Just in time for the appearance of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), the summer said goodbye to the Japanese Alps. After a 15 degree Celsius drop in temperature over a few hours, the seventh of nine world championship rounds is set to be held in persistently wet conditions.
The first two 90-minute practice sessions at the 4.56 kilometre long Fuji International Speedway took place in the rain in just 13 degree air and 17 degree track temperatures. The picturesque silhouette of Mount Fuji disappeared in fog while the spray on the very long 1.5-kilometre straight left the drivers with extremely poor visibility.
The two Porsche 919 Hybrids were fastest in the morning practice session with the trio of Neel Jani (CH), André Lotterer (DE) and Nick Tandy (GB) ahead of the sister car of the championship leaders Earl Bamber (NZ), Timo Bernhard (DE) and Brendon Hartley (NZ).
“As soon as I got into the car this morning I had a good feeling,” commented Bamber. “At the beginning, there was a lot of aquaplaning but then it reduced. When there are a lot of cars running, the water is moved off the track and it is not too bad. I think in damp conditions we are strong and in the afternoon Toyota looked formidable in heavy rain. So we have to improve on this. I think it is great to be back here. I like Japan and the Fuji Speedway a lot although I still try to find the mountain this year!”
The afternoon session was red flagged for a long time because of heavy rain. On the time sheets, Jani was second fastest, Bernhard was fourth. Their teammates didn’t even get the opportunity to drive. The overall best time of the day was achieved by Lotterer in the morning with a lap of 1:35.527 minutes.
“It is nice to be back here on the track at Mount Fuji,” commented Hartley. “It was very wet today and quite slippery. The first session went fine and we clocked the first and second fastest times. In free practice two, the Toyota looked a bit quicker in heavier rain though. Now we will work on our car set-up.”
The six-hour race is awaited with huge excitement but not only because of the difficult conditions: If the Le Mans winners Bamber/Bernhard/Hartley finish the race ahead of the best placed Toyota (car number 8), they would become the new drivers’ world champions. However, next on the programme is qualifying on Saturday from 15:00 to 15:20 hrs local time. The six-hour race on Sunday will start at 11:00 hrs local time.
Free practice 1 results:
1st #1 Porsche (Jani/Lotterer/Tandy) 1min 35.527secs 34 laps
2nd #2 Porsche (Bernhard/Bamber/Hartley) +0.133secs 35 laps
3rd #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +0.483secs 38 laps
4th #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +0.578secs 38 laps
5th #37 Jackie Chan (Cheng/Brundle/Gommendy) +7.208secs 40 laps
6th #28 TDS Racing (Perrodo/Vaxiviere/Collard) +7.698secs 37 laps
Free practice 2 results:
1st #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing 1min 39.202secs 7 laps
2nd #1 Porsche (Jani/Lotterer/Tandy) +1.321secs 35 laps
3rd #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +2.211secs 6 laps
4th #2 Porsche (Bernhard/Bamber/Hartley) +3.581secs 5 laps
5th #38 Jackie Chan (Tung/Jarvis/Laurent) +8.235secs 36 laps
6th #31 Rebellion (Canal/Prost/Senna) +8.319secs 8 laps
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