Toyota wins epic 6 Hours of Fuji

The winning No.6 Toyota

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing earned its first victory of the season on home ground in an epic 6 Hours of Fuji, the seventh round of the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).

In front of an enthusiastic Japanese crowd, all three LMP1 manufacturers showed near identical pace, but the #6 TS050 HYBRID of Stephane Sarrazin, Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi came out on top after an enthralling battle.

The #6 crossed the line just 1.439secs ahead of the #8 Audi, bringing TOYOTA's 11th WEC win, its fourth in five years at Fuji and its first since Bahrain in November 2014. That result also lifts the #6 crew to second in the drivers' World Championship, 23 points off the lead.

Anthony Davidson, Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima recorded their best result of a troubled season with fourth, within a minute of the winning sister car.

The tone for a tense and closely-fought race was set at the start. Kamui and Kazuki, having slipped to fourth and sixth respectively at turn one, fought back and at the first pit stops the #6 was running second while the #5 was fourth.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Fast work from the pit crew established the pattern for the race, with the #6, now with Mike the wheel, in a very close fight for the lead with the #8 Audi, while Anthony in the #5 was pushing for the podium.

As the race passed the half-distance point, there was no let up as all three LMP1 manufacturers ran flat-out for victory in a tense contest, which got even closer when the Porsche #1 joined the battle.

As the four-hour mark approached, less than two seconds covered the top three while the #5 was less than 30 seconds from the lead in fourth, with Kazuki pushing for the podium positions.

Stephane enjoyed an exciting stint with wheel-to-wheel battles against the #8 Audi and #1 Porsche, all whilst coping with heavy traffic. When Kamui took over the #6 with just over 90 minutes remaining, he kept up the challenge, valiantly defending second place before targeting the leader.

The start

The final stop for the #6 saw Kamui take only fuel, saving vital time and earning track position but requiring him to maintain the pace on older tyres. Kamui rose to the challenge during the tense final laps, with fine driving through the traffic. He crossed the line to win his first WEC race while Anthony took the flag shortly after in the #5.

Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. "We battled up until the end. When Toyota, for the last stop, were able to benefit from the strategic advantage of pitting late, and chose not to change tires, they took the lead for the first time. Loic Duval did everything to recover the top spot, almost making up a 12-second deficit. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite enough but, once again, we saw fascinating endurance racing."

TS050 HYBRID #6 (Stephane Sarrazin, Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi)

Race: 1st, 244 laps, 6 pit stops. Grid: 4th. Fastest lap: 1min 25.320secs

The winner celebrate

Stephane Sarrazin: It's an amazing result for us in our home race. After Le Mans this is the most important event for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing and we gave everything. It was an incredible race from the whole team; Mike did really well and Kamui was just flying. I had some traffic issues on my two stints so it wasn't perfect but overall we had the pace which is very positive. We hoped to be competitive here and I am so happy for my team and our fans with this result.

Mike Conway: This feels really good. We came into the weekend feeling optimistic and thought we had a chance. In the race it was so close all the way through with barely a 10th of a second between the cars each lap. It was so tense and the last hour felt like six! Kamui was a star with the double stint at the end. We were not sure how it would go but he did really well. The team also did a brilliant job and made up time in the pits and with our strategy; that was a big part of this win today.

Kamui Kobayashi: Everyone in the team performed so well; they really deserve this. After qualifying we had a positive feeling and we did everything to get a win in our home race. So to get this result in front of our local fans and our colleagues from TOYOTA makes us very happy; I would like to say thanks for their big support. Actually, it is still difficult to believe we did it; we worked so hard for this. It was a really tough race. The double stint at the end was a risk but we were only focused on the victory and now this feels great, just perfect.

In the LMP2 class G-Drive Racing finally took the maximum points for the first time this season after shaking off their poor luck when in winning positions earlier this year. Alex Brundle, Will Stevens and Roman Rusinov drove impeccable stints to lead home the RGR Sport Ligier-Nissan.

17th overall for the Ford GT

Ford took a deserved 1-2 in the LMGTE Pro class, racing from lights to flag at the front of the category and 17th overall in the race. Harry Tincknell and Andy Priaulx took the victory after the sister car lost time through a spin suffered by Olivier Pla in the fifth hour.

Aston Martin Racing took a straightforward win in the LMGTE Am class as Paul Dalla Lana, Mathias Lauda and Pedro Lamy dominated the race.

The WEC-entered Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GTs found their spiritual home in Japan today, taking both first and second place at the ‘6 Hours of Fuji' but only 17th overall. The two Ford GTs battled hard throughout the race, held in the foothills of the magnificent Mt. Fuji, not giving an inch of tarmac to each other during six hours of flat out racing.

17th place finishers – 1st in 3rd-level class GT Pro

This is the first win for the WEC-entered team, which is headed by Team Principal George Howard-Chappell who said: "This is a fabulous result after quite a long dry spell so to then get a 1-2 is a great tribute to the hard work of all four drivers, the team and to the support we receive from the Ford team around the world. It's a great result, a great lift and it helps us in the championship. We can now go to Shanghai and Bahrain hoping to repeat the success."

Both Ford GTs started the race from the front row of the GTE grid after taking pole position (#66) and second place (#67) in yesterday's qualifying session but it was Harry Tincknell in the #67 Ford GT who took the lead at the start of today's six-hour race.

"I knew that the first corner would be vital, even though it was a six-hour race," said Tincknell. "I was pleased that I managed to pass Olivier (Pla) on the inside going into Turn One, then once the race settled down we maintained a very even pace between the two Ford GTs."

After a clean start the Ford GTs ran in formation as they steadily built up a gap to the Ferrari in third place. After a fundamentally trouble-free first half, Tincknell took a hit from a GTE Am class Porsche, which temporarily handed the race lead to Pla in the #66 Ford GT. That and a small spin for Pla, as he chased the #67 car in the later stages of the race, were the only anxious moments for the team. It was a hard-fought, flat-out, six-hour dash to the checkered flag and Ford came out on top!

Ford used to take overall wins in endurance racing, now they are happy with 17th overall

"Today's result was great for Ford, for the team, for Multimatic and for Chip Ganassi," said Priaulx. "It's a young team, it's a new team and today they were faultless with the pit stops. It was a tough race as we never had a big gap to the #66 car. Every lap of the race felt like a qualifying lap. We made no mistakes and just stroked the car home. The pit stops were brilliant, Harry (Tincknell) did a great job and I'm delighted we finally got our first win. We've had some really good performances this year but we haven't had the result we all deserve. This one is for the team."

The winning Toyota passes the pole winning #1 Porsche

"Your first win for a manufacturer is always special but with everything we've been through this season it's a massive relief," added Tincknell. "We've pushed like hell at every race this year and it just hasn't gone our way for a number of reasons. I felt nervous going into the race as I knew this was our big opportunity and I had to grab it with both hands. To come away with the win is amazing but it was hard work! We had to push all the way through, leaving nothing in reserve so we will enjoy this moment."

After taking pole position yesterday the drivers of the #66 Ford GT were fired up for this race but the result was decided at the first corner.

"It wasn't an easy one today," said Pla. "For some reason my line didn't go as fast as the right-hand line so I lost the advantage of pole position at the first corner. From then on we were so evenly matched it was hard to pass the other car. I lost a lot of time behind an Aston Martin in my last stint and I had to push so hard to catch up I had a small spin. Well done to the team, to the guys in #67. Everyone did a perfect job."

"A 1-2 finish is great for Ford, great for the whole team," said Mucke. "It was a long time coming. It was one of those races where you are doing qualifying lap after qualifying lap. There was no room for error, no lifting, just pushing hard. Unfortunately we were unlucky at the start but everything was perfect after that and it was a great job from everyone."

Just two races remain on the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship schedule: Shanghai and Bahrain. Ford Chip Ganassi Racing will continue to fight until the final checkered flag in Bahrain.

The Headlines from the 6 Hours of Fuji

• No.6 Toyota Gazoo Racing takes famous victory after sensational 6 Hours of Fuji to delight home fans
• Kamui Kobayashi, Stephane Sarrazin and Mike Conway seal home win and first ever for the Toyota TS 050 HYBRID LMP1 car
• Thrilling fight comes down to last hour as Toyota opt to not take new Michelin rubber and gain track position
• Loic Duval takes new rubber at final stop but No.8 Audi unable to catch Kobayashi's Toyota despite best efforts
• Mark Webber takes No.1 Porsche 919 Hybrid to checkered flag and third position after being in contention throughout the race for the victory
• Kazuki Nakajima, Anthony Davidson and Sebastien Buemi fourth after relatively quiet race
• Title leading Porsche 919 Hybrid struggles for pace and sees title lead diminished
• Rebellion Racing claim LMP1 Privateer class victory and take 2016 title

• Sensational finish to LMP2 race sees G-Drive Racing take first 2016 victory after Will Stevens makes daring move on Bruno Senna's RGR Sport Ligier with 30-mins remaining
• British driver has to relinquish position after having being adjudged to have used pit exit to overtake Senna. He then re-takes lead with another sensational move with just five minutes remaining
• Signatech Alpine finish third place to keep healthy points advantage in title quest
• No.67 Ford GT of Harry Tincknell and Andy Priaulx seal first ever WEC win for Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Ford GT. No.66 car of Pla and Mucke make it a 1-2
• AF Corse Ferrari take third and fourth with No.51 car of Bruni/Calado heading home Bird/Rigon car
• No.98 Aston Martin of Paul Dalla Lana, Mathias Lauda and Pedro Lamy take dominant LMGTE Am class victory after leading entire race.
• Second is No.83 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia of Francois Perrodo, Emmanuel Collard and Rui Aguas as they extend title advantage

Special points of interest after one of the most exciting WEC races ever :

• Closest ever winning margin in a WEC event
• First completely ‘green' WEC race since Spa 2015
• Closest ever gap between three manufacturers finishing 1-2-3
• Most laps ever completed at Fuji Speedway in a WEC race and only five laps from all-time record at Interlagos 2014
• First win for Toyota TS 050 HYBRID design
• First WEC wins for Kamui Kobayashi and Andy Priaulx
• No.6 crew move to second in Drivers standings

Results