Fuji Saturday Notebook

***Alpine scored its first FIA World Endurance Championship pole with the A424 LMDh following the cancellation of qualifying for the 6 Hours of Fuji, and its first pole since the 2022 Sebring 1000 Miles with the grandfathered A480 LMP1 car. It also marks the first time an ORECA-chassied LMDh car has taken a pole.

***Victor Martins scored his first pole and becomes the ninth French driver to have done so in the WEC, and the first since Kevin Estre at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2024.

***Martins commented: “We deserve this position because we did a good job since the beginning of the weekend. FP1 and FP2 showed we have a good pace in qualifying. Also in our race car, tomorrow can be good for us if we put everything together. Now we are preparing for a great race tomorrow.”

***Alpine sporting director Nicolas Lapierre described the team’s front row lockout as “amazing.” He added: “We anticipated it could be too much rain to run in qualifying, so in FP2 we put on new soft tires and did a full qualifying simulation. Victor and Charles did a great job, the fastest lap of the weekend for Victor, that allows us to start from pole position. We know we have good pace so we are really looking forward to the race.”

***The result marks the second time in three races that a manufacturer has locked out the front row, after Cadillac did so for the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo in July.

***Ford meanwhile notched up its second LMGT3 pole, after the 2025 Lone Star Le Mans, as Ben Tuck became the third British driver to grab the top spot in the class after Josh Caygill and Tom Fleming in the No. 77 Proton Competition Mustang GT3 EVO.

***Tuck said: “The car has felt amazing in both wet and dry conditions all weekend, and that’s shown with our pace in practice. We’re extremely happy to get pole position even if we were unable to fight in a true qualifying session! But the fact the result goes back to our practice pace shows that we’ve done enough to deserve pole.”

***Harry Tincknell gave his perspective on the Turn 10 clash with Heart of Racing Team boss Ian James in Saturday morning’s third practice that cost he and co-driver Tom Gamble a place on the front row for the race, as the No. 007 Aston Martin Valkyrie slipped to fourth after being handed a two-place grid penalty for causing the incident.

***Tincknell told pit reporter Bruce Jouanny: “It was wet out there this morning, it wasn’t easy conditions, and it’s so easy to make a mistake. The car is looking strong, we’re desperate for a first podium, and hopefully a first win, and I really thought going into this weekend we had a good shot at it, and it’s proven so.”

***The cancellation of qualifying gave Genesis Magma Racing its best ever WEC qualifying result in its short history, with its two GMR-001s ending up third and fifth on the grid. The Korean marque’s previous best grid slot was sixth at Sao Paulo.

***GMR sporting director Gabriele Tarquini said: “We are not P3 and P5 by luck, but because the car was competitive, even if we don’t have any data from past seasons. The drivers’ feedback was very good, coming from the first lap in Free Practice 1. In Austin, we tested a month before the race, but here we were a little bit worried about never being here at this track. We are also optimistic for the race pace.”

***Toyota Racing technical David Floury revealed that its decision to do a qualifying simulation as early as FP1 was made with the possibility that practice times could set the grid. Ryo Hirakawa topped that session in the No. 8 TR010 Hybrid, but was only eighth-fastest on combined times as other manufacturers performed their own low-fuel runs in FP2. The No. 8 car was the only one of the 17 Hypercars to set its best lap in FP1.

***Floury told reporters: “We had this possibility [of practice times setting the grid] in mind yesterday, which is why we set the fastest time in FP1. We thought it might rain in the afternoon session, and we knew there was a high risk of today being heavy rain and foggy. We were right about qualifying being cancelled, but unfortunately FP2 was dry, otherwise it would have worked!”

***However, Floury believes that Toyota’s main title rival BMW, whose cars start 14th and 17th after not performing any qualifying runs, will have no trouble in making its way up the order. “I am not too concerned for them considering the pace they have,” he said. “They will soon drive by us.”

***During the Circuit Safari session (pictured top) that preceded FP3, Toyota’s hydrogen fuel cell-powered bus was circulating along with the regular buses. Toyota Racing vice-chairman Kazuki Nakajima was on board along with the Japanese marque’s invited corporate guests and media.

***Hertz Team JOTA co-owner Sam Hignett praised the work done by Ricky Taylor during this month’s Lone Star Le Mans round at the Circuit of The Americas, where he made a one-off outing in the No. 12 Cadillac V-Series.R alongside Will Stevens and Norman Nato, the trio finishing ninth.

***Hignett told Sportscar365: “He did a great job. It’s not an easy task jumping between championships when you’re not used to it. He came in, race pace was great. We chucked him in at the deep end. He did a double stint, the first time, in a long time he’s taken a car onto the second stint on the tires. In IMSA, you just throw tires at the car, and he did a really good job of tyre management, so impressive.”

***Hignett said that “logistics” made Taylor the logical choice to join Nato and Stevens in the No. 12 car at COTA, amid expectation that the 37-year-old will join JOTA next season along with Antonio Felix da Costa. Asked how the team’s 2027 driver plans were progressing, Hignett replied: “We’re getting there and we’ll say something at Barcelona.”

***While almost all the Hypercar qualifying times were set in FP2, there was a larger spread in the LMGT3 field, with six of the 18 runners — including the two Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evos that qualified fourth and sixth — setting their best times in the opening session.

***TF Sport Corvette driver Ben Keating expressed his disappointment at not being able to qualify the No. 33 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R after showing well in the wet in FP3. “I really wanted to qualify,” he said. “I’ve yet to put in Hyperpole this season, and I feel like today was my opportunity to do that in the wet because I looked quick in the morning practice in the wet.”

***The points-leading LMGT3 car that Keating shares with solo leader Jonny Edgar and Nicky Catsburg is due to start tenth on the LMGT3 grid, two places behind the sister Racing Team Turkey-branded TF entry. “It’s a big shame because I think we would have had a strong result,” commented Edgar. “Based on this morning I think we would have had a very good chance fighting for pole or if not that then I expect we would have been in the top-five at least. It’s a shame but nothing we can do about it.”

***On the other side of the TF garage, Peter Dempsey is sporting a special helmet featuring Mount Fuji and cherry blossom motifs for his first race in Japan this weekend. “My kids growing up have loved everything about Japan, Japanese culture, Mario and all the other characters from this country,” he said. “It’s our first time to Japan so I wanted to do something special for them. I may never race here again so we have to make the most of these moments.”

***The 6 Hours of Fuji begins Sunday at 11 a.m. local time (Saturday 10 p.m. EST) with coverage on the FIAWEC+ App globally. HBO Max will carry coverage in the U.S., Eurosport and TNT Sports 3 in Europe and the UK, respectively, and Stan Sport in Australia.

***Martin Haven will again be joined by Anthony Davidson and Graham Goodwin in the booth, with Jouanny and Shea Adam on pit lane for the English language international feed, while Radio Le Mans’ coverage on RS1 will be handled by Jonny Palmer and Bruce Jones.