In Fuji, the WEC becomes “centennial”

What better way to celebrate your centenary than with a trip to Japan? No, the WEC was not created a hundred years ago, but this weekend's 6 Hours of Fuji will be the hundredth round of the world championship.Endurance since its creation in 2012. Jointly managed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, organizer of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the championship took over from the Intercontinental Le Mans Challenge.

While thirteen brands will now compete in the 2025 season in the two categories, Hypercar and LMGT3, a total of forty have participated in the WEC since the 2012 12 Hours of Sebring, the inaugural round of the championship, 22 of which have won at least one race in their category, or in the general classification.

While seven teams representing five manufacturers competed in LMP1 in 2012, eight different manufacturers are now battling for victory in the premier class. Porsche, Classic Ferrari for sale et Aston Martin, present in both Hypercar and GT3, are the only three brands to have contested all the races in the championship, whether in prototype or GT. The German brand leads the WEC victory standings, with 71 bouquets.

Toyota, which did not take part in the first two rounds of the 2012 championship, has had an uninterrupted presence in the premier class ever since. World champion in 2014 and undefeated from 2018 to 2024, the Japanese brand logically sees its drivers at the top of the most victorious rankings, because they are extremely loyal to Toyota Gazoo Racing! Sébastien Buemi, a three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, has won 26 WEC races from 91 starts, records both in terms of the number of wins and starts made in the championship.

With 23 and 22 successes, Brendon Hartley et Mike conway are closely following their Swiss teammate. To mark this anniversary, the WEC has unveiled a special logo that will be used throughout the 6 Hours of Fuji weekend, which you can of course follow on AUTOhebdo.fr, in the magazine and on our social networks, where we will be immersed all weekend with the Akkodis ASP team, winner of the 6 Hours of São Paulo in LMGT3.

ALSO READ > VIDEO – Inside the Akkodis ASP Team garage in Fuji