Toyota Gazoo Racing has locked out the front row of today’s 6 Hours of Fuji, with Brendon Hartley qualifying the #8 GR010 HYBRID second. Teammate Kamui Kobayashi broke the Fuji Hypercar lap record to put the #7 entry on pole.
Kobayashi’s 1:27.294 was enough to top Hartley by 0.624 seconds on their opening laps in the session before light rain intervened and prevented any improvements.
The result gives Toyota a sole World Endurance Championship point to move the manufacturer 27 points clear of Ferrari and elevate the #7 crew to within 22 points of their #8 teammates in the driver’s standings.
“This is a really good team result,” said Hartley. “I wasn’t totally happy with the balance on our car, which shifted a bit since final practice when it had felt better.
“In qualifying, I struggled a bit, although we are still second so it’s a strong performance. The rain was starting towards the end, and even on my fast lap I had some spots of my windscreen.
“Qualifying in Hypercar is always a big fight and it was a tricky session for everyone, with the conditions and the challenge to find track position. Kamui did an amazing lap, bravo to him. It’s great to lock out the front row, now let’s go for the win.”
Kobayashi adds, “It’s great to get a result like this at our home track. This is an important weekend for us and to show our performance like this is very special. Due to the rain, we have had very limited running in dry conditions, but the team did a great job to put everything together for qualifying and I did a pretty good lap on my first attempt.
“The car felt really strong compared to practice; it improved a lot. I was not expecting a lap time like that, and I was a bit shocked when I saw it. To have a fast car today is a good indication for the race but it will not be easy.
“We expect it to be a dry race and it could be hot, so we need to judge the tyre choice well and, as always, we need some luck. We are ready, we will work hard, and I hope we can finish one-two.”
Porsche Penske Motorsport locked out the second row, with Earl Bamber’s Cadillac Racing team starting fifth, having been qualified by Alex Lynn.
Ferrari’s pace struggles at Fuji have been apparent, and their best qualifiers were the Le Man-winning #51 team, which could only manage to qualify fifth, one spot ahead of the teammates.
Racing begins at 2.00 pm (NZ time) and will be shown live on Sky Sport 5.
