Peugeot TotalEnergies emerged because the dominant drive on the opening day of working on the 6 Hours of Fuji, with the French producer topping each free follow periods forward of the penultimate spherical of this yr’s FIA World Endurance Championship season
DUVAL QUICKEST IN OPENING PRACTICE
Peugeot and Aston Martin locked out the highest 4 positions on the finish of the opening free follow session in Japan on Thursday morning (26 September), whereas Ben Barnicoat put native marque Lexus on prime in LMGT3.
The observe motion for the 2025 6 Hours of Fuji and the FIA World Endurance Championship’s one hundredth race started with a 90-minute FP1 session at Fuji Speedway. In sunny and heat situations, the occasions had been headed by the 2 Peugeot 9X8 entries, persevering with the group’s sturdy momentum after securing its first podium of the season at COTA final day out.
Loïc Duval, whose early profession noticed him race extensively in Japan, set the tempo with a finest time of 1:30.152 within the #94 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8. The Frenchman edged out the sister automobile pushed by Jean-Éric Vergne by 0.458s. Behind the Peugeots got here the pair of Aston Martin Coronary heart of Racing Valkyrie Hypercars, with the #009 main the #007. Marco Sørensen and Harry Tincknell recorded occasions of 1:30.632 and 1:30.766 respectively.
Fifth place went to the main Porsche Penske automobile, with Julien Andlauer joined by last-minute Fuji substitute Mathieu Jaminet. Their #5 Porsche 963 Hypercar registered a finest lap of 1:30.959, narrowly forward of the #8 Toyota GR010 Hypercar shared by Brendon Hartley, Sébastien Buemi and Ryō Hirakawa. The Toyota trio had been pushing to increase the producer’s extraordinary file of 9 wins from the final 11 WEC races at Fuji.
The remainder of the highest ten featured each Alpine A424 Hypercars, the #35 forward of the #36, whereas the Ferrari duo of the #83 and #51 entries accomplished the main group. Consideration within the Italian camp was already targeted on the looming title battle between its automobiles within the remaining two races of the season.
In LMGT3, Barnicoat claimed the perfect time for the Akkodis ASP Lexus squad, delivering a powerful displaying for the Japanese marque at its dwelling race. The #78 Lexus, shared by Barnicoat, Arnold Robin and Finn Gehrsitz, topped the category with a lap of 1:41.257. Robin was solely 0.033s faster than the #81 TF Sport Corvette pushed by Charlie Eastwood.
PEUGEOT AND LEXUS FASTEST AGAIN
Mikkel Jensen set the benchmark within the #93 Peugeot 9X8 within the second free follow session on Thursday afternoon, with Akkodis ASP Lexus once more main LMGT3, this time because of Clemens Schmid.
Free follow continued in heat and dry situations, and Peugeot TotalEnergies maintained its kind as Jensen posted the quickest lap of the day at 1:29.495. The Dane’s time was simply 0.017s faster than the #5 Porsche Penske 963 Hypercar of Andlauer and Jaminet.
The Aston Martin Valkyries once more confirmed sturdy tempo. The #009 automobile of Sørensen and Álex Riberas completed third, whereas the sister #007 ended ninth total. Toyota Gazoo Racing took fourth with the #8 GR010 Hypercar, persevering with its pursuit of a tenth dwelling victory since 2012. The automobile completed forward of the #35 Alpine A424, because the French group aimed to equal its finest WEC results of third place, achieved at Fuji final yr.
The #7 Toyota GR010 break up the Alpine pair, with Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries and Mike Conway sharing duties. Conway returned to motion after lacking the COTA spherical with a damaged collarbone. Cadillac Racing’s #12 V-Sequence.R, run by Hertz Crew JOTA, was seventh with Alex Lynn, Will Stevens and Norman Nato. The best-placed Ferrari was the #50 499P of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and the lately re-signed Nicklas Nielsen, making certain seven producers had been represented within the Hypercar prime ten.
Rounding out that group was the #6 Porsche Penske 963 Hypercar of Laurens Vanthoor and Kévin Estre. The duo, final yr’s winners at Fuji, had been focusing on a profitable defence of their crown on Sunday.
Akkodis ASP Lexus as soon as once more led the LMGT3 order. This time it was the #87 entry, with Schmid setting a time of 1:41.431. The Austrian, who shares the automobile with José-María López and Petru Umbrarescu, was 0.2s faster than the #59 United Autosports McLaren. James Cottingham, Sébastien Baud and Grégoire Saucy all took stints on the wheel of the McLaren, with Baud producing the perfect effort of 1:41.661.
