The #8 Toyota won at Fuji Speedway, with WRT's #31 taking LMP2 and a Ferrari one-two in GTE Pro after a race shaped by penalties and pit-lane problems.
Hirakawa's #8 car won the 2022 6 Hours of Fuji, finishing over a minute clear of the sister #7 Toyota. It was round five of the 2022 World Endurance Championship, and WRT's #31 won LMP2 while the Ferraris took GTE Pro.
The 2022 6 Hours of Fuji took place at Fuji Speedway on 11 September 2022 and counted as round five of the season's World Endurance Championship. Toyota filled the top two places overall, while a steady run of drive-through penalties for track limits shaped the GT battles.
Who won the 2022 6 Hours of Fuji?
The #8 Toyota, driven by Hirakawa in the final stint, won the 2022 6 Hours of Fuji and finished more than a minute clear of its sister #7 Toyota. WRT's #31 took the LMP2 class win, and the #51 and #52 Ferraris finished one-two in GTE Pro. Toyota's dominance came from its superior balance of performance.
The #8 had been the sister car to the #7 for most of the race, and the two Toyotas were never far apart. Hartley took over from Buemi in the #8 during the second hour, while Lopez took the #7 from Kobayashi. Kobayashi had earlier followed team orders and handed the lead to the faster #8.
After the final pit stops the #8 was the stronger of the two cars, and it pulled away in the last hour. The gap at the end was more than a minute, which was enough to keep the sister car at bay.
A six-hour race at Fuji where Toyota's pace and a track-limits clampdown decided the order more than anything else.
How did the Toyotas take control?
Both Toyotas led into the first corner and stayed ahead of the Alpine, which was the main challenger to the top two. By the fourth lap the second-placed Toyota was 1.8 seconds ahead of the Alpine, and the Peugeots trailed by 3.5 seconds.
The first Hypercar stops came early in the race. The Alpine took fuel only, while the Toyotas took fuel and left-side tyres and the #94 Peugeot took fuel alone. The #7 and #8 came out of the pits six seconds apart.
Toyota's margin grew across the second hour. The #8 handed over to Hartley, and the #7 was driven by Lopez after Kobayashi's stint. By the end of the second pit cycle the Toyotas were 50 seconds ahead of the Alpine, which was a further minute ahead of the next Peugeot.
Toyota's pace on the long runs was the key factor. The Toyotas kept their gap through the third and fourth hours, and the #7 was 39 seconds behind the #8 at the start of hour five.
What happened early in the race?
Both Toyotas led into the first corner, but the early drama came from behind them. The #45 APR locked its rear wheels in a bid to pass, collided with the #28 Jota into Dunlop corner, and both cars were sent off.
The #45 suffered broken suspension wishbones and spent a long spell in the pit garage. It rejoined serving a two-minute penalty for the collision it caused.
In LMP2 the #31 WRT built a sizeable lead, while the #38 Jota, the #10 Vector and both United cars fought for second. In GTE Pro the #51 Ferrari snatched the lead from the #92 Porsche, which had started on pole, by lap two, and the #60 Iron Lynx spun on lap 10 but recovered without drama.
What happened to the Peugeots?
The #94 Peugeot lost its turbo after an oil leak in the low-pressure circuit, and smoke poured from the rear of the car. It pitted, went to the garage, and returned about 20 minutes later in second-to-last place, well behind the last-placed GTE Am car.
The #94 finished 14 laps down from the leading Toyota. Rossiter had complained on the radio about dead tyres while the Alpine closed in on his car.
The #36 Alpine came within half a second of the #94, but the Peugeot's speed on the straights kept it ahead. The Alpine pitted for new tyres on lap 72, while Negrao stepped out and handed the wheel to Lapierre.
The #93 Peugeot had its own fault later on, when it was sent to the pits to fix a similar problem. It lost only five laps to fix the problem, and by the finish it was four laps behind the Alpine, which was a further two laps behind the #7.
In the final hour the #8, #7 and #93 pitted together. That was not the last stop for the Hypercars, because their stints did not cover an hour of running. The #93 climbed back to eighth place behind the four leading LMP2 cars.
How did the LMP2 class play out?
WRT's #31 won LMP2 after skipping its final stop, while Jota's #38 and #28 finished second and third, 21 seconds behind. The #9 Prema gambled on a late fuel strategy and dropped to sixth. The class was decided by pit strategy in the closing laps.
The #31 and #38 exchanged the lead through the pit cycles, and Jota's #38 was a close second for much of the race.
Early in the race, the #22 and #1 LMP2 cars collided. The #1 was squeezed on the inside and spun, and DiResta later spun the #93 Peugeot at turn six without contact with the barriers.
The #28 was the first of the leaders to take fuel at the second cycle, with the #31 and #38 following a lap later. The #9 Prema ran a conservative fuel strategy, which let it stay out for a lap longer before taking fuel and all four tyres.
In the final hour the #31 skipped its stop, while the #9 and the #38 pitted for their last stops with 50 minutes to go and went for the finish. The #31 passed the #38 in the pits, establishing a 10-second lead that it held to the flag.
How did the GTE Pro battle develop?
Ferrari's #51 and #52 led GTE Pro for most of the race, and the #92 Porsche finished third, about half a minute behind the leading Ferrari pair. Porsche's radio had told Estre to let the Ferrari past. Estre said the Porsche was struggling with its tyres.
On lap 10 the #92 retook the GTE Pro lead, but the #51 caught its slipstream and dived down the inside at turn one on lap 19. The #51 then held off the #92 through the following corners.
On lap 12 the #52 tried a bold move on the #91 at turn one, but the pass was denied. The Corvette was also at the back of the GTE Pro pack, held back by the effect of the balance-of-performance change made after Monza.
Track limits were the big story in GT. With no gravel run-off at Fuji, unlike Monza or Spa, many drivers pushed the limits too far. The #64 Corvette took a drive-through, then the #91, and the #92 received a warning, which left Ferrari as the only GTE Pro team without a track-limits violation so far.
The #52 went past the #92 for second toward the end of the first hour. The Ferraris were 1-2 in GTE Pro by the first GTE Pro pit stop, and the lead changed hands between them again in the fifth hour.
Estre said the Porsche did not work as well on the tyres as the Ferrari did, and that Porsche was also losing time on the straights. The #92 never got close enough to challenge the Ferraris in the closing laps.
Porsche could not match the Ferraris' speed once it had been passed in the first hours.
What happened in GTE Am?
The #33 led GTE Am from the start and won the class, with the #85 and #777 completing the podium. The #71 Spirit of Race Ferrari climbed to second in class during the fourth hour, but it did not hold that position to the flag.
Early on, the Aston Martins #33, #98 and #777 were all scrambling for second in class. The #98 and #777 fought for the lead, with Hoshino and Dalla Lana, the Bronze-rated drivers, taking over from their top-rated colleagues. The #98 was given a drive-through, its fourth track-limits penalty of the race.
The #91 Porsche went down the inside of the #88 Proton Porsche and spun it out. The #91 received a five-second penalty for its next stop.
The #33 was the first GTE Am leader to pit in the final hour, while the #85 stopped last after completing three extra laps. The strategy did not pay, and the #85 finished one lap behind the #33. The #33 was superior on pace, and it took the class win.
Where did the penalties fall?
Track limits were the most common offence, with several GT cars and at least one LMP2 car taking drive-through penalties. The penalties came thick and fast across the classes. The #10 Vector received a five-second penalty added to its next stop after contact with the #54 AF Corse.
The #10 Vector spun at the second-to-last turn, rejoined in the middle of the track and sent the #85 off the track. The #98 closed up behind as a battle for fourth developed.
The LMP2 #83 received a 10-second penalty for changing direction several times while battling the #35 Ultimate, and the #35 received a five-second penalty for overtaking off the track.
The #94 Peugeot was given a one-minute stop-and-go for a pit stop technical infringement. The #64 Corvette ran out of fuel in the pit lane and lost 45 seconds, and the Corvette team finished a lap down.
What were the results at Fuji?
| Class | Position | Car | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 1st | #8 Toyota | Hirakawa in the final stint; more than a minute ahead |
| Overall | 2nd | #7 Toyota | Lopez and Kobayashi in the car earlier in the race |
| LMP2 | 1st | #31 WRT | Skipped its final stop and passed the #38 in the pits |
| LMP2 | 2nd | #38 Jota | 21 seconds behind the winner |
| LMP2 | 3rd | #28 Jota | Sister car to the #38 |
| GTE Pro | 1st and 2nd | #51 and #52 Ferrari | Ferrari one-two |
| GTE Pro | 3rd | #92 Porsche | About half a minute behind the leading Ferraris |
| GTE Am | 1st | #33 | Sorensen in the final stint |
| GTE Am | 2nd | #85 Iron Dames | One lap behind the #33 |
| GTE Am | 3rd | #777 | Completed the GTE Am podium |
Who was missing from the entry list?
Renger van der Zande replaced Nico Muller in the #10 Vector Sport Oreca, as Muller was competing at the DTM round in Spa. Rast and Cassidy were also absent, because their DTM commitments clashed with the race, and Glickenhaus stayed away because shipping costs had risen sharply.
Rigon took over the #54 AF Corse 488 GTE from Cassidy. Rossiter kept his seat in the #94 Peugeot 9X8 once Magnussen had committed to Formula One.
What did the result mean for the championship?
Calado and Pier Guidi led the GTE Pro drivers' championship, with a 12-point gap to Estre and Christensen going to Bahrain. Bahrain was the next event on the calendar, and the Ferrari pair carried that lead into it after a race in which their cars had the strongest pace.
Corvette had the worst of the weekend. Its balance-of-performance hit after Monza and early race trouble left it out of contention and a lap down. The #91, also hit by a penalty, finished behind the podium sitters.
