So, the action at the 2026 6 Hours of Fuji is properly underway, and Toyota wasted no time showing everyone who is boss. Out on the undulating Fuji Speedway, local ace Ryo Hirakawa put the #8 Toyota Racing TR010 Hypercar right at the top of the timesheets during the opening 90-minute session. Running in warm, dry, and cloudy conditions, Hirakawa punched in a lap of 1m29.694s early on, leaving the rest of the Hypercar field scrambling to catch up.
That opening benchmark was enough to clear the chasing pack by 0.343s. Second place went to the #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA entry shared by Will Stevens and Norman Nato. Meanwhile, the COTA-winning #50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P of Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen, and Antonio Fuoco grabbed third as they hunt for Ferrari's first-ever Hypercar podium at the venue. Right behind them, the second Cadillac V-Series.R of Earl Bamber, Jack Aitken, and Sébastien Bourdais took fourth as they look to build on their strong second-place finish at the Lone Star Le Mans event.
Down in fifth, last year's winners Alpine slotted into position as Victor Martins and Jules Gounon kicked off their weekend. The French pair are running as a duo for the rest of the season without Frederic Makowiecki, mirroring stablemates Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi in the #35 Alpine A424 Hypercar who are similarly down a driver with Antonio Felix da Costa absent. Rounding out the Hypercar top six was the #19 Genesis Magma Racing machine driven by Mathieu Jaminet, Daniel Juncadella, and Paul-Loup Chatin during the manufacturer's maiden visit to the circuit. Further back, the top ten was rounded out by the #007 Aston Martin Racing Valkyrie, the #7 Toyota Racing car, the #83 AF Corse Ferrari, and the reigning champion #51 Ferrari AF Corse entry.
Over in LMGT3, McLaren completely ruled the roost. Young German ace Finn Gehrsitz set the category pace in the #58 Garage 59 entry with a brilliant lap of 1m40.214s. The sister #10 McLaren wasn't far behind either, with Tom Flemming slotting into second just 0.045s adrift after putting in a late 1m40.257s lap.
Slotting in a further 0.182s back from the ultimate pace, the #34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette LMGT3 car of Peter Dempsey, Salih Yoluc, and Charlie Eastwood claimed strong ground. Proton Competition also had plenty to smile about as the #77 Ford Mustang driven by Sebastien Priaulx, Ben Tuck, and Eric Powell started the weekend with great pace, while the sister #88 Proton Competition Ford Mustang of Giammarco Levorato finished P5 thanks to a late 1m40.588s effort. Local favourites Lexus finished sixth quickest in the Akkodis ASP run machine via Esteban Masson, Tom van Rompuy, and Hadrien David, locking in four different manufacturers across the top four positions.
At the other end of the competitive spectrum, the championship-leading #33 TF Sport Corvette of Ben Keating, Nicky Catsburg, and Jonny Edgar ended up down in 16th, while the COTA-winning #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage of Ian James, Zacharie Robichon, and Mattia Drudi rounded out the 18-car category field.
