ALPINE STORMS INTO FIRST LMDH WIN IN WEC
In front of a packed grandstand, the #35 Alpine crew began the 6 Hours of Fuji from ninth on the 18-car Hypercar grid. Their race started with setbacks, as penalties for contact and a pit-lane infringement dropped them down the order. Yet, the trio’s fortunes changed dramatically shortly after the halfway point when a safety car, deployed after a collision between an Aston Martin Hypercar and the Heart of Racing LMGT3 entry, fell perfectly in their favor.
This intervention propelled Paul-Loup Chatin’s replacement, Charles Milesi, into second place, setting up a thrilling three-way battle with Peugeot’s Mikkel Jensen in the #93 9X8 Hypercar, long the benchmark in Japan alongside team-mates Jean-Éric Vergne and Paul di Resta, and reigning world champion Kévin Estre at the wheel of the #6 Porsche.
With just an hour to go, Alpine opted for a bold strategy call. While their rivals changed all four tyres during the final round of stops, the French squad elected to replace only the left-hand side rubber on the #35, gaining valuable time. The move paid off handsomely, vaulting Milesi into the lead. From there, the Frenchman drove with precision and composure, maintaining a clear gap over his pursuers to secure victory by 7.682 seconds from Jensen, sparking jubilation among the Alpine garage.
The triumph marks Alpine’s third overall success in the FIA WEC, made all the more remarkable by the fact that the #35 remains the only car on the Hypercar grid without a Platinum-graded driver. It also writes a new chapter in series history, with four different manufacturers now having won consecutively in 2025: Ferrari at Le Mans, Cadillac in São Paulo, Porsche at COTA, and Alpine at Fuji.
Peugeot celebrated its strongest finish yet in the Hypercar class with second place, Jensen narrowly fending off a determined Laurens Vanthoor in the #6 Porsche in the closing laps. Porsche’s sister factory entry followed in fourth, just ahead of the #94 Peugeot. Ferrari endured a difficult weekend, with neither of its 499Ps scoring points, meaning its quest for a first Manufacturers’ crown now hinges on the season finale in Bahrain. Meanwhile, the Drivers’ title remains wide open, with four crews still in contention.
Elsewhere in the top ten, Aston Martin THOR Team delivered the Valkyrie’s best result to date with sixth place, though the team left wondering what might have been. The #009 car of Marco Sørensen and Alex Riberas had shown podium-challenging pace before a drive-through penalty for a Full Course Yellow infringement and contact dropped it back.
Pole-sitters Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA initially dominated proceedings but lost ground during the decisive third-hour safety car phase. Their #12 V-Series.R eventually came home seventh, one position clear of the #8 Toyota. For Toyota, the race proved especially painful, as the Japanese powerhouse was unable to deliver in front of its home fans and has now endured seven successive events without a podium finish, its longest such streak in WEC history.
The FIA WEC season concludes with the 8 Hours of Bahrain, scheduled for November 6–8.
Share this content:
