Photo : Toyota Motorsport
Though from 1967 - the year the 1,000km of Fuji was created - to 1981, long distance races were mainly run by Grand Touring cars, it is indeed the Group C prototypes which have embodied the close relationship between the discipline of endurance and the Japanese circuit. In the early 1980s, the Endurance World Championship competitors found themselves in the Shizuoka province for the induction of this destination into the world calendar as of 1982. The first edition included the official Porsche driver line-up of Jacky Ickx and Jochen Mass, who won the race ahead of duos Patrese/Fabi (Lancia) and Nakamura/Misaki (March).
Until 1992, prototypes have also put on a show on the fast and technical circuit and often in weather conditions as lamentable as they were unpredictable. For the World Championship, or the Japanese Championship or the two combined, these races are often highly competitive and pit "local" manufacturers like Toyota, Nissan and Mazda against Western manufacturers like Porsche, Jaguar and Mercedes.
Several races have been organized episodically for more than 20 years, but 2007 saw the big return of the 6 Hours of Fuji to the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) calendar. In two editions, for now the official Toyota team is undefeated as the driver line-up of Alexander Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima won in 2012 then 2013 at the wheel of their TS 040 Hybrid. With 10 victories all races considered since 1967, Porsche is the winningest manufacturer at the Fuji circuit in a 1,000-kilometer race, including to date one win over Toyota.
Pierre-Yves Riom / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO