Home Hat-Trick for Toyota Racing at Fuji

The team scored a third consecutive win in the event thanks to the #8 TS040 Hybrid of Anthony Davidson and Sébastien Buemi, who extend their lead in the drivers' World Championship.

A perfect day for the team saw the #7, winner in Fuji for the past two seasons, finish close behind in second, with Alex Wurz, Stéphane Sarrazin and Kazuki Nakajima at the wheel.

Both cars finished one lap ahead of the opposition as Toyota regained the lead of the manufacturers' World Championship. Its third win of the season puts the team eight points clear of Audi.

In the drivers' standings, Anthony and Sébastien lead by 26 points over team-mate Nicolas Lapierre, who missed the Fuji race for personal reasons, with the third-placed crew of Audi #2 now trailing by 29 points.

Unlike last year, when heavy rain ruined the race, today's event started in dry but cool weather, with air temperature just 14°C. But the action on track soon got hotter.

Starting from pole, Sébastien in the #8 initially slipped to third in the first corners before hitting back and, helped by the 1,000 PS four-wheel-drive Toyota Hybrid System - Racing, retaking the lead within the opening lap.

Kazuki was also involved in the battle and ultimately gained a position to move into third. Following an early pit stop for Porsche #20, the #7 took second and the two TS040 Hybrids ran together at the front, stretching their lead.

At the first pit stops, just before the hour mark, Stéphane took over the #7 while Anthony got in the #8, with both using their new tyres to pull clear of the chasing pack.

After a clean double stint, during which they had to fight through plenty of traffic, the pair was separated by just three seconds and had pulled out a gap of almost a lap on third place.

Sébastien returned to the cockpit of the #8 just before half distance while Alex took the wheel of the #7 to continue the TS040 Hybrid dominance.

With a one-lap advantage, the team and drivers adopted a cautious approach to tyre strategy and traffic with the target of ensuring maximum points from the weekend.

Anthony and Kazuki returned for further stints, with Stéphane taking over the #7 in the last hour as Anthony remained in the cockpit to take the chequered flag and a very popular one-two in front of 51,000 Japanese fans over the weekend.

Racing resumes for WEC next month with a hectic climax to the year, starting on 2 November with the Six Hours of Shanghai prior to the season-closing races in Bahrain and Sao Paulo.