Both Alpine cars will start from the front row at the FIA WEC 6 Hours of Fuji

Weather chaos at the sixth round of the 2026 World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) at Fuji: As is not uncommon for Japan at this time of year, it rained heavily on Saturday around the 4.563-kilometre circuit. This made it impossible to hold the qualifying and Hyperpole sessions safely. Race control therefore decided to cancel the sessions – meaning the starting grid would be determined based on the fastest times from the three free practice sessions.

In fact, the fastest times were set in the second free practice session – and Victor Martins, in the Alpine A424, topped the timesheets with a lap of 1:29.304 minutes. This also secured pole position for the car driven by Martins and his team-mate Jules Gounon. “Even though qualifying was cancelled, I think we still deserved pole position because we’ve done a good job since the start of the weekend,” said Martins. “Yesterday’s practice sessions (FP1 and FP2) on a dry track showed that we have very good pace both for a single fast lap and over the race distance. This morning’s third practice session in wet conditions also went well and gave us valuable experience in the rain. We’re happy with the result. Now we need to keep working hard and prepare for a great race. If we get everything right, I think we can have a successful day.”

There was double cause for celebration in the Alpine camp. That’s because the second A424, driven by Ferdinand Habsburg and Charles Milesi, will also be starting from the front row. This Alpine had actually (only) set the third-fastest time, but the Aston Martin Valkyrie driven by Tom Gamble and Harry Tincknell – which was (actually) in second place – received a grid penalty due to a collision in the third free practice session. The British car will therefore start from fourth position.

The two Genesis GMR-001 hypercars secured their best-ever grid positions. The car driven by Paul-Loup Chatin, Mathieu Jaminet and Daniel Juncadella will start the race from third place. The sister car driven by Luis Felipe Derani, André Lotterer and Mathys Jaubert will start from fifth place. In the LMGT3 class, pole position went to the Ford Mustang LMGT3 driven by Eric Powell, Sebastian Priaulx and Ben Tuck.

Topic of the week

Spanish Grand Prix at the new Madring: track – hit or miss?

The people of Madrid had set their sights high for their city’s first Formula 1 World Championship race since 1981. But have the high expectations for the new Madring mixed-circuit track really been met?

Mathias Brunner

Read More