Toyota Lock out Front Row at Fuji, Porsche Takes LMGTE Pole Position

Toyota Gazoo Racing locked out the front row of the grid for the 6 Hours of Fuji on Saturday, with Kamui Kobayashi leading the way in the #7 machine in the penultimate Qualifying session of the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship season.

Kobayashi set a flying lap of 1:29.234 to take pole position in the Hypercar class, although it was a close-run thing between the #7 and the sister #8 car, with Brendon Hartley putting in two lap times within a tenth of a second of the Japanese racer.

Just 0.020 seconds separated the two Toyota’s at the conclusion of Qualifying, while the #36 Alpine Elf Team took third, just 0.212 seconds down in the hands of Frenchman Matthieu Vaxiviere.

Less than a second down in fourth and fifth were the two Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8’s, with the #93 of Jean-Éric Vergne ahead of the #94 of Loïc Duval.

In LMP2, Portuguese racer António Félix da Costa took pole position in the championship-leading #38 JOTA Oreca with his first timed lap of 1:31.649, although he was unable to improve on his second run. 

Nicklas Nielsen was second quickest in the #83 AF Corse Oreca, while Ferdinand Habsburg in the #41 RealTeam by WRT Oreca profited from a track limits violation from team-mate Robin Frijns in the #31 WRT Oreca to take third.

The #10 Vector Sport Oreca was fifth ahead of the #22 and #23 United Autosports USA Orecas.

Christensen Gives Porsche Pole in LMGTE Pro

Danish racer Michael Christensen took top spot in Qualifying in the LMGTE Pro class, with the #92 Porsche GT Team edging out the #51 AF Corse Ferrari of James Calado by just under two-tenths of a second.

The other Porsche – the #91 of Gianmaria Bruni, placed third ahead of the #52 Ferrari of Miguel Molina, while the five-car Pro class was rounded out by the #64 Corvette Racing entry of Nick Tandy.

In LMGTE AM, Ben Keating gave the #33 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage pole position for the third time this season, the American racer beating the #85 Iron Dames Ferrari of Sarah Bovy by under a tenth of a second.

The #71 Spirit of Race Ferrari of Franck Dezoteux was third fastest ahead of the #777 D’Station Racing Aston Martin and the #46 Team Project 1 Porsche.

Kévin Estre and Michel Christensen celebrate LMGTE Pro at Fuji – Credit: Marius Hecker/focuspackmedia.com