An extended safety car period at the beginning of the race gave fans present at Fuji in 2013 a few nervous moments of a potential red-flag. They needn’t have worried however, with racing eventually getting under way with Audi taking the initiative after a scary spin from Mark Webber [narrowly missing the wall at turn three] put Porsche on the back foot.
Toyota also took advantage of Porsche’s woes, jumping to third and fourth positions until the track began to dry. Alexander Wurz and Romain Dumas engaged in a Torvill and Dean act after touching, sending both cars into a spin, but were able to continue. The protracted yellow flag conditions did however provide an opportunity for teams to blood their bronze drivers and get them up to the minimum time required.
It was a similar situation back in LMP2 as Signatech-Alpine jumped to an early lead while KCMG made their way back from the rear and G-Drive’s Sam Bird spent a scary stint on grooved slicks. Both Tandy and Bird put in superb stints with Bird claiming it was his most difficult drive ever, while Tandy joked he only eventually got out of the Oreca for some food and a trip to the toilet.
James Calado immediately stole a march on the opposition in LMGTE Pro while
Stuart Hall surprised a few by taking
the number 96 Aston Martin to the
top of LM GTE Am, scything around
the SMP and AF Corse Ferrari’s of
Victor Shaytar and Manu Collard.
With Webber finding his feet yet again, he began to engage in a titanic duel with Toyota’s Kazuki Nakajima, with the Toyota visibly quicker through the corners in the wet conditions as Romain Dumas began to monster the back of the number 8 Audi of Marcel Fassler.
Webber too would have a turn at
battling Fassler, again providing a masterclass in racecraft by flanking each side of the Strakka Gibson.