Motorsport Data & AI · 6 Hours of Fuji 2022 · Season 2022

6 Hours of Fuji 2022 — AI Data Analysis

Toyota wins the 6 Hours of Fuji 2022 with the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid. Pace order, reliability by class, lead changes and the closing phase in a data check.

#8Winner · Toyota
232Laps led
36Cars total
6 hanalyzed

Winning crew · #8 Toyota Gazoo RacingSébastien Buemi · Brendon Hartley · Ryo Hirakawa

Toyota won the 6 Hours of Fuji 2022 at Fuji Speedway. The #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid of Toyota Gazoo Racing covered 232 laps over 6 hours, a race distance of 1,059 km. The winning crew: Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa. The margin to second place was 0 laps — a clear, controlled win. The fastest manufacturer also produced the winner.

How the Lead Was Won

Across the race we counted 1 lead change among 2 different cars in the HYPERCAR class. At the closest point, first and second were only 5.0 s apart. For 2 of 3 measured hours the gap stayed under 30 seconds.

The leader was never fully out of reach, but the pressure came in waves rather than all race long.

Gap between first and second in the HYPERCAR class, hour by hour. Peaks mark pit stops, safety cars and incidents.
Figure 1 — Gap between first and second in the HYPERCAR class, hour by hour. Peaks mark pit stops, safety cars and incidents.

Figure 1 shows how that gap moved over the distance.

Manufacturer Pace

We rank pace by the average of each manufacturer’s fastest lap. That measures real speed over the distance instead of one lucky lap. The order at the top: Toyota (180.9 km/h), Alpine (180.5 km/h), Peugeot (180.2 km/h).

Between the fastest and the slowest manufacturer in the HYPERCAR class lie 0.7 km/h. That is a tight field — the balance of performance is doing its job.

Average fastest lap speed per manufacturer in the HYPERCAR class. Higher is faster.
Figure 2 — Average fastest lap speed per manufacturer in the HYPERCAR class. Higher is faster.

Figure 2 sets the pace order side by side.

Reliability by Class

1 of 36 cars did not make the finish — an overall retirement rate of 3%. The heaviest toll fell on LMGTE Am with 8%, while LMGTE Pro came through best at 0%.

Over this distance, reliability is a result in itself. A car that stops scores nothing, no matter how fast it was.

Retirement rate per class, with the number of entries behind each bar.
Figure 3 — Retirement rate per class, with the number of entries behind each bar.

Figure 3 compares the classes directly.

Efficiency Over the Distance

Our efficiency score multiplies average lap speed by laps completed and compares that to the class average. It rewards cars that were fast and stayed out of trouble. A value of 1.000 is exactly class average.

The top score goes to #7 Toyota with 1.024. The winner, #8, is not on top here. Track position and strategy turned into a result that raw efficiency alone does not explain.

Efficiency score per car: average lap speed times laps, normalized to the class average.
Figure 4 — Efficiency score per car: average lap speed times laps, normalized to the class average.

Figure 4 ranks the cars by that score.

The Closing Phase

In the final hour, 69% of the field held position within ±1 place (n = 36). The closing hour stayed busy, with position changes across the field. The biggest single move came from #41 Oreca, 4 places forward.

Share of cars that changed position by no more than one place in the final hour.
Figure 5 — Share of cars that changed position by no more than one place in the final hour.

Figure 5 shows how settled the finish really was.

Fastest Lap and Class Gaps

The fastest single lap of the race belongs to #7 Toyota (Toyota Gazoo Racing): 1:30.735 at 181.0 km/h. Crew: Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez.

Between HYPERCAR and LMP2 sits a pace gap of 1.9 s per lap. That number decides how much traffic the leaders have to work through.

Class winners — HYPERCAR: #8 Toyota (Toyota Gazoo Racing), LMP2: #31 Oreca (WRT), LMGTE Pro: #51 Ferrari (Ferrari AF Corse), LMGTE Am: #33 Aston Martin (TF Sport).

Putting the Race in Context

The winner averaged 175.8 km/h across 1,059 km. On a 4.563 km lap, that is the pace the whole strategy had to sustain.

We calculate the same metrics for every race in the archive: pace order, reliability by class, lead changes, winning margin, closing stability and efficiency. That makes this race directly comparable with every other round of the 2022 season — and with the seasons before it.

All figures are derived from the full classification of every race hour and are recalculated with each build.

Overall result HYPERCAR

Full final classification of the top class after 6 hours — car, driver crew, laps, gap, fastest race lap and average pace.

Overall result
PosNoManufacturer / CarTeam & DriversLapsGapFastest lapØ FL km/h
1#8ToyotaToyotaToyota GR010 HybridToyota Gazoo RacingSébastien Buemi · Brendon Hartley · Ryo Hirakawa2321:30.859180.8
2#7ToyotaToyotaToyota GR010 HybridToyota Gazoo RacingMike Conway · Kamui Kobayashi · Jose Maria Lopez232+1'08.3821:30.735181
3#36AlpineAlpineAlpine A480Alpine ELF TeamAndré Negrão · Nicolas Lapierre · Matthieu Vaxiviere230+2 Laps1:30.992180.5
4#93PeugeotPeugeotPeugeot 9X8Peugeot TotalEnergiesPaul di Resta · Mikkel Jensen · Jean-Eric Vergne225+7 Laps1:31.115180.3
20#94PeugeotPeugeotPeugeot 9X8Peugeot TotalEnergiesLoïc Duval · Gustavo Menezes · James Rossiter217+15 Laps1:31.182180.2

Season context: the full 2022 WEC season in data · all-time WEC records

Class winners in detail

The winners of each class with overall position, car, crew and fastest lap.

Class winners in detail
ClassOverallNoManufacturer / CarTeam & DriversLapsFastest lap
HYPERCARP1#8ToyotaToyotaToyota GR010 HybridToyota Gazoo RacingSébastien Buemi · Brendon Hartley · Ryo Hirakawa2321:30.859
LMP2P5#31OrecaOreca 07WRTSean Gelael · Robin Frijns · Dries Vanthoor2251:32.575
LMGTE ProP17#51FerrariFerrariFerrari 488 GTE EvoFerrari AF CorseAlessandro Pier Guidi · James Calado2171:37.671
LMGTE AmP23#33Aston MartinAston MartinAston Martin Vantage AMRTF SportBen Keating · Henrique Chaves · Marco Sørensen2131:38.670

Manufacturer pace

Average of the fastest lap speed per manufacturer. It measures real pace over the distance, not a single outlier.

Toyota
180.9
Alpine
180.5
Peugeot
180.25

Reliability by class

Retirement rate per class — the toughest filter of a long-distance race.

HYPERCAR
0% · n5
LMGTE Am
7.7% · n13
LMGTE Pro
0% · n5
LMP2
0% · n13

Lap efficiency score

(avg FL km/h × laps) normalized to the class mean. It combines pace, distance and durability in one number — 1.000 = class mean.

#7 Toyota
1.024
#8 Toyota
1.022
#36 Alpine
1.012
#93 Peugeot
0.989
#94 Peugeot
0.953

Position stability, final hour

Share of cars that held their position within ±1 in the final hour (n=36).

69%

A lively closing phase with numerous late position changes.

Race dynamics compared

The same metrics for every race — so Le Mans is directly comparable with Daytona, and year with year.

1Lead changes (2 leaders)
1'08.382Winning margin over P2
1.9 sPace delta HYPERCAR → LMP2
HYPERCARtop class analyzed
5.0 sClosest lead gap
2/3Hours inside 30 s
1,059 kmWinning distance
175.8Average speed km/h
270Position changes total
103Drivers in the field

Fastest race lap

The quickest single lap of the whole race — peak pace, not race pace.

1:30.735 · 181 km/h — #7 Toyota, Toyota Gazoo Racing (HYPERCAR)
Mike Conway · Kamui Kobayashi · Jose Maria Lopez

Steadiest cars

Laps per hour and their spread. A low spread means few stops, few incidents, a clean rhythm.

NoManufacturerLaps/hSpread
#7Toyota38.6±0.49
#8Toyota38.6±0.49
#36Alpine38.2±0.75
#93Peugeot37.2±1.6
#94Peugeot35.6±5.35

WEC record at this circuit

The World Endurance Championship has raced here 12 times in the seasons we analyze, and Toyota has won most often (9). Every entry links to the full data analysis of that race.

Fastest lap on record
1:24.645 · 194.1 km/h
#8 Audi, Audi Sport Team Joest (2016)
Highest race average
185.2 km/h
Toyota (2016)
Seasons
2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
WEC races at this circuit
YearRaceWinnerDistanceCars
20256 Hours of Fuji#35 Alpine
Alpine Endurance Team
922 km36
20246 Hours of Fuji#6 Porsche
Porsche Penske Motorsport
972 km36
20236 Hours of Fuji#7 Toyota
Toyota Gazoo Racing
1,045 km36
20226 Hours of Fuji#8 Toyota
Toyota Gazoo Racing
1,059 km36
20196 Hours of Fuji#8 Toyota
Toyota Gazoo Racing
1,059 km30
20186 Hours of Fuji#7 Toyota
Toyota Gazoo Racing
1,050 km34
20176 Hours of Fuji#8 Toyota
Toyota Gazoo Racing
516 km26
20166 Hours of Fuji#6 Toyota
Toyota Gazoo Racing
1,113 km32
20156 Hours of Fuji#17 Porsche
Porsche Team
986 km31
20146 Hours of Fuji#8 Toyota
Toyota Gazoo Racing
1,077 km27
20136 Hours of Fuji#7 Toyota
Toyota Gazoo Racing
73 km29
20126 Hours of Fuji#7 Toyota
Toyota Gazoo Racing
1,063 km27

All-time WEC records · every WEC season in data