Stat attack! Top facts and figures about Fuji
The sixth round of the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship – the 6 Hours of Fuji - is now just three weeks’ away (8- 10 September).
Held at the iconic Fuji International Speedway at the foot of Mount Fuji, below are 12 interesting facts about the WEC’s Japanese race.
1. Toyota is on a five-race win streak at its home round of Fuji, and has won eight of the nine races in total, beaten only once by Porsche in 2015.
2. No GTE marque has achieved more wins at Fuji than Aston Martin, with the British manufacturer victorious twice in GTE Pro, and five times in GTE Am.
3. Fuji played host to Corvette’s first #WEC pole position, by Larbre Competition in 2012. The GTE Am team would wait nearly five years for a second, that coming at Le Mans in 2017. Corvette has achieved two further pole positions in 2023, at Portimao and Le Mans.
4. Fuji is one of three WEC circuits at which Corvette, Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin have all won in GTE Am, alongside Le Mans and Shanghai
5. The last four Fuji races have seen a total of four cars disqualified - Rebellion in 2017, both Dempsey Proton Porsches in 2018, and JOTA in 2019
6. Only one previous LMP2 winner at Fuji competes in the class’s final race in Japan – WRT, which dominated the race in 2022
7. Toyota #8 led 232 of the 232 laps at Fuji 2019, becoming the first car to win a race overall after leading 100%.
8. None of the lap-record holders at Fuji compete in the 2023 event – Mark Webber holds the overall best lap (1:22.639, 2015), Ant Davidson in LMP2 (1:28.011, 2018), Nicki Thiim in GTE Pro (1:35.884, 2018) and Matt Campbell in GTE Am (1:36.992, 2018)
9. 2022 saw home success for four Japanese drivers. Ryo Hirakawa led home Toyota teammate Kamui Kobayashi for a 1-2, whilst Satoshi Hoshino and Tomonobu Fujii finished 3rd in GTE Am for the Fuji-based D’Station Racing squad.
10. Toyota’s 13 podiums at home are as many as Audi (five), Porsche (five) and Rebellion (three) achieved combined
11. Ford, which looks poised to return the WEC in 2024, achieved its first full-season win at Fuji. The #67 GT of Harry Tincknell and Andy Priaulx finished 15.5 seconds ahead of the sister #66 in 2016
12. Four cars have won from pole position at Fuji in LMP1/Hypercar, in LMP2 and in GTE Am, for a 44.4% rate per class
Click HERE for the latest 6 Hours of Fuji entry list.
