On the Fuji Speedway, Laurens Vanthoor and Kévin Estre charged from 17th on the grid to secure the final podium spot in the No. 6 Porsche 963. Julien Andlauer and Mathieu Jaminet followed closely in the sister car to take the flag in fourth place. Porsche’s customer squad Proton Competition spent time in the lead and eventually crossed the line in 12th place in Japan. In the LMGT3 class, the final safety car phase dashed the hopes of both Manthey-run Porsche 911 GT3 R entries for a top result. In spite of this, the Manthey 1st Phorm car heads to the season finale as the class leader.
The race
After an unfortunate qualifying, the No. 6 Porsche 963 had started the race from 17th on the grid. In the first 30 minutes of the race, starting driver Laurens Vanthoor launched an impressive charge, gaining ten positions. However, after a rival rear-ended the Belgian’s hybrid prototype, an unscheduled pit stop with a rear wing change relegated the car down the field again. A little over an hour later, Kévin Estre took over during a pit stop, only for an accident to trigger a yellow flag, which again offered the team no advantage. With two hours remaining, luck finally turned in the crew’s favour when a full-course yellow ended. Now in seventh, Estre executed a blistering restart, climbing to second place in a matter of laps. A five-second penalty for an incorrect pit stop relegated the Porsche back to third as Vanthoor took over for the final stint. The Belgian’s late attack on the No. 93 Peugeot added further tension, but ultimately went unrewarded.
In the sister car, Julien Andlauer quickly gained two positions after starting from seventh. The No. 5 Porsche, however, lost ground during the second and third hours due to safety car periods and a drive-through penalty. In the closing stages, his French compatriot Mathieu Jaminet climbed from 12th to fourth place.
‟After yesterday’s qualifying, I would have happily accepted third and fourth – that’s a solid and strong outcome,” said Urs Kuratle, Director Factory Motorsport LMDh. ‟We were able to claw back crucial points on Cadillac in the fight for second place in the championship. The drivers and the team did an excellent job, even though we incurred some unnecessary penalties. Congratulations to Alpine on their first WEC victory.”
‟Congratulations to the team. It was a bit of a difficult day with yellow flags and other incidents that shook up the race,” said Jonathan Diuguid, Managing Director Porsche Penske Motorsport. ‟We’re taking the points battle for the drivers’ championship to the last race. The number 6 car crew did an amazing job to secure a podium spot, and the number 5 wasn’t far behind. As a team we took a few penalties today, something that we need to clean up for Bahrain.”
Proton Competition celebrated a standout moment in Fuji with its Porsche 963: a very late second pit stop allowed the hybrid prototype driven by Chilean Nico Pino, Nico Varrone from Argentina, and Swiss driver Neel Jani to capitalise fully on a safety car period, moving up to first place after two hours. Even after the race resumed, the German customer team retained the lead for several laps. In the end, the trio crossed the line in 12th place.
Manthey 1st Phorm defends LMGT3 lead
In the FIA WEC GT3 category, the two Manthey-run Porsche 911 GT3 R entries experienced a rollercoaster race. Ryan Hardwick (USA), Riccardo Pera (Italy), and Richard Lietz (Austria) initially dropped back at the start but fought their way back into the leading group from the third hour onward. Depending on pit stop strategy, the trio even held the lead at times, but the final safety car caught them off guard. Their fifth-place finish was enough to maintain their advantage in the drivers’ standings heading into the season finale in Bahrain.
The Iron Dames outfit quickly overcame the disadvantage of starting 17th, with starting driver Célia Martin (France) advancing to seventh during her stint. Teammates Rahel Frey (Switzerland) and Michelle Gatting (Denmark) even led the race at times in the GT3 from Weissach. Unfortunately, a drive-through penalty and bad luck with the final safety car left them in 13th place at the finish.
Driver comments after the race
Kévin Estre (Porsche 963 #6): ‟We started very far back, so third place is a good result – I’m proud of what we achieved. Perhaps a little more was possible, but Peugeot and Alpine were simply too fast on the straights to pass. Today, we scored as many points as we could.”
Julien Andlauer (Porsche 963 #5): ‟We made the most of our opportunities. The team did a fantastic job, and Mathieu Jaminet was in the car for almost four hours. Unexpectedly, our Porsche understeered a bit at the start, which caused me to make mistakes and cost us a drive-through penalty. Still, we fought our way back to fourth. We lacked a bit of pace for a podium, but together with the sister car, we collected crucial points toward our main goal, the manufacturers’ championship. Now our focus is on the season finale in Bahrain.”
Nico Pino (Porsche 963 #99): ‟That was an intense race today. We were fortunate at times, which allowed us to take the lead during a safety car period. But bad luck hit too, for example with an emergency pit stop under yellow. Overall, we lacked the pace to fight our way back to the front but, looking at the weekend as a whole, we made encouraging progress once again.”
Ryan Hardwick (Porsche 911 GT3 R #92): ‟Our team did everything possible to win this race. We led at times and had everything under control, but the final safety car came at a very unfortunate moment for us. Our championship rivals, however, were able to benefit in terms of pit stops. As a result, we lost ground in the overall standings, which is frustrating. Now I’m looking forward to the decisive showdown in Bahrain, where we want to deliver our best race of the season.”
Célia Martin (Porsche 911 GT3 R #85): ‟For us, the race had its highs and lows. At the start, I stayed calm and looked after the tyres. Overtaking is very difficult on this track, but we were able to capitalise on the mistakes and slips of others. Rahel also drove an excellent stint, gaining several positions. The last safety car cost us a few places, and there was nothing Michelle could do to recover – we would have loved to finish a bit closer to our sister car.”
Race result
Hypercar class:
1. Chatin/Habsburg/Milesi (FRA/AUT/FRA), Alpine #35, 202 laps
2. Di Resta/Jensen/Vergne (GBR/DNK/FRA), Peugeot #93, + 7.682 seconds
3. Estre/Vanthoor (FRA/BEL), Porsche 963 #6, + 8.167 seconds
4. Andlauer/Jaminet (FRA/FRA), Porsche 963 #5, + 16.083 seconds
12. Jani/Pino/Varrone (CHE/CHL/ARG), Porsche 963 #99, + 1:14.826 minute
LMGT3 class:
1. Van Rompuy/Andradeh/Eastwood (BEL/ANG/IRL), Corvette #81, 185 laps
2. Heriau/Mann/Rovera (FRA/USA/ITA), Ferrari #21, + 3.010 seconds
3. Shahin/Boguslavskiy/Farfus (AUS/AIN/BRA), BMW #31, + 4.888 seconds
5. Hardwick/Pera/Lietz (USA/ITA/AUT), Porsche 911 GT3 R #92, + 8.697 seconds
13. Martin/Frey/Gatting (FRA/CHE/DNK), Porsche 911 GT3 R #85, + 1 lap
Full results and championship standings: fiawec.alkamelsystems.com
