| | What they’re saying:Jeromy Moore, Chief Engineer Cadillac Racing: “Fuji is a mix of a really long straight, two higher speed corners and a series of very tight corners in the last sector which makes it challenging to get the car balanced perfectly across all speed ranges, whilst having a car that can work in dry conditions and the wet.
Fuji has been known to throw curveballs with the weather during the WEC events. This influences setup choices, but also race strategy planning in order to have the correct tyres on at the right time during changeable conditions.
We head to Japan on the back of a great result at COTA and will keep pushing to achieve our first victory in WEC this year.” No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R:Norman Nato: “After a difficult weekend in Austin in car No.12 we want to bounce back in Fuji. Last year our car performed well, so we should have good pace again. The aim is to consistently put both cars in the points and fight our way back into the top 3 in the Manufacturers Championship, starting with a strong weekend in Japan.” Will Stevens: “Looking ahead to Fuji it’s always a challenging race, you have to prepare for all types of conditions as it can be very mixed and hard to predict. It’s also quite high degradation on tyres, so it’s all about finding the right balance between outright pace but also looking to be gentle on tyres. We are coming off back to back podiums for the team so we have good momentum with us – let’s continue that in Fuji.” No. 38 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.RJack Aitken: “I’ve never been to Fuji, and it’ll be my first time racing in Japan, so I’m looking forward to it on that personal note! We had a fantastic run at COTA and certainly want to keep that up. I think we have a great chance of a strong result again this weekend.” Earl Bamber: “I’m really looking forward to racing at Fuji, historically it’s been a strong track for us. We are coming off the back of two great podiums in Brazil and America and have continued to add to our championship points. We will be aiming to continue the momentum of the past two races, hunting down that first win of the season.” Sebastien Bourdais: “Fuji is a challenging track that is quite unforgiving. It’s low grip, with very long corners and Turn One can get quite chaotic. We had a fair bit of pace at Fuji last year so we are aiming to continue to build from the results of the last two races and have another successful race weekend.” |
September 18th 2026 – Off the back of the strongest race result of the season to date in COTA, the attention of Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA now turns to the 6 Hours of Fuji, and targeting their first win of the season. Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA scored their second podium finish of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship season in COTA, with the No.38 finishing in second place – securing Cadillac’s first podium at it’s home race. The 6 Hours of Fuji takes place at the 4.563 km (2.835 miles), 16 turn Fuji Speedway. The historic circuit is characterised by a 1.475km start-finish straight where cars exceed 310km/h. The No.38 car Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R will be driven by Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber and Sebastien Bourdais, whilst the No.12 car will be driven by Norman Nato and Will Stevens, as Alex Lynn continues his recovery from surgery ahead of his anticipated return to racing in Barcelona. The 6 Hours of Fuji gets underway with two Free Practice sessions on Friday September 25th. A third Free Practice on Saturday will be followed by Qualifying and the 10-minute Hyperpole session. The Race is scheduled for 11am local time on Sunday September 27th.