Victory and double podium for WRT in Fuji

For the penultimate round of the FIA WEC, 11 ORECA 07s headed to the land of the rising sun for six hours of racing. At the end of a hard-fought race, WRT triumphed with the #41 and consolidated its lead in the Championship.

Although pole eluded them, Rui Andrade, Robert Kubica and Louis Delétraz stepped up the pace in the race to take victory and further consolidate their lead in the Championship standings. This was the Belgian outfit’s second win of the season, and they will be leading the LMP2 field in Bahrain for the final round of the season.

Behind them, the #31 sister car of Sean Gelael, Ferdinand Habsburg and Robin Frijns and the #22 of United Autosports driven by Frederick Lubin, Filipe Albuquerque and Philip Hanson engaged in a magnificent duel. After a hard overtake by the Belgian car on the English one, it was finally the #22 that took advantage of the traffic with two laps to go to secure second position and move in between the two Belgian cars on the podium.

United Autosports’ #23, which started from third, had a tangle with the Vanwall and finished fourth, ahead of Alpine Elf Team’s #36, which rounded off the top five.
Fourth in qualifying, the #28 JOTA ORECA 07 finished sixth, while the #10 Vector Sport, the #9 Prema Racing, the #34 Inter Europol Competition and the #63 Prema Racing finished in the top 10, ahead of the #35 Alpine Elf Team.

On November 4, the final race will take place in Bahrain, with 39 decisive points at stake on the Sakhir International Circuit. WRT’s #41 will finish with 135 points, ahead of Inter Europol Competition’s #34 (102 points), United Autosports’ #22 (101 points) and #23 (85 points).

Congratulations to Toyota Gazoo Racing for a perfect race on home soil, which not only clinches a one-two finish but also the manufacturer’s title in the FIA WEC Championship ahead of the final round of the 2023 season.