DUVAL QUICKEST IN OPENING PRACTICE
Peugeot and Aston Martin locked out the top four positions at the end of the opening free practice session in Japan on Thursday morning (26 September), while Ben Barnicoat put local marque Lexus on top in LMGT3.

The track action for the 2025 6 Hours of Fuji and the FIA World Endurance Championship’s 100th race began with a 90-minute FP1 session at Fuji Speedway. In sunny and warm conditions, the times were headed by the two Peugeot 9X8 entries, continuing the team’s strong momentum after securing its first podium of the season at COTA last time out.

Loïc Duval, whose early career saw him race extensively in Japan, set the pace with a best time of 1:30.152 in the #94 Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8. The Frenchman edged out the sister car driven by Jean-Éric Vergne by 0.458s. Behind the Peugeots came the pair of Aston Martin Heart of Racing Valkyrie Hypercars, with the #009 leading the #007. Marco Sørensen and Harry Tincknell recorded times of 1:30.632 and 1:30.766 respectively.

Fifth place went to the leading Porsche Penske car, with Julien Andlauer joined by last-minute Fuji substitute Mathieu Jaminet. Their #5 Porsche 963 Hypercar registered a best lap of 1:30.959, narrowly ahead of the #8 Toyota GR010 Hypercar shared by Brendon Hartley, Sébastien Buemi and Ryō Hirakawa. The Toyota trio were pushing to extend the manufacturer’s extraordinary record of nine wins from the last 11 WEC races at Fuji.

The rest of the top ten featured both Alpine A424 Hypercars, the #35 ahead of the #36, while the Ferrari duo of the #83 and #51 entries completed the leading group. Attention in the Italian camp was already focused on the looming title battle between its cars in the final two races of the season.

In LMGT3, Barnicoat claimed the best time for the Akkodis ASP Lexus squad, delivering a strong showing for the Japanese marque at its home race. The #78 Lexus, shared by Barnicoat, Arnold Robin and Finn Gehrsitz, topped the class with a lap of 1:41.257. Robin was only 0.033s quicker than the #81 TF Sport Corvette driven by Charlie Eastwood.

PEUGEOT AND LEXUS FASTEST AGAIN
Mikkel Jensen set the benchmark in the #93 Peugeot 9X8 in the second free practice session on Thursday afternoon, with Akkodis ASP Lexus again leading LMGT3, this time thanks to Clemens Schmid.

Free practice continued in warm and dry conditions, and Peugeot TotalEnergies maintained its form as Jensen posted the fastest lap of the day at 1:29.495. The Dane’s time was just 0.017s quicker than the #5 Porsche Penske 963 Hypercar of Andlauer and Jaminet.

The Aston Martin Valkyries again showed strong pace. The #009 car of Sørensen and Álex Riberas finished third, while the sister #007 ended ninth overall. Toyota Gazoo Racing took fourth with the #8 GR010 Hypercar, continuing its pursuit of a tenth home victory since 2012. The car finished ahead of the #35 Alpine A424, as the French team aimed to equal its best WEC result of third place, achieved at Fuji last year.

The #7 Toyota GR010 split the Alpine pair, with Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries and Mike Conway sharing duties. Conway returned to action after missing the COTA round with a broken collarbone. Cadillac Racing’s #12 V-Series.R, run by Hertz Team JOTA, was seventh with Alex Lynn, Will Stevens and Norman Nato. The highest-placed Ferrari was the #50 499P of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and the recently re-signed Nicklas Nielsen, ensuring seven manufacturers were represented in the Hypercar top ten.

Rounding out that group was the #6 Porsche Penske 963 Hypercar of Laurens Vanthoor and Kévin Estre. The duo, last year’s winners at Fuji, were targeting a successful defence of their crown on Sunday.

Akkodis ASP Lexus once again led the LMGT3 order. This time it was the #87 entry, with Schmid setting a time of 1:41.431. The Austrian, who shares the car with José-María López and Petru Umbrarescu, was 0.2s quicker than the #59 United Autosports McLaren. James Cottingham, Sébastien Baud and Grégoire Saucy all took stints at the wheel of the McLaren, with Baud producing the best effort of 1:41.661.