Round six of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship campaign takes competitors to Asia this weekend for the 6 Hours of Fuji. The 4.563km, 16-turn layout boasts a 1.475km main straight where machines hit speeds in excess of 330km/h. Last year's race proved just how unpredictable this circuit can be, standing as the first in history where no class-winner started from the front three rows of the grid, while no pole-sitter in either 2024 or 2025 finished on the podium.
Five rounds in, the Hypercar battle is deliciously poised following mixed fortunes in Austin where Toyota and BMW failed to score big points and Ferrari triumphed in Texas. Toyota arrives fired-up after a hydraulic issue robbed them of victory barely ten minutes from the end at Circuit of The Americas. The Japanese giant boasts nine previous wins at Fuji, and every new Toyota has won its first race at the circuit. Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi share the top of the Drivers' classification with BMW duo Robin Frijns and René Rast, while Toyota holds a nine-point advantage over BMW in the Manufacturers' standings.
Sébastien Buemi holds four outright victories at Fuji, while Nyck de Vries triumphed in the LMP2 division in Japan in 2019 and Kobayashi is the Hypercar qualifying lap record-holder. BMW's M Hybrid V8 struggled for speed at COTA, but the German prototype secured a second-place finish in its 2024 debut at Fuji. Reigning world champion Ferrari has hauled itself back into the mix after its Texan success, yet the 499P Hypercar has never reached the rostrum in three trips to Japan, making it the only current venue where the model has missed the top three.
Cadillac has dominated Hyperpole at Fuji since 2024, though the JOTA-run effort runs without Alex Lynn. Fellow #12 driver Will Stevens won at the circuit a decade ago in LMP2 and holds the Hypercar race lap record from last year. Alpine triumphed in FIA WEC's 100th event at the track and the A424 is the sole Hypercar on the 2026 grid to have previously won the 6 Hours of Fuji. Aston Martin's Valkyrie cracked the top five in Japan last September, Peugeot took runner-up spoils 12 months ago, and Loïc Duval is set to reach 80 starts on Sunday for Genesis.
Over in the LMGT3 category, Corvette leads the way with the #33 crew of Jonny Edgar, Nicky Catsburg and Ben Keating at the head of the order. Partner team TF Sport has won three times at Fuji. Alessio Rovera, Simon Mann and François Hériau are the #33 Corvette's closest title rivals, while sister #54 entry drivers Davide Rigon, Francesco Castellacci and Thomas Flohr look to turn around a tough campaign. Team WRT's BMWs, Mercedes-AMG with the Iron Lynx-run cars, and the Akkodis ASP Team-fielded Lexus RC F are all ready to fight.
Free practice begins on Friday, 25 September. Qualifying and the Hyperpole shootout start at 14:00 local time on Saturday, 26 September, before the six-hour race gets underway at 11:00 local time on Sunday, 27 September.
