Alpine claimed its inaugural FIA World Endurance Championship pole with the A424 LMDh after qualifying at Fuji was cancelled, marking the team’s first pole since the 2022 Sebring 1000 Miles with the older A480 LMP1 car. It also stands as the first pole for an LMDh vehicle built on an ORECA chassis.
Victor Martins clinched his first pole, becoming the ninth French driver to achieve a WEC pole, and the first since Kevin Estre at Le Mans in 2024.
Martins commented: “We deserve this position because we did a good job since the start of the weekend. FP1 and FP2 showed we have strong pace in qualifying. Also in our race setup, tomorrow could be favorable for us if we execute everything correctly. 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 wet to run in qualifying, so in FP2 we fitted fresh soft tires and did a full qualifying simulation. Victor and Charles did a fantastic job, the fastest lap of the weekend for Victor, which allows us to start from pole. We know we have good pace, so we’re 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 achieved the feat for the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo in July.
Ford meanwhile claimed its second LMGT3 pole, following the 2025 Lone Star Le Mans, as Ben Tuck became the third British driver to top the class in the No. 77 Proton Competition Mustang GT3 EVO, following Josh Caygill and Tom Fleming.
Tuck said: “The car has felt amazing in both wet and dry conditions all weekend, and that’s shown in our practice pace. We’re absolutely thrilled to secure pole even if we couldn’t contest a traditional qualifying session. But the fact the result reflects our practice pace shows that we’ve earned the pole.”
Harry Tincknell offered his view on the Turn 10 clash with Heart of Racing Team boss Ian James during Saturday morning’s third practice, which cost him 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 receiving a two‑place grid penalty for causing the incident.
Tincknell told pit reporter Bruce Jouanny: “It was wet out there this morning, the conditions weren’t easy, and it’s very easy to make a mistake. The car feels strong, we’re hungry for a first podium, and hopefully a first win, and I really believed going into this weekend that we had a good shot at it, and the results are proving that.”
The cancellation of qualifying gave Genesis Magma Racing its best-ever WEC qualifying result in its short history, with its two GMR-001s lining 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 is competitive, even without data from past seasons. The drivers’ feedback was very good from the first lap in Free Practice 1. In Austin, we tested a month before the race, but here we were a little worried about never having been at this track. We are also optimistic about our pace for the race.”
Toyota Racing technical David Floury revealed that the decision to perform 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 executed their own low-fuel runs in FP2. The No. 8 car was the only one among the 17 Hypercars to set its best lap in FP1.
Floury told reporters: “We considered this possibility [that practice times could set the grid] yesterday, which is why we posted the fastest time in FP1. We thought rain might arrive in the afternoon session, and there was a real risk of today being heavy rain and fog. We were right about qualifying being canceled, but unfortunately FP2 was dry, otherwise it would have worked!”
However, Floury believes Toyota’s main title rival BMW, whose cars start 14th and 17th after opting not to run in qualifying, will have no trouble moving up the order given their pace. “I’m not overly concerned for them with the speed they’ve shown,” he said. “They’ll soon be past us.”
During the Circuit Safari session (pictured top) that preceded FP3, Toyota’s hydrogen-fuel-cell bus circulated alongside the regular buses. Toyota Racing vice-chairman Kazuki Nakajima was aboard, along with the company’s invited corporate guests and media.
Hertz Team JOTA co-owner Sam Hignett praised Ricky Taylor’s performance at this month’s Lone Star Le Mans round at the Circuit of The Americas, where he made a one-off appearance 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 strong, and his tire management was impressive — he even did a double stint, which is rare these days.”
Hignett added that “logistics” made Taylor the logical choice to join Nato and Stevens in the No. 12 Cadillac at COTA, with expectations that the 37-year-old will link up with JOTA next season alongside Antonio Felix da Costa. Asked about the team’s driver plans for 2027, Hignett replied: “We’re getting there and we’ll say something at Barcelona.”
While almost all Hypercar qualifying times were set in FP2, the LMGT3 field displayed a wider spread, with six of the 18 runners — including the two Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evos that qualified fourth and sixth — posting their best laps in the opening session.
TF Sport Corvette driver Ben Keating voiced his disappointment at not being able to qualify the No. 33 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R after performing well in the wet in FP3. “I really wanted to qualify,” he said. “I’ve yet to achieve Hyperpole this season, and in the wet I felt we had a chance given our practice pace.”
The points-leading LMGT3 car that Keating shares with solo leader Jonny Edgar and Nicky Catsburg is set to start tenth on the LMGT3 grid, two places behind its sister TF entry. “It’s a real shame because I think we would have had a strong result,” Edgar commented. “Based on this morning I think we could have fought for pole or, at the very least, been in the top five. It’s unfortunate, but there’s nothing we can do.”
Meanwhile, Peter Dempsey wore a special helmet featuring Mount Fuji and cherry blossoms for his first Japanese weekend. “My kids growing up have loved everything about Japan—the culture, Mario and all the characters from this country,” he explained. “This is our first trip to Japan, so I wanted to do something special for them. I may not race here again, so we have to make the most of these moments.”
The 6 Hours of Fuji gets underway Sunday at 11 a.m. local time (Saturday, 10 p.m. EST) with global coverage on the FIAWEC+ App. HBO Max will air the race in the U.S., Eurosport and TNT Sports 3 will cover Europe and the UK respectively, and Stan Sport will handle 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.
