No. 8 Toyota makes shocking storm to home victory in WEC's 6 Hours of Fuji

Toyota Racing won its first FIA WEC race on home soil since 2023 in shocking fashion this afternoon at the Fuji Speedway with a strategic masterstroke that saw the No. 8 TR010 HYBRID storm to victory from seemingly nowhere in the final hour.

A late call to take fuel only during the 6 Hours of Fuji's final safety car catapulted the No. 8 TR010 HYBRID of Ryo Hirakawa from sixth to the lead for the final dash to the flag, in front of 72,000 adoring home fans.

Hirakawa withstood major pressure as rain fell and Alpine's Victor Martins pushed to take the lead on fresh left-side tires. But he kept a cool head, held on, and took the victory and the championship lead for himself and his teammates, Sebastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley, with two races to go.

"It was not a perfectly executed race at the beginning, but we hung in there. We didn't have the pace of some of the others. The last call in the pit lane was perfect; we put just enough fuel in to get out ahead of the others, and Ryo held on under pressure with a faster car behind," a jubilant Brendon Hartley, who earlier in the race recovered from being turned into a spin by the No. 007 Aston Martin, said.

"It feels great. We've had bad luck this year, but we're going to enjoy that for a few days!"

Sebastien Buemi, meanwhile, revealed to WEC TV that there had been what amounts to a strategic masterstroke, though it was, at least in part, a gamble. The leading car had been released without enough fuel to finish had the race gone immediately back to green. The team opted to take track position and judged that the barrier repairs at T1 would take long enough to put the Toyota into the fuel window. The engineers guessed correctly and set up a fantastic final stint for Ryo Hirakawa.

Hirakawa added post-race: "It was amazing. I would just describe it as joy. It was really stressful with the safety car restart, but this win is for the team. It's nice to be on top of the podium in front of our fans."

Behind, the No. 36 Alpine Endurance Team A424 - which led the majority of the race and ran in formation with the sister car at the front of the field for huge chunks of the race - finished second. Victor Martins and Jules Gounon (nursing a wrist injury) were superb throughout, but couldn't convert pole into a win.

The Alpine team's last-stop strategy wasn't bad, but Toyota outthought them, and it cost Les Bleus a likely repeat win at the Japanese speedway.

The No. 15 BMW, like the No. 8 Toyota, came out of nowhere, into the top three from seventh overall after the last round of stops under the fourth safety car to snatch an unlikely podium. Dries Vanthoor pushed hard to challenge Martins and held second briefly, but dropped to third after Martins snuck through on the pit straight, where he finished.

The No. 35 Alpine was classified fourth, with the No. 38 Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac fifth.

Aston Martin will leave most disappointed, after both THOR-run Valkyries ran in the top five for most of the six hours and looked set to challenge Alpine late for victory, as the No. 007 saved tires early on. But both cars fell away in the closing stages.

The No. 007 was dealt a costly drive-through for crossing the pit lane white line, then a time penalty for contact with the No. 8 Toyota at Turn 1, which derailed its race. It finished 14th.

The No. 009, which tried to pick up the pieces after the No. 007 lost time, then dropped to ninth at the final restart after contact with the No. 21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari, having emerged from the pit lane fourth after its final stop.

It was also a disastrous race for two notable title-contending Hypercar runners.

The No. 20 WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 of full-season drivers Robin Frijns and Rene Rast, who entered the weekend atop the standings, lost a heap of time and finished 13th after suffering a puncture and rear-end damage from contact with the No. 51 Ferrari through traffic.

The No. 50 Ferrari, which won last time out at COTA, had an even worse day, retiring with a loss of power in the penultimate hour when Miguel Molina pulled off the track.

Meanwhile, Team WRT's No. 32 BMW scored a huge LMGT3 victory after a battle royale in the closing minutes for the revved-up pack.

Augusto Farfus powered the M4 LMGT3 EVO to victory in the touring car-style melee, after the car sat fifth before the final stops. He came out on top in a series of battles, sparked by a side-by-side tussle with TF Sport's Nicky Catsburg, in which he took second with a bold move at the hairpin.

He then turned his attention to Racing Team Turkey's Charlie Eastwood ahead, who manfully defended his position, and took the lead on the run up the hill at the end of the lap with just seven minutes on the clock.

For the Brazilian and his teammates Sean Gelael and Darren Leung, it was a well-deserved result, capturing WRT’s second win of the season, adding to the set of trophies the sister car collected from Imola at the start of the campaign.

"It's been an emotional rollercoaster today; we all did our bit, but what Augusto did was super special at the end, with pressure and the conditions to give us the win. What a guy, eh?" Leung said.

"The whole race we had pace, but every safety car came at the wrong time, so we kept moving forward then dropping back. It was not easy. I had to commit. I am happy with what I achieved," Farfus added.

The No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin took second. It looked down and out after it was involved in the clash that caused the final safety car - side contact at high speed with the No. 58 McLaren that sent Finn Gehrsitz off track, head-on into the armco and spinning into the Turn 1 gravel bed.

But Mattia Drudi refused to give up and pushed hard at the end to claim valuable championship points, rising from eighth to second at the restart.

Racing Team Turkey's No. 34 Corvette, which, like the No. 33 sister car, gained track position with a late fuel-only stop, lost the lead after the final stops, but held on for a podium finish. The visit to the rostrum followed an impressive race-long recovery drive, after Salih Yoluc was hit and turned around at Turn 1 at the start.

The Turn 1 clash was the first of several incidents in the race for the LMGT3 runners. It was caused by the No. 21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari of Francois Heriau, which took three cars out of contention immediately and brought out an early safety car.

The No. 92 The Bend Manthey Porsche, which went on to finish 12th, suffered heavy rear-end damage, shedding its rear bumper on the pit straight on its way back to the pits; the No. 61 Iron Lynx AMG retired in its box with chassis damage, and the No. 88 Ford of Stefano Gattuso suffered terminal suspension damage.

When the chequered flag eventually came out, the No. 54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari was classified fourth ahead of the championship-leading No. 33 TF Sport Corvette in fifth.

The points finish for the No. 3, secured by Nicky Catsburg, who was involved in a gripping multi-car fight at the end, could prove critical for TF and solo title challenger Jonny Edgar, as it ensured a 24-point lead in the championship standings over the resurgent No. 27 THOR Vantage LMGT3.

Next on the calendar is the 6 Hours of Barcelona on October 18.

RESULTS