Qualifying and Hyperpole at 6 Hours of Fuji cancelled
26th September 2026Qualifying and Hyperpole for the World Endurance Championship’s 6 Hours of Fuji has been cancelled for severe weather conditions, after cars aquaplanned off track.
Feature image credit: Ferrari Media Centre
Qualifying for the 6 Hours of Fuji has been cancelled before it truly started after severe weather conditions curtailed running in Japan, for both the LMGT3 and Hypercar classes.
Saturday’s action at the Fuji International Speedway had been a wet ordeal after wet weather arrived in the final practice session, before qualifying and hyperpole, and it didn’t let up. The conditions reportedly worsened, affecting visibility out on track.
Before qualifying, the safety car was sent out to test the conditions and it was deemed good enough to head out onto the circuit. However, by the second corner, one of the first cars out on track, the #21 Visita AF Corse LMGT3 Ferrari aquaplaned off the circuit and veered straight into the barrier.
Thankfully, the driver was okay, but the car would not take part in the remainder of the session.
As a result of the session was quickly red flagged, before the race director confirmed that it would no longer go ahead, cancelling both qualifying and hyperpole for the LMGT3 and Hypercar entrants.
With qualifying not being able to get underway, it means the grid – unless qualifying is rescheduled – will be set by the times set during all practice sessions across the weekend. According to the FIA World Endurance Championship’s sporting regulations, under article, it says:
“If neither the first qualifying practice session nor the Hyperpole can take place or are cancelled, the starting grid will be established on the basis of the times achieved during the free practice sessions (all sessions combined).”
As a result, it means Alpine’s #36 entry, driven by Jules Gunon and Victor Martins, will take pole position for Sunday’s six-hour race, locking out a front row start ahead of its #35 sister car. Aston Martin’s #007 entry would’ve been second, but a two-place grid drop drops them to fourth after a collision with the Heart of Racing’s #27 car in FP3.
In LMGT3, the #77 Proton Competition will take pole position ahead of Iron Lynx’s #79 and Akkodis ASP Team’s #78 entries.
Read more World Endurance Championship content here:
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- 6 Hours of Sao Paulo: the official WEC schedule and start times
- 6 Hours of Sao Paulo: the latest weather forecast ahead of Brazil
- Toyota lead 24 Hours of Le Mans behind safety car after 8 hours
- Toyota continues to lead 24 Hours of Le Mans after 4 hours
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