WEC Fuji: Ferrari to wrap up title up in Toyota’s back yard?

The 100th FIA WEC race at Fuji in Japan this weekend is big, whichever way you look at it. There have of course been many more world endurance races over time, but this is the hundredth in its current FIA WEC format. It is also a crucial one for the champions-to-be, and for multiple reigning champions too.

Ferrari is on the brink of history as it chases its first World Championship in 17 years, and its first sportscar title since 1973, at the Fuji WEC 6 Hour this weekend.

Having last taken a Formula 1 title with Kimi Räikkönen in 2007, the F1 constructors in 2008 with the Finn and Felipe Massa. However we last won a world sportscar championship back in 1973. So, all eyes are on Ferrari as they aim to relieve six-time reigning Champions Toyota Gazoo Racing of this year’s crown in the Japanese giant’s own backyard.

Ferrari first won the World Sportscar Championship in the series’ maiden season in 1953 and went on to add nine more titles through to 1966. The Scuderia then claimed another in 1972 before Enzo Ferrari decided to concentrate on Formula 1. Ferrari returned to the FIA WEC fifty years later, winning all three Le Mans 24 Hours since.

Now, after dominating the first half of 2025, Ferrari finally stands on the threshold of its thirteenth world endurance racing championship. The AF Corse-run team has been dominant this season, starting with a 1-2 in Bahrain, followed by a home win at Imola, another 1-2 at Spa-Francorchamps, and then that Le Mans hat trick. Second and fourth in Texas left Ferrari with a huge advantage.

Currently 75 points clear of Porsche in the 2025 WEC Manufacturers’ standings, Ferrari needs to be at least 65 points ahead after Japan to secure the title. It is a similar scenario in the privateer Hypercar championship, where Philip Hanson, Robert Kubica and Yifei Ye only need to finish the race to wrap it up. They are also in with a real shot at the Drivers’ title.

That chase is likely to go down to the points-and-a-half Bahrain 8 Hour finale. Factory Ferrari trio Alessandro Pier Guidi, Antonio Giovinazzi and James Calado hold a fifteen-point advantage over Hanson, Kubica and Ye, while Porsche’s reigning champions Kévin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor remain 21 points back.

Their problem is the No. 50 Ferrari crew of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen, who could yet make it a Ferrari 1-2-3.

It is close for second in the Manufacturers’ race between the only two other teams besides Ferrari to win this year. Texas winners Penske Porsche sit just three points clear of Cadillac, victors of a Brazilian 1-2.

Outgoing champions Gazoo Toyota, winners of an incredible six titles and 11 times victorious at Fuji, are not quite out of the chase for second despite a six-race run without a podium. BMW sits fifth in the championship ahead of Alpine, Peugeot and Aston Martin.

Whatever happens on track, Gazoo Toyota Racing will also celebrate the future in its collaboration with the Le Mans 24 Hours at Fuji. Toyota will unveil its latest hydrogen racing plans at a special fan zone, linked to participation in the future H2 WEC class from 2028, alongside wider hydrogen mobility strategies.

The other key battle at Fuji is in LMGT3. The Lietz-Hardwick-Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche 911 arrives with a 19-point advantage over the Rovera-Hériau-Mann Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296. The Corvette crew of Keating, Juncadella and Edgar, the Akkodis Lexus of Schmid, Lopez and Umbrărescu, and the Heart of Racing Aston Martin of James, Drudi and Robichon are all within fighting distance.

Never ignore LMGT3 winners last time out, United Autosports McLaren, including Yokohama-born Marino Sato who also took his maiden win in Texas. The WRT BMW M4s, including one driven by Valentino Rossi, and the Proton Ford Mustangs chasing their elusive first LMGT3 victory are also threats.

Of all the drivers racing at Fuji this weekend, only Loïc Duval, Frédéric Makowiecki, Neel Jani and LMGT3 leader Richard Lietz appeared in the very first FIA WEC race at Sebring in 2012.

The Fuji action starts early in Europe, with free practice on Friday, 26 September before qualifying and the Hyperpole shootout at 07:20 CEST on Saturday. The race begins at 04:00 CEST on Sunday, 28 September.