Fuji Date Change Confirmed; Set for Petit Le Mans Clash

Photo: John Dagys

The Six Hours of Fuji has been moved up by one week, FIA World Endurance Championship officials confirmed Friday, allowing Fernando Alonso to contest the entire 2018 calendar season although now clashing with the Motul Petit Le Mans.

As revealed by Sportscar365 last week, WEC officials had been considering a change to the Oct. 19-21 date, understood to be influenced by the Toyota-owned Fuji Speedway, in order to have its new star driver take part in the Japanese manufacturer’s home race.

Originally scheduled for Oct. 12-14, the Fuji event was pushed back by one week in the first revision of the 2018/19 schedule, to avoid a clash with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season-ender.

The move places the race back into the original date, thus causing issues for a number of drivers who are scheduled to contest both the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup races and WEC, including Harry Tincknell, Renger van der Zande, Olivier Pla and Nico Lapierre.

2018/19 WEC Schedule (Revised):
May 4-5 — Spa-Francorchamps
June 16-17 — 24 Hours of Le Mans
Aug. 18-19 — Silverstone
Oct. 12-14 — Fuji Speedway
Nov. 17-18 — Shanghai
March 15-16 – 1500 Miles of Sebring
May 3-4 – Spa-Francorchamps
June 15-16 – 24 Hours of Le Mans

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John