The 2026 Fuji 6 Hours unfolded under dramatic conditions. With qualifying scrapped due to hazardous weather, teams headed straight into free practice. Alpine showed early speed, posting the fastest lap in FP2, while Toyota set the early pace in FP1. The race began at 11 am local time, and the opening stint saw the French duo of Jules Gounon and Victor Martins on pole, followed by teammate Ferdinand Habsburg and the Genesis entry of Dani Juncadella.
Qualifying cancelled and practice highlights
Heavy rain forced the World Endurance Championship to abandon the qualifying session, leaving the grid to be defined by free-practice timings. In FP2, the Alpine #36, driven by Jules Gounon and Victor Martins recorded a lap of 1:29.304, edging out their own #35 entry and the lone Aston Martin Valkyrie. The Toyota #8 that topped FP1 fell to seventh after the session, but the performance indicated that the Japanese manufacturer remained a contender.
Early race dynamics and the first safety car
When the green flag dropped, Alpine quickly locked out the front row, with the two A424 LMDh cars pulling ahead of the field. The early phases were relatively uneventful until an AF Corse incident in the LMGT3 class triggered the first safety car, momentarily compressing gaps. Shortly after the restart, Nyck de Vries suffered a puncture, prompting an unscheduled pit stop for the #7 Toyota TR010. That stop temporarily promoted de Vries to second place as others completed their scheduled stops.
Strategic gambles during the final hour
Approaching the race’s fourth hour, a second safety car was deployed after a GT3 car stopped on track. Alpine’s #36 reclaimed the lead, while Habsburg’s #35 slipped to third before fighting back to second. The lead changed hands several times, with the Aston Martin #007 Valkyrie briefly seizing the front thanks to an undercut, only to lose it after driver Tom Gamble incurred a drive-through penalty for crossing the pit-lane entry line.
Virtual safety car decides the finale
With just over an hour remaining, a heavy crash involving a Garage 59 McLaren in the LMGT3 category brought out a Virtual Safety Car. Seizing the moment, Toyota elected a daring one-tyre change on the #8 TR010, while rival BMW did the same on their #15 M Hybrid V8. Those split-second decisions vaulted the #8 Toyota from seventh to the Alpine’s #36, forced onto a slower pit stop, dropped to fifth, though it remained the fastest car on track.
Final laps and podium finishers
In the closing minutes, Victor Martins in the #36 Alpine surged from fourth to second, chasing Ryo Hirakawa in the #8 Toyota. Despite shaving under a second off the leader, Martins could not close the gap, and Hirakawa crossed the finish line a mere 0.591 s ahead, delivering Toyota its third victory of the season and its first WEC win on Japanese soil since 2023.
Alpine rounded out the podium in third place, while the #15 BMW secured fourth, followed by the #38 Jota Cadillac in fifth. The #35 Alpine finished fourth
