Toyota doubled in 6 hours from Fuji, ahead of Alpine and Peugeot
Toyota achieved a double on Sunday at home, at six hours of Fuji, round five of the World Endurance Championship (WEC), ahead of the Alpine and Peugeot races, for the second race of the French brand’s return to endurance. The Toyota No. 8 from Switzerland’s Sebastian Buemi, New Zealand’s Brendon Hartley and Japan’s Rio Hirakawa, winners of the Le Mans 24 Hours race in June, beat the No. 7 sister car of Britain’s Mike Conway, Japan’s Kamui Kobayashi and Argentina’s Jose Maria Lopez by one minute and eight seconds.
The podium, two laps apart, was completed by No. 36 in the Alps for Frenchmen Nicolas Lapierre and Mathieu Vacciever, backed by Brazilian Andre Negrau, and thus fourth place, seven laps behind the victorious crew, went to the Peugeot 9X8 for Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne, Dine Mikkel Jensen, and British Paul Di Resta. The Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar, already seen at Monza in early July, was making its second racing appearance at the event. The other car, led by Frenchman Loic Duval, American Gustavo Menezes and Britain’s James Rossiter, entered the 20th place, 15 laps ahead of the winner.
This year Peugeot returns to endurance after a decade of absence and after winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1992, 1993 and 2009. In addition to Toyota, Peugeot and Alpine, several other major brands are set to commit to the hypercar in the upcoming seasons such as Porsche, Ferrari, Audi and BMW BMW, Cadillac and Lamborghini.
Fuji Six Hours Ranking, Round 5 (out of 6) of the World Endurance Championship (WEC):
1 – Sebastian Buemi – Brendon Hartley – Ryu Hirakawa (SUI-NZL-JPN / Toyota), 232 laps
2. Mike Conway – Kamui Kobayashi – Jose Maria Lopez (GBR-JPN-ARG/Toyota) at 1’08”382
3 – Andre Negrau – Nicolas Lapierre – Mathieu Växvere (BRA-FRA-FRA / Alpine) by 2 laps
4. Jean-Eric Vergne Mikkel Jensen Paul de Resta (FRA-DEN-GBR / Peugeot) in 7 laps
5. Robin Frijns – Dries Fanthur – Sean Gilliel (NED-BEL-INA / Oreca-Gibson) 7 laps (Class 1 LMP2)
Next race: Eight Hours of Bahrain, November 12.
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