The 100th race in World Endurance Championship history delivered everything: three safety cars, five full course yellows, and a brand-new winner.
Alpine’s A424 claimed a breakthrough victory at Fuji with Paul-Loup Chatin, Charles Milesi and Ferdinand Habsburg at the wheel.
Six of the eight manufacturers led, but not Ferrari - which endured a nightmare weekend, opening the door for a late twist in the championship fight as the season heads to a decisive finale in Bahrain.
But Ferrari was not the only one to have failed in Japan.
Winner - Alpine (1st/14th)
Alpine returned to Fuji, the site of the A424’s maiden podium, but expectations were modest after a tough run of results. Even less so after both cars picked up penalties in the opening hours. Yet the #35 regrouped and pulled off one of the shocks of the season by winning with Paul-Loup Chatin, Charles Milesi and Ferdinand Habsburg.
“The #35 had a complicated start, but we got lucky making a pitstop partly under full course yellow,” sporting director Nicolas Lapierre explained.
“The drivers delivered and we chose the right call at the final stop, changing only two tyres. That saved us time in the pits compared to the #93 Peugeot and the #6 Porsche and put us in the lead.
“We were confident and surprised they didn’t try the same thing.”
It was Alpine’s first top-class win since Monza in July 2022, and a maiden WEC victory for Chatin, Milesi and Habsburg. The result also lifted Alpine above BMW into fifth in the manufacturers’ standings.
Loser - Cadillac (7th/13th)
After locking out the front row, taking pole with Alex Lynn, dominating the early stages, setting the fastest lap thanks to Will Stevens, and leading for 67 laps (a record), Cadillac Team Jota expected far better than seventh for the #12 and 13th for the #38.
But the safety cars clearly did not play in favour of the V-Series.Rs and Team Jota, which deserved much more.
“The #12 had pulled away with a 10-second advantage,” Jota co-owner Sam Hignett told The Race. “It stopped under the green flag because of this lead, but everyone benefitted from the first yellow flag. So it’s a matter of luck.
“It caused us a lot of problems because it allowed the other drivers to get back into the pack. Unfortunately, whereas we perform very well in clean air conditions, we’re not as competitive in the pack. We were pushed back quite a long way.”
“It’s frustrating because as a team we deserved way more,” added Stevens. “We just had a lot of bad luck, fell in positions and it’s hard to recover when it’s so competitive. It’s just not your day.”
With 143 points in the manufacturers’ standings, Cadillac is still mathematically in contention for the title in Bahrain, but would need a miracle.
Winner: Peugeot (2nd/10th)
Yes, the Balance of Performance is very favourable to the 9X8, which – along with the Aston Martin Valkyrie – is now the lightest and most powerful car in the field. But race after race, Peugeot keeps proving it has nothing to envy in terms of execution.
After third at Austin, the #93 of Mikkel Jensen, Jean-Eric Vergne and Paul Di Resta finished second at Fuji, even leading 61 laps. Victory slipped away only due to Alpine’s bold choice to change just two tyres at the final stop, spending four seconds less in the pits.
“I’m a bit frustrated because we were so close,” admitted Jensen. “But Alpine was stronger and opted for the optimal strategy. It wouldn’t have worked for us because of too much rear tyre degradation. They took a gamble and it worked, so credit to them.”
Starting from 12th place on the grid, the other Peugeot finished sixth on the road but dropped to 10th with a penalty.
Loser: BMW (8th/DNF)
After two consecutive podiums to start the season, BMW M Team WRT has been unable to find form. In Japan, only one of the two M Hybrid V8s reached the finish. Just two hours in, Raffaele Marciello crashed heavily, triggering the second red flag.
“It was a disappointing weekend,” explained BMW M Team WRT boss Vincent Vosse. “We had some bad luck with the safety car, but that wasn’t the end of the world. Even the winning #35 Alpine had a drive-through penalty. It was all about being in the right place at the right time.
“As for us, the #15 car was heavily damaged after Raffaele Marciello’s crash. It seems the car in front suddenly slowed with a technical issue, and he couldn’t avoid the accident.”
The #20 BMW also picked up a drive-through for speeding under a VSC. BMW slips to seventh overall and risks losing out to Peugeot in Bahrain.
Winner: Aston Martin (5th/DNF)
Third in Hyperpole on Saturday thanks to Marco Sorensen’s #009, Aston Martin THOR hoped to finish in the top five. It did, courtesy of a post-race drive-through penalty for the #94 Peugeot. But at one point, Aston Martin had hoped for more.
“When you look back to Qatar at the start of the season a result like this would have seemed like a dream,” said team principal Ian James. “Now we’re a little frustrated not to have achieved a podium finish. We’ve become more and more competitive and we’ll keep pushing.”
Fifth place marked Aston Martin’s best Hypercar result so far and the first points for Sorensen and Alex Riberas in the drivers’ championship.
Less glorious was the #007: just out of the pits with two and a half hours to go, Tom Gamble lost control and hit the #27 The Heart of Racing Aston Martin LMGT3.
Winner: Porsche (3rd/4th)
With uncertainty over its long-term Hypercar future, Porsche delivered a strong statement. Both 963s ran superbly, finishing third and fourth, with Kévin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor taking their third podium in four races and fifth consecutive top-five.
“After yesterday’s qualifying, I would have happily accepted third and fourth – that’s a solid outcome,” said Urs Kuratle, Director Factory Motorsport LMDh. “The second safety car wasn’t in our favour, plus we got some unnecessary penalties. But we scored more points than our rivals, so it’s a good race. Title chances are still alive.”
In the manufacturers’ table, Porsche trails Ferrari by 39 with 66 still available. In the drivers’ standings, Estre and Vanthoor cut the gap to 21 points to Ferrari trio Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi after being 63 behind post-Le Mans.
“We started 17th, so third place is a good result,” said Estre. 'I’m proud of what we achieved. Maybe a little more was possible, but Peugeot and Alpine were simply too fast on the straights to pass.”
Loser: Ferrari (9th/12th/15th)
Fuji has never suited the 499P, but Ferrari surprised early on thanks to Giovinazzi and Nicklas Nielsen. That promise vanished with a catalogue of penalties: two drive-throughs and a 30-second stop-and-go for the #51, plus a drive-through and five seconds penalty for the #50.
“We knew from the beginning it would be a difficult race,” admitted Ferdinando Cannizzo, Head of Ferrari Endurance Race Cars. “But with careful driving and a set-up that helped us maximise tyre grip in the early and middle stages, we had managed to bring the cars to the top positions.
“Unfortunately, the FCYs and safety cars completely reshaped the race and, combined with mistakes, nullified the excellent work done. We lost important points to our rivals and must quickly analyse what went wrong and prepare for Bahrain.”
With just one point scored, Ferrari endured its worst race of the season and saw its championship lead shrink (see Porsche).
The #83 of Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson, hit by the #007 Aston Martin just 15 minutes after the start, limped home but still gained two points on the #51 crew – now leading by only 13 in the drivers’ championship.
Winner: Vista AF Corse (2nd in GT3)
Yes, it feels odd to list Vista AF Corse as a winner when its #21 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 lost victory to the #81 TF Sport Chevrolet on a penalty – five seconds added on the final lap for an infringement committed over an hour earlier. And the team also made an irreparable mistake by not putting enough fuel in the tank during the last stop.
But it was still a big result for drivers Alessio Rovera, Francois Heriau and Simon Mann's title bid.
“This second place is valuable, but we really missed out on the win by the smallest margin – a victory we had earned on track,” said Rovera.
“It’s a shame to see it slip away, but at least we scored crucial points and closed the gap. Now it all comes down to Bahrain, where we’ll need to be perfect because the only thing that matters is finishing ahead.”
In the end, the maths work out: with the #92 Porsche only fifth, Manthey 1st Phorm now leads Vista AF Corse by just 11 points heading to Bahrain.
Loser: Toyota (7th/16th)
Without FCYs and safety cars, Toyota would never have been in podium contention. But the events fell its way, and the #7 even led with Nyck de Vries with 2h30 to go. Alas, the next safety car wrecked its race, dropping the GR010 to 13th. A furious Kamui Kobayashi summed up the mood:
“We did our very best but unfortunately the safety car really hurt us,” he told The Race. “We were fighting at the front until then. Our race scenario was ruined. I did my best, but we can’t really compete with the other manufacturers. Compared to Peugeot and Aston Martin, we looked like LMP2s.”
Crippled by BoP, the GR010 can neither attack nor defend effectively. The car has no raceability, a complaint its drivers have been repeating for months.
The #8 was hit by the #35 Alpine after 16 minutes and had to make an emergency stop under FCY. Rules required another pitstop once racing resumed, which Toyota failed to do, earning a three-minute stop-and-go and dropping two laps.
Just one race remains for Toyota to avoid ending the season without a single podium.
