The penultimate race of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) welcomed Porsche fans to Mount Fuji in Japan. The weather was rather warm with 27° Celsius and a little humidity. However, the track was dry and the sky cloudy, but there was no bad weather to be seen during at the start of the 6 Hours of Fuji. The race was important for all teams to achieve a good point standing before the end of the season.
In the Hypercar class, the Porsche Penske Motorsport Team started from the second row – ideal conditions to get ahead during the start scrimmage. The #6 Porsche 963 with Laurens Vanthoor at the wheel started from third spot and number five with Michael Christensen from fourth spot . The Hertz Team JOTA Porsche 963 piloted by Antonio Felix da Costa started from eighth position, with the Proton Competition sister car #99 in the hands of Harry Tinknell right behind it.
In the LMGTE Am class, the Iron Dames in the Porsche 911 RSR #85 had ideal starting conditions: Sarah Bovy entered the race from the second class spot. PJ Hyett started the race for Project 1 – AO in the #56 in seventh, closely followed by Christian Ried in the #77 Dempsey-Proton Racing car in eighth, and Michael Wainwright in the #86 GR Racing car in ninth position. The Iron Lynx with Claudio Schiavoni in the #60 Porsche 911 RSR started from 13th position.
At four o'clock in the morning CEST, the green flag was waved and yes: the Porsche 963 #6 took the lead! Immediately after the start, Laurens Vanthoor came up behind the second-placed Toyota and pulled to the right before entering the first turn. This strategically placed him in the best position to attack on the inside of the turn. His maneuver forced his opponents off the ideal line and several of the following cars off the track onto the run-off area.