Qualifying cancelled at wet Fuji as practice times set WEC grid

Heavy rain at Fuji Speedway forced organisers to scrap both qualifying and Hyperpole for the 6 Hours of Fuji. The grid for Sunday’s race will instead be formed from the fastest laps of the weekend’s three free practice sessions. That leaves Toyota Gazoo Racing’s two GR010 HYBRIDs starting eighth and 13th.

Poor track conditions at Fuji Speedway have cost the World Endurance Championship field its qualifying session. With heavy rain falling on Saturday, organisers cancelled both the standard qualifying session and the Hyperpole shoot-out for the top runners.

Practice times decide the grid

With no qualifying running possible, the starting order for Sunday’s 6 Hours of Fuji will be set by the best lap times recorded across the three free practice sessions held earlier in the event. The quickest laps of the weekend were set on Friday, when both practice sessions ran in dry conditions. Saturday morning’s final session was already wet before the rain became heavier.

That method leaves Toyota’s home-race squad further back than it would have liked. Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa will start eighth in the #8 GR010 HYBRID, while Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries line up 13th in the #7 car.

Why a cancelled session matters here

Fuji is a difficult circuit on which to make up ground. The long main straight rewards outright speed, but the tight, technical middle sector limits opportunities to pass, so grid position carries real weight over a six-hour race. Losing qualifying also removes one of the few chances teams get to run in low-fuel, fresh-tyre trim before the race — useful data in changeable weather.

For Toyota, starting eighth and 13th means both crews face traffic early in a race run in front of a home crowd at a track the manufacturer knows better than most.

Race timing and coverage

The 6 Hours of Fuji starts at 11:00 local time on Sunday, which is 04:00 CEST. Toyota says fans can follow onboard camera streams from its cars during the race.

Conditions on Sunday will be the story to watch: if the rain returns, the value of a front-row start diminishes quickly, and a six-hour race gives those starting further back plenty of time to recover.

Source: newsroom.toyota.eu