2024 6 Hours of Fuji

The 2024 6 Hours of Fuji was an endurance sportscar racing event held on 15 September 2024, as the seventh of eight rounds of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship. It was the eleventh running of the event in its current format in the World Endurance Championship.

2024 6 Hours of Fuji

Event information
Round 7 of 8 in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship
Date	15 September 2024
Location	Oyama, Shizuoka
Venue	Fuji Speedway
Duration	6 Hours
Results
Laps completed	213
Distance (km)	971.612
Distance (miles)	603.732
Hypercar
Pole position
Time	1:28.901
Team	Cadillac Racing
Winners
Team	Porsche Penske Motorsport
Drivers	Kévin Estre André Lotterer Laurens Vanthoor
LMGT3
Winners
Team	Vista AF Corse
Drivers	Francesco Castellacci Thomas Flohr Davide Rigon

Background

The event was announced on 9 June 2023, during the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans weekend, with the race being held in every WEC season, except the 2020 and 2021 seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.^[1]

Entry list

36 cars entered the race: 18 in Hypercar and 18 in LMGT3. The only changes from the Lone Star Le Mans entry list are Jules Gounon replacing Paul-Loup Chatin in the No. 35 Alpine, and Christian Ried replacing Ben Keating in the No. 88 Ford.^[2][3]

Schedule

Date	Time (local: JST)	Event
Friday, 13 September	11:00	Free Practice 1
	15:30	Free Practice 2
Saturday, 14 September	10:20	Free Practice 3
	14:20	Qualifying - LMGT3
	14:40	Hyperpole - LMGT3
	15:00	Qualifying - Hypercar
	15:20	Hyperpole - Hypercar
Sunday, 15 September	11:00	Race
Source:[4]

Practice

Three practice session were held: two were held on Friday, and one was held on Saturday. The sessions on Friday morning and Friday afternoon lasted 90 minutes, and the session on Saturday morning lasted 40 minutes, after being scheduled to last 60 minutes.^[4]

Practice 1

The first practice session started at 11:00 JST on Friday. Laurens Vanthoor topped the sheets with a lap time of 1 minute, 30.561 seconds in his No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche, 0.010 seconds quicker than second-placed Ryō Hirakawa in the No. 8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota. Antonio Fuoco rounded out the top three in the No. 50 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari, 0.543 seconds behind Vanthoor.^[5] Marino Sato was quickest in his No. 95 United Autosports McLaren in LMGT3, with a lap time of 1:40.528. Alessio Rovera set an identical fastest lap time in the No. 55 Vista AF Corse Ferrari, with Davide Rigon in the sister No. 54 Ferrari 0.265 seconds behind both Sato and Rovera.^[6] The session saw one red flag: the No. 95 McLaren stopped at turn 10 after contact with the No. 2 Cadillac Racing Cadillac.^[6]

Class	No.	Entrant	Driver	Time
Hypercar	6	Porsche Penske Motorsport	Laurens Vanthoor	1:30.561
LMGT3	95	United Autosports	Marino Sato	1:40.528
Source:[7][8]

• Note: Only the fastest car in each class is shown.

Practice 2

The second practice session started at 15:30 JST on Friday, with Dries Vanthoor quickest in the No. 15 BMW M Team WRT BMW: he set a lap of 1 minute, 29.577 seconds. Vanthoor's lap was 0.009 seconds quicker than that of Matt Campbell in the No. 5 Porsche, with Alex Lynn claiming third place in the No. 2 Cadillac.^[9] LMGT3 was topped by Rovera in the No. 55 Ferrari, with a lap time of 1:40.682. Hiroshi Koizumi was second in the No. 82 TF Sport Corvette, 0.169 seconds slower. The top three was rounded out by Franck Perera in the No. 60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini.^[10]

Class	No.	Entrant	Driver	Time
Hypercar	15	BMW M Team WRT	Dries Vanthoor	1:29.577
LMGT3	55	Vista AF Corse	Alessio Rovera	1:40.682
Source:[11][12]

• Note: Only the fastest car in each class is shown.

Final practice

The third and final practice session started at 10:20 JST on Saturday. Hirakawa topped the timing sheets in the No. 8 Toyota with a lap time of 1:29.621. Lynn was second in the No. 2 Cadillac, 0.086 seconds slower, with Fuoco rounding out the top three in the No. 50 Ferrari.^[13] François Heriau topped the LMGT3 cars in the No. 55 Ferrari, with a lap of 1 minute, 41.206 seconds. Rigon was in second in the sister Ferrari, 0.107 seconds slower, with Arnold Robin rounding out the top three.^[14] The session was red-flagged after 40 minutes due to curbing issues in turn 1.^[14]

Class	No.	Entrant	Driver	Time
Hypercar	8	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Ryō Hirakawa	1:29.577
LMGT3	55	Vista AF Corse	François Heriau	1:40.682
Source:[15][16]

• Note: Only the fastest car in each class is shown.

Qualifying

Qualifying results

Pole position winners in each class are marked in bold.

Pos	Class	No.	Entrant	Qualifying	Hyperpole	Grid
1	Hypercar	2	Cadillac Racing	1:29.090	1:28.901	1
2	Hypercar	8	Toyota Gazoo Racing	1:29.513	1:28.942	2
3	Hypercar	15	BMW M Team WRT	1:29.505	1:29.059	3
4	Hypercar	7	Toyota Gazoo Racing	1:29.423	1:29.065	4
5	Hypercar	6	Porsche Penske Motorsport	1:29.256	1:29.152	5
6	Hypercar	35	Alpine Endurance Team	1:29.402	1:29.154	6
7	Hypercar	50	Ferrari AF Corse	1:29.510	1:29.196	7
8	Hypercar	5	Porsche Penske Motorsport	1:29.591	1:29.223	8
9	Hypercar	63	Lamborghini Iron Lynx	1:29.721	1:29.582	9
10	Hypercar	99	Proton Competition	1:29.399	1:29.589	10
11	Hypercar	20	BMW M Team WRT	1:29.724		11
12	Hypercar	51	Ferrari AF Corse	1:29.772		12
13	Hypercar	83	AF Corse	1:29.829		13
14	Hypercar	93	Peugeot TotalEnergies	1:29.883		14
15	Hypercar	36	Alpine Endurance Team	1:30.028		15
16	Hypercar	12	Hertz Team Jota	1:30.072		16
17	Hypercar	38	Hertz Team Jota	1:30.092		17
18	Hypercar	94	Peugeot TotalEnergies	1:30.157		18
19	LMGT3	55	Vista AF Corse	1:40.932	1:40.893	19
20	LMGT3	81	TF Sport	1:41.110	1:40.975	20
21	LMGT3	95	United Autosports	1:41.332	1:41.120	21
22	LMGT3	85	Iron Dames	1:41.189	1:41.265	22
23	LMGT3	59	United Autosports	1:41.619	1:41.293	23
24	LMGT3	78	Akkodis ASP Team	1:41.527	1:41.308	24
25	LMGT3	82	TF Sport	1:41.267	1:41.310	25
26	LMGT3	27	Heart of Racing Team	1:41.426	1:41.397	26
27	LMGT3	54	Vista AF Corse	1:41.483	1:41.608	27
28	LMGT3	77	Proton Competition	1:41.440	1:41.719	28
29	LMGT3	87	Akkodis ASP Team	1:41.850		29
30	LMGT3	46	Team WRT	1:41.866		30
31	LMGT3	777	D'station Racing	1:41.908		31
32	LMGT3	92	Manthey PureRxcing	1:41.935		32
33	LMGT3	91	Manthey EMA	1:41.999		33
34	LMGT3	31	Team WRT	1:42.013		34
35	LMGT3	88	Proton Competition	1:42.502		35
36	LMGT3	60	Iron Lynx	1:43.417		36
Source:[17]

Race

The opening lap of the race

Race results

The minimum number of laps for classification (70% of overall winning car's distance) was 149 laps. Class winners are in bold and ‡.

Pos	Class	No	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Tyre	Laps	Time/Retired
					Engine
1	Hypercar	6	Porsche Penske Motorsport	Kévin Estre André Lotterer Laurens Vanthoor	Porsche 963	M	213	6:00:32.196‡
					Porsche 9RD 4.6 L Turbo V8
2	Hypercar	15	BMW M Team WRT	Raffaele Marciello Dries Vanthoor Marco Wittmann	BMW M Hybrid V8	M	213	+16.601
					BMW P66/3 4.0 L Turbo V8
3	Hypercar	36	Alpine Endurance Team	Nicolas Lapierre Mick Schumacher Matthieu Vaxivière	Alpine A424	M	213	+42.321
					Alpine V634 3.4 L Turbo V6
4	Hypercar	93	Peugeot TotalEnergies	Mikkel Jensen Nico Müller Jean-Éric Vergne	Peugeot 9X8	M	213	+45.846
					Peugeot X6H 2.6 L Turbo V6
5	Hypercar	12	Hertz Team Jota	Callum Ilott Norman Nato Will Stevens	Porsche 963	M	213	+49.689
					Porsche 9RD 4.6 L Turbo V8
6	Hypercar	38	Hertz Team Jota	Jenson Button Phil Hanson Oliver Rasmussen	Porsche 963	M	213	+51.916
					Porsche 9RD 4.6 L Turbo V8
7	Hypercar	35	Alpine Endurance Team	Jules Gounon Ferdinand Habsburg Charles Milesi	Alpine A424	M	213	+54.316
					Alpine V634 3.4 L Turbo V6
8	Hypercar	94	Peugeot TotalEnergies	Paul di Resta Loïc Duval Stoffel Vandoorne	Peugeot 9X8	M	213	+54.324
					Peugeot X6H 2.6 L Turbo V6
9	Hypercar	50	Ferrari AF Corse	Antonio Fuoco Miguel Molina Nicklas Nielsen	Ferrari 499P	M	213	+57.874
					Ferrari F163 3.0 L Turbo V6
10	Hypercar	8	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Sébastien Buemi Brendon Hartley Ryo Hirakawa	Toyota GR010 Hybrid	M	213	+58.879
					Toyota H8909 3.5 L Turbo V6
11	Hypercar	99	Proton Competition	Julien Andlauer Neel Jani Harry Tincknell	Porsche 963	M	212	+1 Lap
					Porsche 9RD 4.6 L Turbo V8
12	Hypercar	83	AF Corse	Robert Kubica Robert Shwartzman Yifei Ye	Ferrari 499P	M	211	+2 Laps
					Ferrari F163 3.0 L Turbo V6
13	LMGT3	54	Vista AF Corse	Francesco Castellacci Thomas Flohr Davide Rigon	Ferrari 296 GT3	G	194	+19 Laps‡
					Ferrari F163CE 3.0 L Turbo V6
14	LMGT3	92	Manthey PureRxcing	Klaus Bachler Alex Malykhin Joel Sturm	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	G	194	+19 Laps
					Porsche M97/80 4.2 L Flat-6
15	LMGT3	46	Team WRT	Ahmad Al Harthy Maxime Martin Valentino Rossi	BMW M4 GT3	G	194	+19 Laps
					BMW P58 L Turbo I6
16	LMGT3	81	TF Sport	Rui Andrade Charlie Eastwood Tom van Rompuy	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	G	194	+19 Laps
					Chevrolet LT6.R 5.5 L V8
17	LMGT3	85	Iron Dames	Sarah Bovy Rahel Frey Michelle Gatting	Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	G	194	+19 Laps
					Lamborghini DGF 5.2 L V10
18	LMGT3	55	Vista AF Corse	François Hériau Simon Mann Alessio Rovera	Ferrari 296 GT3	G	194	+19 Laps
					Ferrari F163CE 3.0 L Turbo V6
19	LMGT3	777	D'station Racing	Erwan Bastard Clément Mateu Marco Sørensen	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo	G	194	+19 Laps
					Aston Martin M177 4.0 L Turbo V8
20	LMGT3	59	United Autosports	Nicolas Costa James Cottingham Grégoire Saucy	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	G	194	+19 Laps
					McLaren M840T 4.0 L Turbo V8
21	LMGT3	27	Heart of Racing Team	Ian James Daniel Mancinelli Alex Riberas	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo	G	194	+19 Laps
					Aston Martin M177 4.0 L Turbo V8
22	LMGT3	31	Team WRT	Augusto Farfus Sean Gelael Darren Leung	BMW M4 GT3	G	194	+19 Laps
					BMW P58 L Turbo I6
23	LMGT3	78	Akkodis ASP Team	Kelvin van der Linde Arnold Robin Clemens Schmid	Lexus RC F GT3	G	194	+19 Laps
					Lexus 2UR-GSE 5.0 L V8
24	LMGT3	87	Akkodis ASP Team	Takeshi Kimura José María López Esteban Masson	Lexus RC F GT3	G	194	+19 Laps
					Lexus 2UR-GSE 5.0 L V8
25	LMGT3	60	Iron Lynx	Matteo Cressoni Franck Perera Claudio Schiavoni	Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2	G	193	+20 Laps
					Lamborghini DGF 5.2 L V10
26	LMGT3	91	Manthey EMA	Richard Lietz Morris Schuring Yasser Shahin	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	G	193	+20 Laps
					Porsche M97/80 4.2 L Flat-6
27	LMGT3	77	Proton Competition	Ben Barker Ryan Hardwick Zacharie Robichon	Ford Mustang GT3	G	193	+20 Laps[R 1]
					Ford Coyote 5.4 L V8
28	LMGT3	88	Proton Competition	Dennis Olsen Mikkel O. Pedersen Christian Ried	Ford Mustang GT3	G	192	+21 Laps
					Ford Coyote 5.4 L V8
29	LMGT3	95	United Autosports	Josh Caygill Nico Pino Marino Sato	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	G	191	+22 Laps
					McLaren M840T 4.0 L Turbo V8
DNF	Hypercar	20	BMW M Team WRT	Robin Frijns René Rast Sheldon van der Linde	BMW M Hybrid V8	M	202	Retired
					BMW P66/3 4.0 L Turbo V8
DNF	Hypercar	2	Cadillac Racing	Earl Bamber Alex Lynn	Cadillac V-Series.R	M	193	Collision damage
					Cadillac LMC55R 5.5 L V8
DNF	Hypercar	51	Ferrari AF Corse	James Calado Antonio Giovinazzi Alessandro Pier Guidi	Ferrari 499P	M	168	Retired
					Ferrari F163 3.0 L Turbo V6
DNF	LMGT3	82	TF Sport	Sébastien Baud Daniel Juncadella Hiroshi Koizumi	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	G	164	Collision damage
					Chevrolet LT6.R 5.5 L V8
DNF	Hypercar	7	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Mike Conway Kamui Kobayashi Nyck de Vries	Toyota GR010 Hybrid	M	163	Collision damage
					Toyota H8909 3.5 L Turbo V6
DNF	Hypercar	5	Porsche Penske Motorsport	Matt Campbell Michael Christensen Frédéric Makowiecki	Porsche 963	M	163	Collision damage
					Porsche 9RD 4.6 L Turbo V8
DNF	Hypercar	63	Lamborghini Iron Lynx	Mirko Bortolotti Daniil Kvyat Edoardo Mortara	Lamborghini SC63	M	146	Gearbox
					Lamborghini 3.8 L Turbo V8
Source:[19]

1. The No. 77 Proton Competition Ford received a 1-minute time penalty due to a pitlane infringement. Their final finishing position was unaffected.^[18]

Official recordings

• Free Practice 3 | 2024 6 Hours of Fuji on YouTube
• Full Qualifying and Hyperpole | 2024 6 Hours of Fuji on YouTube
• Full Race | 2024 6 Hours of Fuji on YouTube