This 2025 FIA WEC 6 Hours of Fuji race report was compiled by regular endurance-racing correspondent and motorsport fundi, Dr Nick van der Meulen.
The seventh round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship, the 6 Hours of Fuji, was marked as the 100th event of the world endurance championship. To clarify, it is the 100th race since WEC returned in 2012 as a world championship, having revived the World Sportscar Championship which ended in 1992.
Nestled under Mt. Fuji, the Fuji Speedway, owned by Toyota, is notorious for its inclement weather, one of the most famous thereof being the deciding Formula 1 Grand Prix in 1976. The conditions were cloudy on race day, but the race remained dry throughout. The conditions were slippery, especially with cold tyres, demonstrated when Sebastien Bourdais (Cadillac #38) spun on the formation lap.
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American Charge
Cadillac claimed their third front-row lockout of the season #12 (Lynn/Nato/Stevens) ahead of #38 (Bourdais/Bamber/Button), the two holding position for the first hour. They appeared to lose pace after two hours, the restart after a Full-Course Yellow (FCY), with Bourdais the first to drop slightly down the order. The #12 machine fell out of the lead at the two-hour pitstop sequence during the FCY, and the two American machines failed to recover to the top of the order of what was a frenetic race. The #12 finished seventh, while #38 was classified outside the points.
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Unlikely Winners
Alpine did not look to be in with a shout for victory in the 6 Hours of Fuji. The final pitstop sequence of the race saw the team gamble on Alpine #35 (Habsburg/Chatin/Milesi), taking two tyres instead of four. It cycled them out to the lead for the final stint, this after running outside the top ten after the first hour. They had to serve a 5-second stop-and-go penalty, for Habsburg’s hit on Toyota #8 (Buemi/Hartley/Hirakawa).
Everyone (including Alpine) expected the #35 to be reeled in by Peugeot #93 (Di Resta/Jensen/Vergne) and Penske Porsche #6 (L. Vanthoor/Estre) in the final stint. Charles Milesi drove the stint of his life to maintain his 10-second gap to his two rivals, giving Alpine their first Hypercar victory and their first premier class win since Monza 2022 (driving a re-badged Rebellion – remember the Swiss team?). “The Smurfs” (as named by Habsburg) were lauded for their superb pit work and strategy. Despite the brilliant win, the team find themselves 13th in the drivers’ world championship standings. The sister car #36 (Makowiecki/Schumacher/Guonon) finished well out of the points.
“This means everything,” confessed an emotional Habsburg. “Holding this trophy has been in my dreams for quite some time. It’s the coolest thing to win a race with two of your best friends in the paddock. Charles and Paul-Loup are not only some of the best drivers, but also the best people I know. They have motivated me so much through my own mistakes and moments when I was not doing so well. It’s because of them really that we were able to win together as a team.”
Getting Better
Peugeot had its best result in WEC since its return to the prototype class. They were competitive throughout the entire weekend and may feel aggrieved that they missed out on overall victory. Vergne, driving the #93 car, barged past Proton #99 into the lead at the halfway point in the race, which they held until the last hour. They were wrong-footed by Alpine at the final pitstop, but they did themselves proud by fending off the best intentions of Vanthoor in Porsche #6 and finishing a fine second. Peugeot #94 (Duval/Jakobsen/Vandoorne) spent the race vying for position with Penske Porsche #5 (Andlauer/Jaminet), finishing behind their rivals in fifth position.
A Fightback
Porsche had a disastrous qualifying, but carved through the field in the first 30 minutes of the race. Penske Porsche #6, having started 17th, finished a fighting third after a furious battle with Peugeot #93 in the final hour. Porsche #5 (Andlauer/Jaminet) and Peugeot #94 vied for position throughout the race, the Porsche winning the battle for fourth position. Proton Porsche #99 (Jani/Pino/Varrone) shone in the early stages of the race, leading for over an hour, but did not manage to finish in the points after a wild second half of the race.
Other Challengers
Aston Martin had a good showing at Fuji. Aston #009 (Riberas/Sorensen) ran in the top three for the first half of the race, before receiving a penalty for FCY infringements. This dropped them to 17th place, but Sorensen carved his way through the field back to sixth position 20 minutes later! The car received another penalty soon afterwards, but, despite this the car finished a magnificent sixth.
The sister car, #007 (Tincknell/Gamble with Gamble behind the wheel), lost control of the car on cold tyres while negotiating a gaggle of LMGT3 cars, unfortunately smashing into Aston Martin LMGT3 stablemate Heart of Racing #27 (James/Robichon/Drudi). The #007 machine retired on the spot (with two-and-a-half hours remaining), while the LMGT3 car managed to continue.
Home Race Disappointment
Toyota owns the Fuji Speedway circuit, but did not come close to the battle for victory. Toyota #8 (Buemi behind the wheel) suffered a puncture after Habsburg (#35 Alpine) tagged it, in the battle for eighth place, after only 15 minutes of racing. The resultant pitstop procedure under FCY was not observed and the car was penalised heavily, putting it out of contention. The sister #7 (Kobayashi/Conway/de Vries) had a stronger outing, running as high as second just after half-distance. They managed to battle their way to finish an eventual eighth.
BMW Trobles
BMW had another difficult race at Fuji Speedway. The #20 machine (Rast/Frijns/S. van der Linde) was tagged by #007 Aston Martin soon after the start of the race. They managed to recover to second position with just over two hours remaining, but were disappointed to finish ninth. The #15 machine (D. Vanthoor/Marciello/Wittmann), with Marciello behind the wheel, got crossed up on cold tyres while vying for position with Proton Porsche #99 at the two-hour mark, planting the car firmly into the barriers and out of the race.
Championship Battle
Ferrari were looking to take the constructors’ title this weekend, but they finished outside the points due to circumstances and penalties. Championship leader #51 (Pier Guidi/Callado/Giovinazzi) was running in the top three at the two-hour mark, but had to serve penalties, including a drive-through for track limits with 90 minutes remaining.
The sister #50 machine (Nielsen/Fuoco/Molini) also ran in the top five at various stages of the race, before fading and finishing 11th, behind the AF Corse customer #83 (Kubica/Ye/Hanson). The yellow customer machine suffered a hole in its sidepod, following contact with Aston Martin #007 in the first 15 minutes, which required patching. It was reported later that the customer machine had floor damage too. Despite this, they claimed the final point on offer.
GT3LM Class
The LMGT3 positions chopped and changed throughout the race. There were a number of lead changes in the last 30 minutes of the race. Kelvin van der Linde (WRT BMW #46, shared with Al Harthy/Rossi) led with 20 minutes remaining, before having to pit for a splash of fuel. All of the top six finishers were in contention for class victory and all slipped into the pits for a “splash-and-dash” in the closing stages.
Vista AF Corse Ferrari #21 (Rovera/Heriau/Mann), running as low as ninth with less than two hours remaining, took the chequered flag first. Unfortunately, the team was penalised 5 seconds for a pit infringement and they had to concede victory to TF Sport Corvette #81 (Eastwood/Andrade/van Rompuy). This is the second race running that Vista AF Corse was penalised, losing victory in the process. WRT BMW’s finished third and fourth, with #31 (Farfus/Boguslavskiy/Shahin) narrowly edging #46, while championship leaders Manthey Porsche #92 (Pera/Lietz/Hardwick) crossed the finish line in fifth place.
Points Scored
The top ten finishers in each class score points. There are three points-scoring allocation forms, with different allocations for 6-, 8-10- and 24-hour events, respectively.
Pier Guidi/Calado/Giovinazzi still hold the Hypercar championship points lead with 115 points, ahead of Hanson/Kubica/Ye with 101 and Estre/L. Vanthoor with 94 points. Sheldon van der Linde has 39 points and lies 11th in the standings.
LMGT3 Standings
In the LMGT3 class, Pera/Lietz/Hardwick lead with 105 points ahead of Rovera/Heriau/Mann (Vista AF Corse Ferrari #21) with 94 points. Eastwood/Andrade/van Rompuy lies third with 81 points. Kelvin van der Linde lies 8th in the standings, with 52 points.
No championship (drivers or teams) was decided in either class at Fuji. All drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships will be decided at the final round of the season, the 8 Hours of Bahrain on 8 November 2025.
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