Jose-Maria Lopez catches the Frenchman 
• In fourth hour, Lopez gets to under a second of the Porsche 963 but Estre is able to repel 
• That allows Ryo Hirakawa to close up in third to make it a thrilling three car battle for the lead 
• Lopez briefly loses second to Hirakawa when he makes mistake and runs side but then re-takes position immediately allowing Estre to pull slightly clear 
• But Hirakawa then applies huge pressure and makes move on the No.6 pit-stop in lap 
• Behind the leading trio Ferrari AF Corse place a distant fourth and fifth with the No.51 499P heading the sister No.50 machine 
• No.94 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8 with super-sub Stoffel Vandoorne in the cockpit runs in sixth place 
• Hertz Team Jota place seventh after troubled opening. Will Stevens drives majority of mid-race period 
• No.93 Peugeot 9X8 sits in eighth position ahead of the Cadillac Racing entry and recovering No.5 Porsche Penske 963 
• 11^th is the Floyd Vanwall but they lose more time when Joao Paulo de Oliveira serves penalty for clash with Ben Hanley driven No.23 United Autosports LMP2 car 
• Proton Competition Porsche suffers bizarre issue at second scheduled stop at beginning of third hour as Gimmi Bruni takes over from Harry Tincknell 
• Bruni is unable to fix seat belts and car loses four minutes as team affect repairs. The No.99 car drops down order and places 12^th after four hours. Issue re-occurs again and more time is lost in pits 

LMP2: Leader – No.41 WRT 

• No.22 United Autosports Oreca-Gibson continued to lead as Frederick Lubin resisted pressure from sister United car of Oliver Jarvis in mid-phase of the race 
• No.23 United Autosports Oreca-Gibson lost time after Ben Hanley is spun around by Joao Paulo De Oliveira driven Floyd Vanwall 
• That allowed Louis Deletraz in No.41 WRT through in to second position. Hanley recovered to chase down Deletraz as battle raged in the fourth hour 
• Deletraz then homed in on the leader Phil Hanson who took over from Lubin. The two ran nose to tail with Deletraz making a clean pass on Hanson to take the lead 
• Hanley continued in third while in fourth position was the No.31 WRT entry as Ferdinand Habsburg also closes nearer to the front of the class lead. The top four covered by just 12- seconds 
• No.36 Alpine ELF Team is fifth ahead of the No.10 Vector Sport car 
• JOTA off sequence on strategy, spends time in lead with Oliver Rasmussen but is a net seventh place 

LMGTE Am: Leader:  No.85 Iron Dames Porsche

• Iron Dames Porsche lead majority of the third and fourth hours as Michelle Gatting takes the wheel from Sarah Bovy 
• Rahel Frey then takes over and is able to consolidate gap over ‘out of sequence’ fuel saving Corvette 
• The No.33 Corvette triggers incident with No.54 AF Corse Ferrari at start of third hour and Ben Keating is penalised for the contact 
• A 30-second stop/go penalty is handed to Corvette Racing, which had chosen to fuel save in first stints, and the car falls down the order and runs third with Nicolas Varrone aboard 
• Varrone survives huge lock-up on exiting the pits after his first scheduled stop.  
• A temporary second place is the No.86 GR Racing Porsche with Riccardo Pera at wheel as they attempt alternative strategy 
• No.77 Dempsey Racing Porsche runs fourth ahead of the No.54 AF Corse Ferrari, Kessel Racing Ferrari and Project 1-AO (Rexy) Porsche 
• Northwest AMR Aston Martin of Ian James starts well and runs in top six before claiming fifth with Ian James completing double stint. They place eighth ahead of No.83 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari  
• Early leaders D’Station Aston Martin place 10^th after losing out in mid-race phase 

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