WEC Fuji qualifying rained out: Alpine claims first Hypercar pole

Alpine will start the 6 Hours of Fuji from the front row after heavy rain forced the cancellation of Saturday’s qualifying. With no qualifying times set, the grid was based on each car’s fastest lap from free practice, which put Victor Martins and the #36 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424 on pole for Sunday’s Japanese round of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

After a completely dry Friday, Saturday started wet and only got wetter. Visibility dropped and standing water built up on track, and the session came to an early end shortly into LMGT3 qualifying. François Hériau brought out the red flag that ended it when he crashed at Turn 2 in the #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3. All remaining WEC running for the day was then cancelled.

First Hypercar pole for Alpine

Martins’ 1m29.304sec from Free Practice 2 on Friday afternoon gives the endurance racing rookie and the A424 their first pole in the Hypercar class. Last year’s Fuji winner Charles Milesi completes an all-Alpine front row in the #35, just under a tenth of a second behind.

Aston Martin THOR missed out on its first front-row start. The #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie received a two-place grid penalty after Harry Tincknell collided with Ian James’ #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 in Free Practice 3, which drops the car to fourth. That promotes the #19 Genesis Magma Racing Genesis GMR-001 to third, and with the sister #17 in fifth, the Korean newcomer will take its best grid positions yet. The #009 Valkyrie starts sixth.

Cadillac, which took pole at Fuji in each of the past two seasons, lines up seventh with the #38 and tenth with the #12. The title contenders have work to do. Nine-time Fuji winner Toyota starts its home race eighth with the #8 and 13th with the #7, while defending champion Ferrari’s factory 499Ps start 11th and 16th. BMW’s pair line up 14th and 17th.

Mustang on LMGT3 pole

In LMGT3, the #77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 takes pole for the first time, thanks to Ben Tuck’s circuit-best 1m39.828sec on Friday. The #79 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3 starts alongside, ahead of the #78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F GT3 and the #58 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3.

Race day

The 6 Hours of Fuji starts on Sunday 27 September at 11:00 local time (04:00 CEST), with the chequered flag due at 17:00 (10:00 CEST). With rain also expected on Sunday, the race may look very different from a grid set in the dry on Friday.