Toyota on top in interrupted second Fuji WEC practice

After Porsche topped the times at Fuji in Free Practice 1 to kick off the on-track running, Jose Maria Lopez put Toyota at the head of the field in Free Practice 2, with a 1m39.202s aboard the No. 7 Toyota TS050 HYBRID in the heavily interrupted session.

The session was red flagged for 50 minutes after Vitaly Petrov lost control of the No. 25 CEFC Manor TRS Racing ORECA went backward into the wall in the heavy rain at 100R with 75 minutes remaining of the 90, causing significant rear-end damage to the car.

Behind Lopez in the times, the No. 1 Porsche – which topped FP1 – finished up second with a 1m40.523s from Swiss Neel Jani. The sister Toyota ended up third, with the No. 2 Porsche fourth.

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In the LMP2 ranks, it was Jackie Chan DC Racing topping the times again. This time around, though, it was the team's No. 38 ORECA which led the way as opposed to the No. 37. Thomas Laurent lapped the circuit in 1m47.437s, pushing the No. 31 Vaillante Rebellion ORECA to second after Bruno Senna's 1m47.521s in the opening minutes.

The top three was completed by the aforementioned No. 25 Manor ORECA, Petrov setting a 1m48.004s before his off.

Porsche was fast again in GTE Pro, but it was Ford's No. 66 GT which set the fastest time in the session. Frenchman Oliver Pla toured the Speedway in 1m52.658s.

The No. 91 Porsche GT Team 911 RSR finished second, Frederic Makoweicki reeling off a 1m52.710s in the opening minutes. The sister 911 RSR meanwhile, took third spot in the class, ahead of the No. 67 Ford which finished the day with the fourth-fastest time, after a brief fire in the engine bay just before the session.

After setting the second-best GTE Am time in Free Practice 1, Clearwater Racing's Ferrari managed to go fastest in the second run, local hero Keita Sawa setting a 1m53.381s. Spirit of Race slotted in second, with the Gulf Racing Porsche third.

The two Ferraris atop the class times were able to mix in with the GTE Pro runners, as in FP1, sitting fourth and fifth in GTE by session end.

The FIA WEC runners hit Fuji Speedway for Free Practice 3 tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m. local time.