Circuit Safari

Yesterday select media and coach loads of fans hit the track for ‘Circuit Safari’ just before the start of Free Practice 3. Once again it was a raging success, with those onboard the coaches and the drivers clearly enjoying the experience.

Check out DSC’s full gallery HERE.

And a video from onboard the coach below:

The sights and sounds of #WEC Circuit Safari at #6hFuji. Once again, an incredible experience! 😁 pic.twitter.com/TbY4ql5B4W — Stephen Kilbey (@stephenk22) October 13, 2018

Aston laps

Shortly after Circuit Safari this writer headed back out on track with Alex Lynn in a DB11.

To put it lightly, the power delivery of the DB11 and the grip levels through 100R and the run up the hill towards the end of the lap were remarkable. Compared to some of the other cars used for media hot laps over the past few years, the DB11 felt the most stable, despite being driven on the ragged edge.

When they can’t race their Vantage GTEs, our boys can’t help but get their hands on some other @astonmartin machinery… Race drivers ‘eh… 🙄#Vantage #DB11 pic.twitter.com/omSESdyV4h — Aston Martin Racing (@AMR_Official) October 13, 2018

The run down to Turn 1, in particular, was impressive, the car handling the transition from full speed to slow speed with ease, despite Lynn slamming on the brakes as late as possible and carrying as much speed as he could through the tight right-hander.

Lynn has had a real spring in his step this weekend. There’s been real progress made at AMR between Silverstone and Fuji. Though BoP is clearly a factor, the team as a whole seems far more confident in the car’s ability.

“We feel the BoP is about right here,” he said. “But to be honest, we’re still learning all the time. We feel pretty much up to speed, but the car is getting better all the time. We hope to be competitive in the race, our long runs, which we’ve focused on in practice have been pretty successful.

“Max and I too are working really well now, we’ve really gelled. I’m confident the results will come, and that in turn could help us mount a title challenge. The next two races will be crucial if we are to stay in the hunt.”

He’ll start the race from third in the #97, behind the sister car, which claimed the Vantage AMR’s first ever pole yesterday.

Lap records smashed

The circuit best lap by class, not in qualifying, or race, were all beaten in Free Practice 3 yesterday.

In LMP2, Jazeman Jaafar set a 1:29.352 in the #37 JCDC ORECA. Kevin Estre in the #92 Porsche set a 1:36.851 to break the GTE Pro benchmark, and Ben Barker set a 1:37.789 to better the Am time.

In Qualifying, the records were then beaten again! Anthony Davidson in DragonSpeed’s ORECA set a 1:28.011.

In Pro, Nicki Thiim took a second out of the class record, with a 1:35.844 driving the #95 Aston Martin. And in GTE Am, it was Matt Campbell took seven tenths out of Ben Barker’s time, with a 1:36.992 in the #77 Dempsey Proton Porsche.

Toyota in the paddock

The DSC editor took some astonishing footage of a Toyota TS010 firing up in the fan area behind the pit straight grandstand. The ground shook, and most came close to fainting due to the fumes, but it was worth it!

Enjoy!

Fans turn out for the stars

The queues for the autograph session at Fuji are always a sight to see, but this year in particular has been incredible.

Fans began queuing over four hours before the start of the session yesterday, with the line for Jenson Button stretching all the way from the SMP garage to the back of the paddock, and the queue for Alonso running from the Toyota garage (four to five people deep) all the way down to the support pits at the end of the pit lane.

There was a second session this morning too, with the crowd even larger!

Dalla Lana’s star performance

Aston Martin Racing’s John Gaw was keen to point out to DSC that despite not taking pole position in GTE Am, that yesterday’s performance by Paul Dalla Lana in the #98 Vantage GTE was his best ever in terms of his performance against long-time pro teammate Pedro Lamy.

“Weight adjusted, Paul should be eight tenths slower than Pedro, yesterday he was seven tenths off, a very good performance and certainly by that measure the best of his time with us so far.”

The #98 will start second on the grid behind the #88 Proton Porsche.

Starting grid

The full starting grid, with starting drivers can be found HERE >>>

Toyota onboards

During today’s race, Toyota Gazoo Racing will be streaming live onboard from both cars, on YouTube.

You can follow them with the videos below:

#7

#8

How to follow

You can follow today’s 6 Hours of Fuji in the UK with the WEC App/web service which features the live stream with commentary from DSC’s editor Graham Goodwin and live timing.

Radio Le Mans will also be broadcasting audio of the entire race live.

On TV, Eurosport will be broadcasting the final 90 minutes of the race.

More info about international coverage can be found HERE >>>

It gets underway at 11:00 local time.