WRT in “all-in mode” to maintain its title chances

At the 6 Hours of Fuji, Team WRT will attempt to achieve a third success this season in LM P2 after Spa and Monza. After the misfortunes of 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Belgian team no longer has the right to make mistakes if it wants to stay in the title race. Victorious in Italy, the No. 41 Oreca, the one wearing the Realteam colors and entrusted to Rui Andrade, Ferdinand Habsburg and Norman Nato, currently occupies third in the team and driver standings, 27 points from the lead, occupied by the winners of the Sarthe double-clock race Antonio Felix da Costa, Roberto Gonzalez and Will Stevens on the No. 28 Jota.

First for WRT at Fuji in LM P2 category

The No. 31 car, the defending champion, is 42 points from the lead, in fifth position. At Fuji, Robin Frijns and Sean Gelael are joined by Dries Vanthoor, who replaces René Rast. The German is occupied by the round of DTM at Spa-Francorchamps, like Nico Müller and Nick Cassidy. Not a first for the Belgian, since he competed in and finished the 24 hours of Le Mans earlier this year in the third car entered by WRT in the Le Mans classic alongside Mirko Bortolotti and Rolf Ineichen. “I'm very happy and excited to be here and be part of the program WEC, and I will do my best to replace René effectively, confides Dries Vanthoor. I raced at Fuji a few years ago, it's a cool place and an exciting track. We are in all-in mode, because we need a good result and we will give everything to get a victory. »

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“It's a long journey from Europe, but it's always nice to be in Japan, a country with a great motorsport culture, and at a historic and beautiful circuit like Fuji, declares Vincent Vosse, the Team Principal of the overseas Quiévrain stable. We have never raced there in LM P2, so we will have a lot to discover and although we have prepared well, we will not be in the same position as competitors who have direct experience. This gives us extra motivation to do well. This is a very important race for us because we will need to get a very good result if we want to stay in the title race. So far we have had two victories at Spa and Monza and a double podium at Sebring, but we missed the big points given by Le Mans, so the situation is very simple: we have to go for it and we cannot afford the slightest error. »

“After a successful weekend at Monza and our first victory (for the No. 41 of Realteam by WRT, under the Swiss flag. Editor's note), we are in the running for the championship fight, adds Frenchman Norman Nato. We need another good weekend in Fuji to put pressure on our opponents before the final round in Bahrain. Fuji is a circuit with cool temperatures, the weather can be tricky. We will push hard and give our best, as always. »

It will indeed be the first time at Fuji for WRT in the LM P2 category. The team from across Quiévrain has only visited the circuit traced at the foot of the famous Japanese volcano once for the joint Super GT and DTM Dream Race in 2019.