The 2022 6 Hours of Fuji was an endurance sports car race that was held at Fuji Speedway on 11 September. It was the fifth round of the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship.
Entry list Renger van der Zande stood in for Nico Müller in the #10 Vector Sport Oreca, who had opted to attend the 2022 DTM Spa round.
René Rast and Nick Cassidy also missed the race due to clashes with DTM, with Davide Rigon replacing the latter in the #54 AF Corse 488 GTE.
James Rossiter continued to drive for Peugeot Sport in the #94 9X8 following Kevin Magnussen's commitment to Formula One.
Glickenhaus opted not to attend due to the significant increase in costs associated with shipping.
Schedule Date Time (local: JST) Event Friday, 9 September 11:00 Free Practice 1 15:30 Free Practice 2 Saturday, 10 September 10:20 Free Practice 3 14:40 Qualifying - LM GTE Am & Pro 15:00 Qualifying - LMH, LMDh, LMP2 Sunday, 11 September 11:00 Race Source:
Qualifying Pole position winners in each class are marked in bold.
Class Team Time 1 Hypercar 7 Toyota Gazoo Racing 1:29.234 - 1 2 Hypercar 8 Toyota Gazoo Racing 1:29.254 +0.020 2 3 Hypercar 36 Alpine Elf Team 1:29.446 +0.212 3 4 Hypercar 93 Peugeot TotalEnergies 1:30.000 +0.766 4 5 Hypercar 94 Peugeot TotalEnergies 1:30.152 +0.918 5 6 LMP2 38 JOTA 1:31.649 +2.415 6 7 LMP2 83 AF Corse 1:31.929 +2.695 7 8 LMP2 41 RealTeam by WRT 1:32.143 +2.976 8 9 LMP2 31 WRT 1:32.210 +2.976 9 10 LMP2 10 Vector Sport 1:32.297 +3.063 10 11 LMP2 22 United Autosports USA 1:32.337 +3.103 11 12 LMP2 23 United Autosports USA 1:32.342 +3.108 12 13 LMP2 28 JOTA 1:32.439 +3.205 13 14 LMP2 9 Prema Orlen Team 1:32.479 +3.245 14 15 LMP2 1 Richard Mille Racing Team 1:32.529 +3.295 15 16 LMP2 34 Inter Europol Competition 1:32.800 +3.566 16 17 LMP2 45 Algarve Pro Racing 1:32.879 +3.645 17 18 LMP2 35 Ultimate 1:33.155 +3.921 18 19 LMGTE Pro 92 Porsche GT Team 1:36.371 +7.137 19 20 LMGTE Pro 51 AF Corse 1:36.566 +7.332 20 21 LMGTE Pro 91 Porsche GT Team 1:36.800 +7.566 21 22 LMGTE Pro 52 AF Corse 1:36.851 +7.617 22 23 LMGTE Pro 64 Corvette Racing 1:37.127 +7.893 23 24 LMGTE Am 33 TF Sport 1:39.309 +10.075 24 25 LMGTE Am 85 Iron Dames 1:39.371 +10.137 25 26 LMGTE Am 71 Spirit of Race 1:39.461 +10.227 26 27 LMGTE Am 777 D'Station Racing 1:39.710 +10.476 36 28 LMGTE Am 46 Team Project 1 1:39.796 +10.562 27 29 LMGTE Am 54 AF Corse 1:39.809 +10.575 28 30 LMGTE Am 56 Team Project 1 1:39.853 +10.619 29 31 LMGTE Am 77 Dempsey-Proton Racing 1:39.874 +10.640 30 32 LMGTE Am 88 Dempsey-Proton Racing 1:40.052 +10.818 31 33 LMGTE Am 86 GR Racing 1:40.271 +11.037 32 34 LMGTE Am 21 AF Corse 1:40.418 +11.184 33 35 LMGTE Am 60 Iron Lynx 1:40.683 +11.449 34 36 LMGTE Am 98 Northwest AMR No time — 35Source:
Race
Race Report
Hour 1 The start saw both Toyotas leading into the first corner and maintaining the lead towards the end of Lap 1 with the Alpine and Peugeots in tow. The #45 APR, going for an overtaking move locked up the rear wheels, sending the car sideways and making contact with the #28 Jota into Dunlop corner sending both cars off. The #51 Ferrari had managed to snatch the lead from the pole sitting #92 Porsche by Lap 2, while the #45 goes into the garage for repairs, the suspension wishbones shearing the bolts holding it to the tub, keeping it in the garage for a long time - rejoining the race at the 5h24m mark, though earning themselves a 2-minute stop and go penalty for the collision it caused.
By the 4th lap the 2nd place Toyota has extended the lead to the Alpine by 1.8 seconds, with the Peugeots trailing behind already with a 3.5 second deficit to the Alpine. In LMP2, the #31 WRT has established a sizeable lead while #38 Jota, with the #10 Vetor and both United cars following is in a close fight for 2nd place, while the 3 Aston Martins in GTEAm - #33,98 and 777 are also scrambling for 2nd place. Meanwhile, the two Peugeots were very close together with the #94 seemingly looking faster and stuck behind the #93, with Rossiter complaining on radio twice about the car's bouncing issues and being held back by his teammate Vergne killing the tyres, but being denied a switch of positions by the team - though the two cars would eventually swap positions some laps later.
As the #92 dives down the inside of the #51 taking back the GTEPro lead on lap 10, we see the #60 Iron Lynx spinning on the track and successfully recovering without drama. The sister car - #85 Iron Dames has meanwhile made up to 2nd place in class fighting with the #777 D'station - though dropping back to 3rd a while later, with the #98 Northwest leading in front.
The #52 Ferrari does an optimistic lunge on the #91 at turn 1 of lap 12 though being denied the pass, all this time while the Corvette watches at the back of the Pro field, the car's pace taking a hit from the BoP reduction after Monza.
Meanwhile, bad luck for the #10 Vector, the car making slight contact with the #54 AF Corse - an incident that would later see the car getting a 5s penalty added to its next pitstop - dropping out of the fight and all the way down to 15th place. Further bad luck befalls the #64 with the car taking a drive through penalty for abusing track limits.
The close fight in GTEPro continues into lap 19, with the #51 Ferrari catching the slipstream and diving down the inside of the #92 at turn 1, successfully holding off the #92's attacks in the following corners to keep its lead; while the Porsche radio tells Estre to let the Ferrari go - and "not do anything stupid".
With the outside of the track not being filled with gravel like at Monza or Spa, GT drivers have found themselves pushing the track limits to gain an advantage - and many have pushed it too far. The #91 was the next to get a drive through penalty for the same reason as the #64 Corvette, serving it on the 24th lap with Bruni complaining on the radio - As the #92 also gets a warning for track limits abuse, leaving Ferrari the only team in the category without track limits violations so far.
The first pit cycle for the LMP2s came on lap 26, with #31 WRT still maintaining its lead after the stops. The #71 Spirit of Race GTEAm becomes the third car to take a drive through for track limits on lap 29, with the unfortunate Ferrari spinning at Dunlop earlier. While the #51 has pulled away from the lead after the move on lap 19, the #52 has since caught up and gave the #92 that previously lost the lead a second blow - with an almost copycat lunge down into turn 1 despite the #92's fierce defense and taking away its 2nd place, making it a Ferrari 1–2 in GTEPro near the end of the first hour. The #92 would drop down the order by quite a margin in the next 20 minutes, netting the car a solid 3rd place by the first GTE Pro pitstop.
With the Toyotas leading the Alpine by ~2s, which leads the #94 Peugeot by another 2 seconds - the #93 sitting in last 12 seconds behind its teammate. The first Hypercar pit came at the 5h04m mark with the Alpine entering the pits taking fuel only, with the Toyota #7 and Peugeot #93 following suit a lap later - followed by the #8 - taking fuel and left side tyres only and the #94, taking fuel only. Both Toyotas and the #93 took left side tyres only while the #94 Peugeot only took fuel, thus coming out of the pits ahead of the Alpine - that also only took fuel - behind the Toyotas - the #7 and #8 six seconds apart.
Hour 2 The first GTE Pro pitstops came around 10 minutes after the first hour, with the #91 doing a driver change and dropping behind the #64 Corvette, which had a tense moment in the pits as the car was going slowly in the pitlane and had to be pushed into its box, likely having run out of fuel - losing 45 seconds in the pits. By the time the pit sequence was over, it was both Ferraris - #51 and #52 leading #92 and #91 - and the unfortunate #64 nearly 40 seconds behind.
The battle for the lead in GTEAm since the start of the race still continues with #777 and #98, now with their Bronze drivers Hoshino and Dalla Lana picking up the battle left by their top rated drivers, #33 still watching from behind.
Of the LMP2 frontrunners, the #28 was the first to stop for fuel at the second cycle, with #31 and #38 following in the next lap; the #9 Prema with a conservative fuel strategy was able to run a lap longer before pitting, taking fuel and all 4 tyres and coming out behind the leading cars #28 and #31, followed by the #38 at the 4h30m mark.
40 seconds ahead of the next car - the #94 Peugeot, the Toyotas were back with a half second within each other on lap 63, with the #7 piloted by Kobayashi following team orders and handing the lead to the faster #8 in the hands of Buemi, pulling out a 1.5 second gap in the next few laps.
The class lead battle between #777 and #98 effectively came to an end at the 4h16m mark, with the #98 being handed a drive through for track limits violations - the 4th so far in the race - before previously being overtaken on track by Ben Keating in the #33 a few minutes ago.
Meanwhile, the #36 is rapidly catching up to the podium sitting #94 Peugeot, closing the gap down to less than half a second on the 69th lap - a battle is very much on, as Rossiter complains on the radio about "dead tyres" while both cars navigate their way through heavy traffic. It's not a complete piece of cake for the Alpine though, as the Peugeot still has a superior speed advantage on the straight, and the Alpine pulls out of the battle and enters the pits on lap 72, a few seconds behind the #94 - taking new tyres while Negrao steps out of the car, handing the wheel to Lapierre.
Another bit of drama occurs as the #91 Porsche dived down the inside of the #88 Proton GTEAm Porsche at the 4h05m mark, spinning the latter out and carrying on, earning itself a 5s penalty for the net stop later on. Meanwhile, the Hypercars come in for their second stop, with the #93 being the first to come in followed by the #8, then the #7 and #94. Hartley replaced Buemi behind the wheel of the #8, Lopez took over from Kobayashi in the #7, Rossiter handed the car to Duval and Jensen took over from Vergne in the #93. The Toyotas remain ever dominant after the 2nd pit cycle - 50 seconds ahead of the Alpine, which is a further 1 minute ahead of the next Peugeot, bringing an end to the second hour of the race.
Hour 3 The second LMP2 pit cycle was kicked off with the leader #28 comes into the pits around the 3h50m mark, after maintaining a gap of under a second to the #31 for nearly an hour, with the latter pitting a lap later, followed by the #38. Soon following would be the GTEAm pit cycles, with the leader #777 pitting first, followed by the #33 and #85 - Chaves takes over from Keating and Frey taking over from Bovy. The #33 and #31 would be the leaders in their respective classes after the cycle, with the former maintaining the lead all the way to the end.
The GTEPro pit cycle came at the 3h35m mark where the #52 came in first with Fuoco taking over, followed by the #51 with PierGuidi now in; where both Porsches would stay out until the next lap, #92 in first followed by the #91 as the #64 Corvette stays out for another few laps. The #51 and #52 would swap places after the cycle, both Ferraris still leading the class ahead of the two Porsches - the Corvette now basically out of the equation after the unfortunate penalty, running out of fuel in the pits, and the slow pace throughout the weekend; Tandy jokingly commenting "we suck!" in his interview a while later. (~3h09m mark)