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Autosport

WEC Fuji: Cadillac locks out front row as Aston Martin shines

Aston Martin Cadillac Aston (Organization) Fuji (Facility) WEC (Event) Alex Lynn Earl Bamber Ferrari McLaren Porsche

Cadillac notched up its third front-row lock-out of the season in qualifying for this weekend’s Fuji round of the World Endurance Championship.

Alex Lynn headed the times in Hyperpole qualifying in Japan from Jota team-mate Earl Bamber, following up on his poles at the Le Mans 24 Hours and Interlagos in June and July respectively.

Lynn set two laps good enough for pole in the #12 Cadillac V-Series.R during the 10-minute final session for the fastest 10 cars in opening qualifying.

A 1m28.637s on his first quick lap just pipped Bamber, who had posted a 1m28.675s in the #38 Jota Caddy.

Both Cadillac drivers tried to improve their times, Lynn knocking off four tenths to get down to a 1m28.236s while Bamber went slower by two tenths.

Third place on the grid for Sunday’s Fuji 6 Hours was taken by Marco Sorensen in the #009 Aston Martin Valkyrie Le Mans Hypercar.

The Dane had topped the times in opening qualifying aboard the The Heart of Racing entry, but could manage only fifth on his first hot lap in Hyperpole.

He was able to find a couple of tenths to improve to a 1m28.705s to jump up to best of the rest behind the Caddys.

Peugeot, which had been at the forefront of the times along with Aston through free practice, took fourth place courtesy of Mikkel Jensen in the #93 9X8 2024 LMH.

His time of 1m28.716s gave him a margin of more than a tenth over the 1m28.854s from Sheldon van der Linde that put the #20 WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh fifth.

Antonio Giovinazzi took sixth in the championship-leading #51 AF Corse Ferrari 499P LMH with a 1m28.945s.

Porsche claimed seventh courtesy of a 1m29.031s from Julien Andlauer in the #5 factory Penske-run 963 LMDh, which was just four hundredths up on Ryo Hirakawa’s 1m29.071s in the best of the Toyota GR010 HYBRID LMHs.

Charles Milesi and Robert Kubica rounded out the top 10 in the #35 Alpine A424 LMDh and the #83 customer Ferrari run by AF.

Aston and Peugeot only got one car each into Hyperpole despite their free practice form.

Harry Tincknell locked up at Turn 10 on a lap that looked to be good enough to get the #007 Valkyrie through to the second qualifying session.

The Briton managed to improve his time to jump to 11th ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne’s Peugeot, his effort leaving him 0.03s shy of a place in Hyperpole.

Kevin Estre ended up at the foot of the times in the Penske Porsche that won last time out in the WEC at Austin earlier in September after a lock-up at Turn 1.

Aston Martin on LMGT3 pole

#10 Racing Spirit Of Leman Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3: Anthony McIntosh, Eduardo Barrichello, Valentin Hasse Clot (Photo by: Andreas Beil)

Eduardo Barrichello took his second LMGT3 pole position of the season in the Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

The Brazilian, who took top spot in qualifying on home ground at Interlagos in July, jumped to the head of the times when he got down to a 1m39.981s on his final lap.

That pipped Sean Gelael in the best of the United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3s Evos by just 0.03s.

Gelael’s 1m40.011s was in turn just 0.002s ahead of Sebastien Baud in the second United McLaren.

The Fuji 6 Hours, the penultimate round of the 2025 WEC, begins at 11:00 local time on Sunday.

Fuji WEC - Hypercar Hyerpole results:

1 - 2
Cla	Team	#	Drivers	Car	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA HYPERCAR	12	A. Lynn N. Nato W. Stevens	Cadillac V-Series.R	6	1'28.236		186.168
2	Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA HYPERCAR	38	E. Bamber S. Bourdais J. Button	Cadillac V-Series.R	7	+0.439 1'28.675	0.439	185.247
3	Aston Martin THOR Team HYPERCAR	009	A. Riberas M. Sorensen	Aston Martin Valkyrie	6	+0.469 1'28.705	0.030	185.184
4	PEUGEOT TOTALENERGIES HYPERCAR	93	P. di Resta M. Jensen J. Vergne	Peugeot 9X8	6	+0.480 1'28.716	0.011	185.161
5	BMW M Team WRT HYPERCAR	20	R. Rast R. Frijns S. Van Der Linde	BMW M Hybrid V8	6	+0.618 1'28.854	0.138	184.874
6	FERRARI AF CORSE HYPERCAR	51	A. Pier Guidi J. Calado A. Giovinazzi	Ferrari 499P	7	+0.709 1'28.945	0.091	184.684
7	PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT HYPERCAR	5	J. Andlauer M. Jaminet	Porsche 963	7	+0.795 1'29.031	0.086	184.506
8	Toyota Racing HYPERCAR	8	S. Buemi B. Hartley R. Hirakawa	Toyota GR010 - Hybrid	6	+0.835 1'29.071	0.040	184.423
9	Alpine Endurance Team HYPERCAR	35	P. Chatin F. Habsburg C. Milesi	Alpine A424	6	+0.844 1'29.080	0.009	184.405
10	AF Corse HYPERCAR	83	R. Kubica Y. Yifei P. Hanson	Ferrari 499P	6	+1.009 1'29.245	0.165	184.064
View full results

LMGT3 Hyperpole results:

1 - 2
Cla	Team	#	Drivers	Car	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	Racing Spirit of Leman LMGT3	10	A. McIntosh D. Barrichello V. Hasse-Clot	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3	5	1'39.981		164.299
2	United Autosports LMGT3	95	D. Leung S. Gelael M. Sato	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	6	+0.030 1'40.011	0.030	164.249
3	United Autosports LMGT3	59	J. Cottingham S. Baud G. Saucy	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	6	+0.032 1'40.013	0.002	164.246
4	Heart of Racing Team LMGT3	27	I. James Z. Robichon M. Drudi	Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3	6	+0.406 1'40.387	0.374	163.634
5	Manthey 1st Phorm LMGT3	92	R. Hardwick R. Pera R. Lietz	Porsche 911 GT3 R	6	+0.433 1'40.414	0.027	163.590
6	TF Sport LMGT3	33	B. Keating J. Edgar D. Juncadella	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	6	+0.445 1'40.426	0.012	163.571
7	TF Sport LMGT3	81	T. Rompuy R. Andrade C. Eastwood	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	6	+0.509 1'40.490	0.064	163.467
8	Vista AF Corse LMGT3	54	T. Flohr F. Castellacci D. Rigon	Ferrari 296 GT3	6	+0.619 1'40.600	0.110	163.288
9	Proton Competition LMGT3	88	S. Gattuso G. Levorato D. Olsen	Ford Mustang GT3	6	+0.727 1'40.708	0.108	163.113
10	Vista AF Corse LMGT3	21	F. Heriau S. Mann A. Rovera	Ferrari 296 GT3	6	+0.838 1'40.819	0.111	162.933
View full results