Right Back At It For the 6 Hours of Fuji THIS WEEKEND

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We are square in the middle of the second-best racing month of the year!! (it's hard to top June).

Following the Lone Star Le Mans on Labor Day Weekend there's no time to rest cause next up is the 6 Hours of Fuji in Japan.

There's so much to digest when the racing calendars are released that I really didn't see at first how awesome this month actually is. With COTA already in the books, it's a super quick turnaround for the WEC landing in Japan to race THIS WEEKEND, and just a week after that we go to Indy for the 6 Hour Battle on the Bricks. 18 hours of enduros in the span of about 20 days, that's just wild stuff and we're totally here for it, and credit to the powers that be, we have it again in 2025 WOOOO.

Let's get to a quick roundup of what's coming for Fuji and the implications that'll come once we get to the checkered flag Sunday morning.



Hypercar Drivers' Championship Fight Down To Three Cars 

The trio of Porsche, Ferrari and Toyota have a stranglehold for both the drivers and manufacturers standings for Hypercar, and three cars out of the whole field have placed themselves firmly in position to secure a world championship in 2024 by being incredibly consistent through six rounds of racing. 

In reality, the championship will be won by one of the No. 6, the No. 7 or the No. 50, save for a cataclysmic turn of events for all three of those cars. Let's assume that things won't turn to mayhem, they've been consistent as hell all year and expect the back-and-forth battle to continue. You know the Toyota's are going to run strong at their home track, and the No. 6 PPM will be looking to rebound from their worst result of the season at COTA - a P6 finish (Peugeot would kick an old lady down the stairs for a P6 finish).

Toyota Back In Front For Manufacturers' Title

 


TGR secured a 1/2 finish in the driver's title last season, winning six out of seven races overall and blowing doors in the manufacturers' race with 217 total points, holding off Ferrari who put together an awesome first year campaign. Through six rounds in 2024, they find themselves again back in P1, as privateer wins are not included. And you have to give it up to TGR - for years they beat up on a LMP1/Hypercar field that just couldn't compete with the resources they had, crushing the likes of Alpine, Glickenhaus and Rebellion Racing to the tune of five-straight championship seasons. This year they've had the target on their back the entire time, and every other factory program is doing their best to take them down. They're taking everyone's best shot and are still proving they're the team to beat. Ferrari and Porsche better not fuck this up. 

LMGT3 - Manthey's Title To Lose

The GT Porsche duo of Manthey Racing have also kicked butt in 2024, and the PureRxcing No. 92 are entrenched in P1 atop the standings. Two wins, three podiums and a P10 being their worst finish of the campaign equals to 118 points and a 28-point lead over their sister car the No. 91. It'll be hard for someone to catch the 92 for the championship, but the rest of the podium is certainly up for grabs between four cars.


It's been a dream season for the Heart of Racing and my money is on them to sneak up on those guys at the stop and secure a podium finish for the season. Winning at COTA and dominating for the whole race like they did was frankly unbelievable. Can they put together another flawless performance in Japan? Let's hope so, American boys represent. 

As practices get rolling in a few days time, we'll be on top of the action and eventual qualifying/Hyperpole results leading into the race.

Anyway that's all I got for today, catch you on the track. 

(photo credit - newsroom.toyota.eu.com)


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