Fuji Friday Notebook

***Toyota Gazoo Racing swept a day of FIA World Endurance Championship Free Practice sessions for the first time this season, in front of its home support. The last time Toyota did this was at last year’s 8 Hours of Bahrain finale.

***The Balance of Performance updates in GTE-Pro were made manually by championship organizers the FIA and ACO, rather than being adjusted by the automatic system that has been used since 2017. Automatic BoP changes can only occur after two races outside the 24 Hours of Le Mans that have yielded sufficient data, however it rained at Spa and the Monza correction was manual. Manual changes can be made for various reasons, including in response to the attainment of new car data.

***Corvette Racing driver Tommy Milner said that his team considers its car’s 10 kg increase to be worth three-tenths of a second against the Porsche 911 RSR-19, which received a 5 kg break and an air restrictor diameter increase. “We’re kind of still finding our way a little bit here with car setup and stuff like that so we’ll never know what the actual full effect is,” Milner explained.

***The manual BoP change for Fuji means that, with only one more GTE-Pro race to run, the category’s BoP will be manually adjusted by the organizers for the final round too. “The only [automatic] BoP change for Bahrain would have been possible [by] taking the Monza and Fuji result,” said Porsche’s director of factory motorsport for WEC Alex Stehlig. “But now they’ve made another ‘black ball’ change, so it’s the end of auto BoP.”

***Iron Lynx driver Claudio Schiavoni was given a drive-through penalty – suspended until the end of the meeting provided he breaks no further regulations – for driving in the opposite direction on track after spinning at Turn 7 during FP1.

***Filipe Albuquerque incurred a 10-minute stop/hold during FP2 for causing a collision. The United Autosports LMP2 driver was deemed to have caused the No. 46 Team Project 1 Porsche to spin at Turn 16 while trying to get past.

***Ferrari tested its LMH car at Imola in August, marking the next stage in its track development program after initial shakedown mileage at Fiorano. Some images surfaced online of the car being transported back to the paddock on a flatbed truck, which Sportscar365 understands was the outcome of deliberate tests to empty the fuel tank.

***Peugeot is likely to test its LMH car after Fuji, according to the French manufacturer’s technical director Olivier Jansonnie who suggested that one or two sessions could fit in before the 8 Hours of Bahrain. Peugeot has been tight-lipped about the Spanish circuit where its test between Monza and Fuji took place, but Jansonnie ruled out Aragon which is a popular testing location.

***The Peugeot Sport team communicates in English, despite most of the engineering staff and mechanics being French. Ease of communication with the drivers and the corporate language of the Stellantis group are two reasons for this. In the LMP1 era, Peugeot’s factory team operated in French.

***Peugeot carried out a “small redesign” on some components to fix the Monza issue of debris entering the gearbox radiator. “We had to clean it up two times,” said Stellantis Motorsport director Jean-Marc Finot. “We fixed it with some small evolution that has been validated by the FIA. It was OK in our test [after Monza].” This does not count as a performance-related ‘Evo’ joker.

***Corvette Racing is closing in on an announcement about where its C8.Rs will be racing next year, according to General Motors sports car racing manager Laura Klauser, who is at Fuji. “I think we’re going to have an announcement on what’s going to happen in 2023 soon,” she told Sportscar365. “But until then I can’t comment on where we’re at.”

***The demise of the GTE-Pro class after this season means that a Corvette continuation in WEC would need to come in GTE-Am, marking a departure from the team’s factory racing ethos. Klauser reiterated that the team is “evaluating” how it could adapt into a Pro-Am outfit.

***Porsche GT Team driver Michael Christensen is auctioning his Rolex 24 at Daytona winners’ watch from 2017 to raise money for Save the Children in Ukraine. The unique timepiece, which has a low-end valuation of $40,000, will be sold at the Bruun Rasmussen saleroom in Copenhagen on Sep. 28.

***D’station Racing’s Satoshi Hoshino hopes the WEC’s GT class will become “more regulated” to cater to amateur Bronze-rated drivers. “At Le Mans, Asian Le Mans and European Le Mans, there are some former professional drivers or young drivers who become Bronze,” Hoshino said. “I think it’s very unfair for pure Bronze drivers like myself.” This is set to be rectified by the FIA’s driver ratings overhaul.

***TF Sport’s No. 33 Aston Martin Vantage GTE is the European Le Mans Series chassis that the team expediently placed on the WEC’s sea freight voyage after the original car was damaged in Henrique Chaves’ airborne accident at Monza. TF had considered sending the crashed car, but the extent of the repair job prompted it to go with its already Japan-bound spare.

***British teams on Friday expressed their condolences after waking up to the news that Queen Elizabeth II died at the age of 96. United Autosports, JOTA, Aston Martin Racing, Vector Sport and TF Sport all posted statements on social media. TF Sport’s described the Queen as “a true icon who will be remembered for her astounding service and dedication throughout her 70-year reign. This weekend we race with heavy hearts. Thank you ma’am, for everything.”

***The popular Fuji ‘circuit safari’ returns on Saturday morning. Coaches will take to the track alongside one car from each WEC team, giving observers a unique view of the field in action. The 12-minute session is scheduled immediately before Free Practice 3.

***Schoolchildren aged 10-11 from Senpukugaoka Elementary School took part in various activities at the track on Friday. Their trip included asking questions during the drivers’ press conference, an explanation of the WEC rules by ACO chief pit lane marshal Jerome Marchetti and chances to get up close to cars including the Toyota, No. 41 WRT Oreca and Iron Dames Ferrari.

***MotorTrend is broadcasting live the first and last 90 minutes of the six-hour race. The first segment runs from 9:30-11:30 p.m. ET on Saturday and the second part starts at 3 a.m. ET on Sunday morning. Click here for the full TV listings.