6 Hours of Fuji by the numbers
Photo: Photo : John Rourke - Photo Copyright 2014 John Rourke / AdrenalMedia.com
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6 Hours of Fuji by the numbers

 

LMP1

  • Fuji was the third win of the 2014 season for the crew of the No.8 TS040 Hybrid, and the second 1-2 finish for Toyota.
  • The No.8 Toyota crew extend their Drivers Championship lead to 26 points and Sebastien Buemi and Anthony Davidson preserve their 2014 record of finishing on the podium at every race this year.  Whatever happens in Shanghai, Buemi and Davidson will retain the Championship lead after that event.
  • It was also Buemi and Davidson’s fourth WEC race win in total (1 race in 2013, 3 in 2014) and the first win for a two- driver LMP1 squad since Wurz and Lapierre won in Shanghai in 2012.
  • All three factory marques led the race in Japan, on the first lap!
  • Toyota retook the Manufacturers Championship lead (by 8 points). 
  • It was Porsche’s second podium finish with the 919 Hybrid in its debut season, both have been for the No.20 car of Webber, Hartley and Bernhard.
  • The No.13 Rebellion Racing squad won the P1 Privateer class with its first finish of the season. The Rebellion Racing team still has a 100% winning record this year.
  • Pierre Kaffer made his WEC LMP1 debut at Fuji for the Lotus team.

 

LMP2

  • The Ligier JS P2 chassis had its first overall win anywhere in the world at Fuji as G-Drive closed the gap to Sergey Zlobin and SMP Racing in the Drivers and Teams Championship standings to 16 points.
  • It was the third win of the year for the G-Drive team.
  • KCMG scored their third 2nd place finish of the year and also closed the gap to the Championship leaders.
  • The Oak Racing Morgan Judd scored the first podium finish for a Judd-powered car in the FIA WEC this year. It was also the first WEC podium finish for a female driver with Keiko Ihara finishing third as part of the No.35 Oak Racing crew (as reported HERE).
  • The No.37 SMP Racing crew scored only their second finish of the season.

 

LMGTE Pro

  • Turn 1 at Fuji may just have decided the GTE World Championship with the No.97 Aston Martin clashing with the No.92 Porsche, these two being the closest challengers in the points standings to the No.51 Ferrari.
  • The No.51 AF Corse Ferrari took the win and the team, Gimmi Bruni and Toni Vilander now lead the Team and Drivers Championships by 49.5 points with 78 points still available from the final three races.
  • It was Bruni and Vilander’s third win of the year; the pair have only finished off the podium once in 2014 (at Silverstone) and have scored double figure points at every round.
  • Gimmi Bruni extends his GTE Pro-winning total to a record 11 races in the WEC.  The Italian has never failed to score points in the 21 FIA WEC races held so far!
  • Fred Makowiecki lost ground to the Championship leaders but stays second in the points.
  • Porsche’s challenge in the GTE Manufacturers standings took a hammer-blow at Fuji, the 1-2 for AF Corse leaves them trailing Ferrari by 29 points with Aston Martin a further 25 points astray.
  • Davide Rigon and James Calado’s second place is the best finish so far for the 2014 No.71 Ferrari pairing (and their second WEC podium finish.
  • The third place for the No.99 Craft Bamboo AMR Aston Martin was the first podium of the year for the line up in that car, and the first WEC podium for Darryl O’ Young and Alex MacDowall (Fernando Rees having achieved this with Larbre Competition’s GTE AM Corvette efforts previously).

 

LMGTE Am

  • The No.95 crew consolidate their Championship lead, now 39 points ahead. They have finished no lower than second in class at any race this season. The sister No.98 car has only finished off the podium once in 2014 (at Le Mans).
  • Kristian Poulsen and David Heinemeier Hansson not only now lead the GTE Am Drivers' standings, but are also the best-placed Aston Martin drivers in the overall GTE Drivers Championship, having passed the No.97 Pro crew. They lie sixth in the order.
  • Aston Martin Racing adds to its record tally of WEC GTE Am wins, which now stands at nine.
  • Aston Martin’s GTE Am class win, coupled with the GTE Pro win for AF Corse means that the Aston Martin and Ferrari marques are still tied on all time WEC GTE class wins, now 15 across both classes.
  • Aston Martin Racing has had a car on the GTE Am podium at every race since Brazil 2013. Across both classes, that run goes back to Le Mans 2012!
  • Prospeed’s third place means that a Porsche 911 RSR has finished on the GTE Am podium in three consecutive races this year.
  • It was Prospeed’s first podium of the season and the first WEC podium for all three drivers: Emmanuel Collard, François Perrodo and Matthieu Vaxivière.

Thanks to DailySportscar.com