Alpine Fuji 2025 - Pre Race - Qualifying
Three weeks after the resumption of the season in Texas, the FIA WEC crossed the Pacific Ocean for the penultimate round of 2025 at Fuji Speedway. Alpine Endurance Team began overhauling the A424s on Monday, which had arrived directly from Austin. The team then completed 254 laps in free practice before tackling qualifying with Charles Milesi (#35) and Frédéric Makowiecki (#36). The former made it to the Hyperpole to take ninth place on the grid, whilst his teammate finished 16th, less than nine-tenths of a second a drift of the fastest time. Under threatening skies, Ferdinand Habsburg (#35) and Frédéric Makowiecki (#36) avoided the pitfalls of the first lap at the beginning of their double stints. Fifteen minutes into the race, the Austrian was involved in an incident with the #8 Toyota, forcing him to change the front end at the next pit stop and, more importantly, resulting in a five-second stop-and-go penalty that relegated him to 17th place. Meanwhile, the Frenchman made a strong comeback to climb into the top ten before also being involved in an incident with a GT car. Paul-Loup Chatin (#35) and Jules Gounon (#36) took over shortly before a full course yellow, followed by a safety car period after the violent crash of the #15 BMW. #35 had refuelled just before the neutralisation, which allowed it to move into second place when the race restarted. Shortly afterwards, the #36 received a drive-through penalty following its earlier contact with the GT.
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