We’re set for six hours of flat-out racing as the FIA World Endurance Championship touches down on Japanese soil. The grid of Hypercars and LMGT3 cars goes racing at 04:00 CEST sharp.

Key moments:

• Lynn put Cadillac on the pole in Hypercar class. Barrichello dominated in LMGT3 class with Aston Martin.
• Marciello and Gamble retired after crashing on cold tyres.
• It was a disastrous race for Ferrari #51 with a mix of failed overtakes, track limits violations and penalties. Despite a good start for the team, Ferrari doesn’t win the championship in Fuji and it will continue to Bahrain.
• Milesi wins in Hypercar class, bringing the first win for Alpine.
• Eastwood‘s Corvette inherits win from Rovera in LMGT3 class.

Full coverage is available via FIA WEC TV. Live timing and onboard feeds are available through the official WEC platform.

Live updates

• Milesi wins the race for Alpine, followed by Jensen on Peugeot and Vanthoor on Porsche.

  Rovera crossed the line first in LMGT3. With a time penalty to his name, Eastwood inherits the win for Corvette #81. Rovera finished second followed by Farfus in P3.

• With only 5 minutes to go, the LMGT3 cars stopped for the last time. The final lift and coast battle is ahead of us.

• With 7 minutes to go, Vanthoor is 5 tenths away from the P2 they need for a shot in the championship.

• Another strike for Ferrari #51: They receive a 30-second stop and go penalty for another track limits violation. It’s the same problem they occured earlier in the race and received a drive through penalty for.

• There is a mathematical chance for Porsche in the championship. To achieve that, Vanthoor has to overtake Jensen in the last 20 minutes of the race.

• “19 laps to go, 19.” – Porsche #6 team radio

• #21 Ferrari got within one second of leading BMW in the LMGT3 class as we approach the last 30 minutes of the race. However, with 25% of energy left, Van der Linde stopped to refuel.

• And moments after, Molina falls to P10 with both BMW and Aston Martin getting in front of him.

• In a disastrous race for Ferrari’s standards, Frijns is close to overtaking the highest placed #50 in P8.

• With Ferrari #51 down in P13, the championship continues to Bahrain.

• Milesi on Alpine #35 got to the lead of the race in the final hour.

1 Hour Remaining

• As we near the final hour of the race, the teams opted to box for the last tyre changes, driver swaps and refuelling. This includes the current leader Jensen on Peugeot.

  

• Another retirement struck in the LMGT3 class: Ford #88 got hit by a Corvette during an overtake and sustained mechanical damage. A short yellow flag appeared as Dennis Olsen stopped the car at the side of the track.

• The penalty for Iron Dames got cancelled, which is just a small consollation for a car that fell from P1 all the way down to P16.

• A short Full Course Yellow allowed marshals to pick up more debris off the track. After the restart, Jensen barely held onto the lead as Estre tried to send it from P3.

• After another interruption, the race controll announced more penalties, including a drive through penalty for Ferrari #51 and Iron Dames.

• Full Course Yellow: Marshals are out on the track to pick up some debris left on the track.

• Rovera in Ferrari #21 managed to overtake 3 cars with a single maneuver and jumped to P7 in LMGT3.

2 Hours Remaining

• The pit stops during a long Safety Car period that followed once again mixed up the positions. Iron Dames lost the lead in LMGT3 while Alpine #35 jumped to P2 in Hypercar.

• Full Course Yellow: Gamble boxed for new tyres and then hit the sister Aston Martin from LMGT3 class when he came out of the pitlane. The race ended for him with a broken front suspension.

  

• Pier Guidi‘s engineer asked him to get closer to Varrone. He clearly didn’t specify how close as they touched and Porsche spun out. They fell to P10 and P11 respectively. What a disaster for cars that were P3 and P1 just a few hours ago!

• Cadillac started losing, while Ferrari gained. Nato lost cruicial positions and pitted to refuel – although the team only filled the tank to 75%.

• Frey pulled off a successful overtake to take the lead of the LMGT3 class for Iron Dames.

  

• In a few messy moves, the positions in front changed.

  • De Vries overtook Varrone who slid off track and lost a position to Jakobsen as well.
  • Fuoco touched Button while overtaking him and the #38 Cadillac fell to the 10th place.
  • Pier Guidi got in front of Nato as the leading Ferrari of the three.
• The 100th WEC race has a new leader: Vergne successfully overtook Varrone on the next lap and took P1.

• Jaminet fell to P15 while serving the penalty due to the small gaps between all cars. It helped factory Ferrari that jumped to P7 and P8.

• Nato made a move on de Vries but got pushed out of the track, falling back to P4. Button behind him lost the place to Jakobsen.

3 Hours Remaining

• As we approach the halfway mark, the battle on top heats up. In Hypercar Vergne started attacking Varrone, while in LMGT3 class Frey got within 6 tenths of the McLaren in the lead.

• Cadillac used team orders to let Nato in front of Button, just as #5 behind them received a drive-through penalty.

• “Try your best defending from the Peugeot.” – Varrone team radio

• The restart came with 3 hours and 22 minutes remaining on the clock.

• VSC turned to a physical Safety Car and the cars got closer together once again.

• Yellow flag turned into a VSC, offering a few cars a lucky pit stop. De Vries with Toyota will be happy for this one.

• Yellow flag: BMW #15 had a massive crash trying to avoid a car in front. Marciello reported he is okay, but complained about car #99 braking in front of him.

4 Hours Remaining

• With the second hour coming to a close, another wave of pit stops followed.

• De Vries has good pace behind the wheel of the other Toyota. He just managed to get past Vanthoor into the top 10.

• Buemi had to pit with Toyota #8 to serve a severe 3-minute penalty for FCY violation. Looks like the team made a mistake with the emergency pit under FCY.

• Yellow flag: Makowiecki hit the Ferrari #21 who spun out of the track, losing crucial positions. With a penalty for Safety Car violation, they had to pit, and lost the contact with the lead of the race altogether.

• The championship leaders #51 Ferrari jumped to P3 thanks to Giovinazzi‘s move on Bourdais. Although they are far from it right now, mathematically they could win the championship here in Fuji.

• Multiple entries were penalised for not following the Full Yellow Course in both classes. The penalisation didn’t stop the #009 Aston Martin as they climed into P12 with 4 hours and 55 minutes remaining.

• With all Hypercar entries using the activated Safety Car to pit, Cadillac returns into a commanding 1-2.

5 Hours Remaining

• Both Cadillacs leading the race decided to pit under VSC, leaving Di Resta in the first position.

• 45 mins into the race a Virtual Safety Car was activated for debris on the track. Ferrari #83 used it to pit and repair the car with some good old scotch tape.

• A short yellow flag appeared as Magnussen in BMW and Conway in Toyota touched. Thankfully, both drivers can continue the race.

• McLaren had a great start in LMGT3, overtaking the leading Aston Martin to create a 1-2.

  

• Giovinazzi tried to get higher than their original P6 after qualifying. Although jumped to P5 in the first turn, he then briefly lost it again, and fell to P7.

• Burdois spun out during the formation lap. He managed to continue the race after returning to the track.

6 Hours Remaining

Lynn starts the race from first position, after scoring another Hyperpole for Cadillac. Barrichello was the fastest driver in the LMGT3 class in his Aston Martin.