Fuji International Speedway

In the foothills of the world-famous Mount Fuji, Japan’s highest mountain, stands the impressive Fuji Speedway circuit. Acquired by Toyota Motor Corporation in 2000, the track was brought up to date and international racing was reintroduced after 2005 – including two F1 Grands Prix. It features a blend of technical and high-speed sections, some elevation changes with a highlight being one of the longest straights in motorsport at 1.47km (0.9 miles) in length.

Fuji has been the scene of some memorable WEC races over the years, and has unsurprisingly been a happy hunting ground for Toyota. The weather is often unpredictable, veering from dry sunny conditions to torrential rain over the course of two days. It adds to the challenge for the competitors, but the warmth of the welcome from the Japanese hosts and thousands of enthusiastic fans overcomes any climatic issues.

Look back to 2023…

After wet practice and qualifying sessions (the tail end of a tropical storm), race day dawned warm and bright and it heralded a dream result for the home favourites, Toyota, as they racked up another 1-2 and clinched the Hypercar Manufacturers Championship. A fourth win of the season for the #7 crew of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José Maria López saw them close the gap to their #8 team mates who just edged out the #6 Porsche for second place.

The #41 Team WRT squad took their second win of the season in LMP2 and second consecutive Fuji win, overhauling pole sitters and early leaders, #22 United Autosports, to win comfortably. The sister #31 WRT entry came in third, helping WRT to become the second most successful LMP2 team in WEC history.

In GTE Am, the #54 AF Corse Ferrari claimed its first win of the 2023 season as it survived an early race brush with Corvette and then surged to the front in the second half of the race. The pole sitting and championship winning Corvette was in second and the #57 Kessel Ferrari was third.