The penultimate round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, held at Japan’s Fuji Speedway, concluded with a second and sixth place finish, for the Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 entries. The #21 car, driven by François Heriau, Simon Mann and factory driver Alessio Rovera, crossed the finish line first, but was classified second following a post-race penalty. The #54 Ferrari of Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci and fellow factory driver Davide Rigon also delivered a strong performance, climbing two places from its starting position to finish sixth.

Both Ferraris started from the middle of the LMGT3 grid, and remained in the chasing pack during the opening stages, partly due to a number of setbacks: the #54 car was handed a drive-through penalty for a Full Course Yellow procedure infringement, while the #21 spun after contact with the car it is battling for the championship lead. Despite this, François Heriau kept the #21 inside the top ten at the end of his double stint before handing over to Simon Mann. Castellacci meanwhile took over the #54 slightly further down the order. Both Silver-rated drivers managed the race’s central phase, which was disrupted by several Full Course Yellows and Safety Car periods that shuffled the strategies.

In the final two hours, the factory drivers took the wheel and brought both Ferraris back into contention. Rovera was able to take the lead with one and a half hours to go and held the position until five minutes from the chequered flag, when a quick refuelling stop was required. After rejoining, he kept the lead to take the flag first on track, but a five-second time penalty dropped the car to second place. Rigon, in the #54 Ferrari, fought his way up to the edge of the podium but had to make a splash-and-dash fuel stop on the penultimate lap, which resulted in a sixth-place finish.

Championship standings. The #21 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 crew gained valuable points on their championship rivals: with today’s second place, François Heriau, Simon Mann and Alessio Rovera now sit on 94 points, just 11 shy of the top of the standings. The #54 crew of Flohr, Castellacci and Rigon sit seventh, with 54 points.

The FIA World Endurance Championship will conclude, as per tradition, at Bahrain’s Sakhir International Circuit, on 6–8 November, with an eight-hour season finale.