Three Drivers to Miss 6H Fuji Due to DTM Clash

Rene Rast, Nico Mueller and Nick Cassidy will miss next month’s FIA World Endurance Championship round at Fuji Speedway due to clashing commitments in the DTM.

The provisional entry list for the 6 Hours of Fuji, which takes place on Sep. 11, omits the three DTM competitors who will instead be racing in the German-based series at Spa.

Only Cassidy’s replacement is confirmed at this stage, with Ferrari factory driver Davide Rigon subbing for the New Zealander in the No. 54 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo.

Rigon will team up with Thomas Flohr and Francesco Castellacci in the VistaJet-liveried machine. Cassidy drives for AF Corse in both the WEC and the DTM.

Rast and Mueller will also forgo their full-time WEC LMP2 drives to focus on the DTM races in Belgium, however their replacements haven’t been announced yet.

Three-time DTM champion Rast usually competes in the No. 31 Team WRT Oreca 07 Gibson, while fellow Audi ace Mueller is a member of Vector Sport’s crew. Both drivers sit high in the DTM standings, with Rast in third and Mueller in fourth.

Sportscar365 understands that a current IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship DPi driver is set to fill in for Mueller aboard the No. 10 Vector-run Oreca.

Hypercar entrant Glickenhaus Racing and LMP2 Pro-Am squad ARC Bratislava will not travel to Fuji, as confirmed by both teams before the WEC’s sea freight voyage departed in the immediate wake of last month’s 6 Hours of Monza.

Their withdrawals leave the field at 36 cars for the second race outside Europe this year.

The Hypercar class consists of five entries, with the two Peugeot 9X8s set for their second race outing against Alpine Elf Team’s grandfathered LMP1 car and the pair of Toyota GR010 Hybrids.

Peugeot’s driving crews are unchanged since Monza with Paul di Resta, Mikkel Jensen and Jean-Eric Vergne sharing the French manufacturer’s No. 93 car and Loic Duval, Gustavo Menezes and James Rossiter combining in the No. 94.

Richard Lietz is due to return to the No. 91 Porsche GTE-Pro lineup after the Austrian missed Monza with COVID-19.

GTE-Pro contains the usual five cars between Porsche, Ferrari and solo competitor Corvette Racing, while LMP2 and GTE-Am have 13 entries each.