The Ferrari AF Corse team’s 499Ps will start in 7th and 12th positions at the Fuji International Speedway, the venue for round seven of the FIA World Endurance Championship. In the 6 Hours of Fuji qualifying session, Antonio Fuoco, in car number 50, secured a place in the Hyperpole—reserved for the ten fastest crews. Antonio Giovinazzi, in Hypercar number 51, finished 12th, placing him 6th on the grid.
Car number 83, qualified by Robert Kubica, who shares the AF Corse car with Ferrari official drivers Yifei Ye and Robert Shwartzman, will start from 13th. The 6 Hours of Fuji will kick off on Sunday, 15 September, at 11 a.m. (local time).
Qualifying. The Maranello cars had a challenging session, with dry track conditions and air and asphalt temperatures of around 28°C and 39.5°C, respectively.
Fuoco clocked a time of 1’29”510 on his 6th lap—out of seven completed—securing 7th place and qualification for the Hyperpole. The Italian driver was 0.420 seconds behind the leading number 2 Cadillac. Giovinazzi qualified 12th in the ‘sister’ 499P with a best lap time of 1’29”772.
Car number 83, driven by Kubica, followed closely in 13th, with a time of 1’29”829.
Hyperpole. On the decisive lap to determine the starting grid, Fuoco improved his time to 1’29”196, just 0.295 seconds behind the pole position set by the number 2 Cadillac. This result earned the driver, who won this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, a 4th-row start for the Japanese race. The Hyperpole session was also incredibly close, with the top seven cars separated by less than three-tenths of a second.
The programme. The 6 Hours of Fuji will take place on Sunday, 15 September, with the green flag at 11 a.m. (local time).