WEC Fuji: Alpine takes first win with LMDh car in chaotic race

Alpine took a first World Endurance Championship victory with its A424 LMDh as Charles Milesi, Paul-Loup Chatin and Ferdinand Habsburg came through to win a chaotic Fuji 6 Hours.

The #35 triumphed by just 7.6s from the #93 Peugeot 9X8 2024 Le Mans Hypercar shared by Mikkel Jensen, Paul di Resta and Jean-Eric Vergne at the end of a race interrupted by three safety cars and a further five Full Course Yellows.

Milesi was able to jump from third to first at the final round of pitstops when he took only two new tyres rather than the four of the Peugeot in the lead and the second-placed Penske Porsche 963 LMDh of Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor.

That gave him a clear lead after the stops: he was nearly 8s up after the pitstop cycle was complete and was able to build his advantage to as much as 11s during the final hour.

The Alpine, which gave the marque its first WEC victory since its Judd-powered A480 grandfathered LMP1 car triumphed at Monza in July 2022, didn’t appear to be a likely race winner for much of the race.

Habsburg was penalised early on after nudging the #8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID LMH up the rear, an incident that also resulted in a change of nose on the car at the first pitstops.

Alpine emerged as a contender, however, when Chatin was able to get into the pits just seconds before the second FCY of the race was called with two and a half hours remaining. It turned out to be crucial because the Alpine pitted at the most opportune time.

#35 Alpine Endurance Team Alpine A424: Paul-Loup Chatin, Ferdinand Habsburg, Charles Milesi (Photo by: James Moy Photography via Getty Images)

Its service was undertaken when the majority of the Hypercar field was travelling at only 80km/h and then the latest neutralisation of the race turned into a safety car proper.

Chatin ran second to the Peugeot when the race went green, though lost out to a charging Estre in the Porsche as the final round of pitstops approached.

The Porsche, however, was given a 5s penalty for a pitstop infringement, which dropped it back to third for the final hour.

Vanthoor spent the closing stages of the race glued to Jensen’s tail, crossing the finish line in third and just half a second in arrears.

The second Penske Porsche, in which Mathieu Jaminet joined Julien Andlauer, to took fourth position.

The strong points haul for Porsche meant it has kept the battle for the manufacturers’ title open heading into November’s WEC finale in Bahrain.

It was a bad day for Ferrari, though it still leads the manufacturers’ and drivers’ standings.

#93 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8: Paul Di Resta, Mikkel Jensen, Jean-Eric Vergne, #51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi (Photo by: Andreas Beil)

It claimed one point in the makes’ rankings for the 11th place claimed by Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi in the #51 factory AF Corse 499P LMH.

The drivers’ points leaders failed to add to their score after a difficult day in which their Ferrari sustained damage in a clash with the Proton Competition customer Porsche and received two penalties for track limit violations.

Stoffel Vandoorne charged up to fifth in the second of the Peugeots, which he shared with Loic Duval and Malthe Jakobsen, in the final hour.

Aston Martin, meanwhile salvaged sixth with its #009 entry shared by Marco Sorensen and Alex Riberas at the end of an up-and-down race for its pair of Valkyrie LMHs.

The Jota Cadillac squad ended up with a best result of seventh for the #12 V-Series.R LMDh shared by pole winner Alex Lynn, Will Stevens and Norman Nato.

It appeared to be in control of the race with its two entries, Stevens leading the early going ahead of Sebastien Bourdais in the sister car shared with Jenson Button and Earl Bamber.

The Cadillacs lost a clear advantage with the first safety car at the end of the first hour and then faded from contention with the neutralisations that followed.

Start action (Photo by: FIAWEC - DPPI)

Toyota took eighth with the #7 GR010 HYBRID LMH of Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries and Mike Conway ahead of the #20 WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh driven by Robin Frijns, Rene Rast and Sheldon van der Linde.

Le Mans 24 Hours winners Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Phil Hanson in the #83 customer AF Ferrari edged a point closer to the drivers of the #51 car in the points standings with 10th.

That became two points when the fifth-placed #94 Peugeot was awarded a time penalty for a safety car infringement and docked 53s in the final results. 

The decision, made by the stewards more than five hours after the end of the race, demoted it to 10th.

LMGT3 honours went to the TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R shared by Charlie Eastwood, Rui Andrade and Tom van Rompuy.

Eastwood cross the line two seconds behind the #21 AF Ferrari 296 GT3 driven by Alessio Rovera, Simon Mann and Francois Heriau, but a 5s penalty for the Italian car for a pitstop infringement demoted it to second position in class.

WEC Fuji 6 Hours - Race results

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Team	#	Drivers	Car	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits	Retirement	Points
1	Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR	35	P. Chatin F. Habsburg C. Milesi	Alpine A424	202			5
2	PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR	93	P. di Resta M. Jensen J. Vergne	Peugeot 9X8	202			4
3	PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR	6	K. Estre L. Vanthoor	Porsche 963	202			6
4	PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR	5	J. Andlauer M. Jaminet	Porsche 963	202			6
5	PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR	94	L. Duval M. Jakobsen S. Vandoorne	Peugeot 9X8	202			4
6	Aston Martin THOR Team HYPERCAR	009	A. Riberas M. Sorensen	Aston Martin Valkyrie	202			5
7	Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA HYPERCAR	12	A. Lynn N. Nato W. Stevens	Cadillac V-Series.R	202			5
8	Toyota Racing HYPERCAR	7	M. Conway K. Kobayashi N. de Vries	Toyota GR010 - Hybrid	202			5
9	BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR	20	R. Rast R. Frijns S. Van Der Linde	BMW M Hybrid V8	202			6
10	AF Corse HYPERCAR	83	R. Kubica Y. Yifei P. Hanson	Ferrari 499P	202			6
11	FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR	50	A. Fuoco M. Molina N. Nielsen	Ferrari 499P	202			4
12	Proton Competition HYPERCAR	99	N. Jani N. Pino N. Varrone	Porsche 963	202			5
13	Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA HYPERCAR	38	E. Bamber S. Bourdais J. Button	Cadillac V-Series.R	201			4
14	Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR	36	J. Gounon F. Makowiecki M. Schumacher	Alpine A424	201			8
15	FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR	51	A. Pier Guidi J. Calado A. Giovinazzi	Ferrari 499P	201			6
16	Toyota Racing HYPERCAR	8	S. Buemi B. Hartley R. Hirakawa	Toyota GR010 - Hybrid	200			7
17	TF Sport LMGT3	81	T. Rompuy R. Andrade C. Eastwood	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	185			8
18	Vista AF Corse LMGT3	21	F. Heriau S. Mann A. Rovera	Ferrari 296 GT3	185			8
19	The Bend Team WRT LMGT3	31	Y. Shahin T. Boguslavskiy A. Farfus	BMW M4 GT3	185			9
20	TEAM WRT LMGT3	46	A. Al Harthy V. Rossi K. van der Linde	BMW M4 GT3	185			7
21	Manthey 1st Phorm LMGT3	92	R. Hardwick R. Pera R. Lietz	Porsche 911 GT3 R	185			6
22	Vista AF Corse LMGT3	54	T. Flohr F. Castellacci D. Rigon	Ferrari 296 GT3	185			8
23	Heart of Racing Team LMGT3	27	I. James Z. Robichon M. Drudi	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3	184			6
24	TF Sport LMGT3	33	B. Keating J. Edgar D. Juncadella	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	184			6
25	IRON LYNX LMGT3	61	M. Berry L. Hodenius M. Martin	Mercedes AMG GT3	184			6
26	AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3	78	A. Robin F. Gehrsitz B. Barnicoat	Lexus RC F GT3	184			7
27	United Autosports LMGT3	95	D. Leung S. Gelael M. Sato	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	184			7
28	Proton Competition LMGT3	77	B. Sousa B. Tuck B. Barker	Ford Mustang GT3	184			8
29	IRON DAMES LMGT3	85	C. Martin R. Frey M. Gatting	Porsche 911 GT3 R	184			6
30	United Autosports LMGT3	59	J. Cottingham S. Baud G. Saucy	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	184			7
31	AKKODIS ASP Team LMGT3	87	R. Umbrarescu C. Schmid J. Lopez	Lexus RC F GT3	184			7
32	IRON LYNX LMGT3	60	A. Gilbert L. Nicolas Hanafin F. Rueda	Mercedes AMG GT3	183			10
33	Racing Spirit of Leman LMGT3	10	A. McIntosh D. Barrichello V. Hasse-Clot	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3	183			7
34	Proton Competition LMGT3	88	S. Gattuso G. Levorato D. Olsen	Ford Mustang GT3	143			5
35	Aston Martin THOR Team HYPERCAR	007	H. Tincknell T. Gamble	Aston Martin Valkyrie	113			4
36	BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR	15	D. Vanthoor R. Marciello K. Magnussen	BMW M Hybrid V8	68			2
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