The 2018 4 Hours of Fuji was the second round of the 2018-19 Asian Le Mans Series season. It took place on December 9, 2018, at Fuji Speedway in Oyama, Shizuoka, Japan. [1]
The 2018 4 Hours of Fuji was the second round of the 2018-19 Asian Le Mans Series season. It took place on December 9, 2018, at Fuji Speedway in Oyama, Shizuoka, Japan. [1]
Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold.
Class winners in bold.
Fuji Speedway is a motorsport race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the FIA World Sportscar Championship and national racing. Originally managed by Mitsubishi Estate, Fuji Speedway was acquired by Toyota in 2000. The circuit hosted the Formula One 2007 Japanese Grand Prix after an absence of nearly 30 years, replacing the Suzuka Circuit owned by Honda. After Fuji Speedway hosted the 2008 race, the Japanese Grand Prix returned to Suzuka for races from 2009 onward. The Super GT Fuji 500 km race is held at the racetrack on Golden Week.
Nicolas Lapierre is a retired French professional racing driver and team principal. Notable for winning the LMP2 class four times at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Lapierre was a factory driver at Toyota during the early days of the WEC before becoming a staple of the Alpine team until his retirement in 2024. He is also a two-time winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 2003 champion at the Macau Grand Prix. Nicolas is married and has 3 children.
Kamui Kobayashi is a Japanese racing driver and motorsport executive, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Toyota and in Super Formula for KCMG. Kobayashi competed in Formula One from 2009 to 2014. In endurance racing, Kobayashi has won two FIA World Endurance Championship titles, and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2021, all with Toyota; he is also a two-time winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2019 and 2020 with WTR. Since 2022, Kobayashi has served as team principal of Toyota in WEC, winning three consecutive World Manufacturers' Championship titles from 2022 to 2024.
Mathias Beche Aussel is a Swiss-French professional racing driver who currently competes in the European Le Mans Series for Richard Mille by TDS. He is a former ELMS champion in the LMP2 class, as well as an LMP1-L champion and overall race winner in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Rebellion Racing.
Muhammad Sean Ricardo Gelael is an Indonesian racing driver who is set to compete with United Autosports in the FIA World Endurance Championship. He has scored two Le Mans class podiums as his respective teams' silver-ranked driver, finishing second with Jota in the LMP2 class in 2021 and second again with WRT in 2024's LMGT3 category.
Jann Mardenborough is a British professional racing driver. In 2011 he became the third and youngest winner of the GT Academy competition, beating 90,000 entrants to earn a professional racing contract with Nissan. He had no previous motorsport experience, having played sim racing video games instead. During his career, he has finished on the podium in his class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, won races and contended for titles in GT3 and junior formula cars, and competed at the highest level in Super GT, Super Formula and the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Ryō Hirakawa is a Japanese racing driver who is currently competing for Toyota Gazoo Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship. He was Super GT GT500 champion in 2017, and finished runner-up in Super Formula in 2020. He has competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship in the Hypercar class since 2022, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in his debut season and the championship title in 2022 and 2023 alongside co-drivers Sébastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley. Hirakawa is also signed to Alpine F1 Team as a reserve driver for the 2025 Formula One season.
Matthieu Vaxivière is a French racing driver from Limoges, who currently drives for Alpine in the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Kei Francesco Cozzolino is a Japanese-Italian professional racing driver from Shinjuku, Tokyo. He competes in motorsport championships including the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), 24 Hours of Le Mans, Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, and the Asian Le Mans Series with AF Corse. Cozzolino joined the 2024 Super GT series, driving a Ferrari 296 GT3 for PONOS RACING.
Paul-Loup Chatin is a French professional racing driver. He has had notable successes within the LMP2 class, winning the European Le Mans Series in 2014 and 2019, as well as pole positions at the 2018 and 2023 iterations of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Other achievements include a class victory at the 2021 24 Hours of Daytona and the LMP2 title in the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship.
The Ligier JS P2 is a racing car designed and built by French manufacturer Onroak Automotive and named in partnership with French former racing driver Guy Ligier. Designed for the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) regulations, it is intended as a second option to Onroak's Morgan LMP2 that has been competing since 2012. As well as being the first closed-cockpit car offered by Onroak, it is also the first car they designed entirely in-house. The JS P2 debuted at the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans, and has been campaigned in the FIA World Endurance Championship, European Le Mans Series, Asian Le Mans Series and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Gustavo Soiblemann Menezes is an American-Brazilian racing driver, currently racing for Peugeot Sport in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
The 2017–18 Asian Le Mans Series was the sixth season of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's Asian Le Mans Series. It is the fourth 24 Hours of Le Mans-based series created by the ACO, following the American Le Mans Series, the European Le Mans Series and the FIA World Endurance Championship. The season began at the Zhuhai International Circuit in October 2017 and ended at Sepang International Circuit in Selangor on 4 February 2018.
The 2018–19 FIA World Endurance Championship was the seventh season of the FIA World Endurance Championship, an auto racing series co-organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The series is open to Le Mans Prototypes and grand tourer-style racing cars divided into four categories. The season marked the first move to a winter schedule for the championship, with the season starting at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in May 2018 and concluding at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June 2019. World championship titles were awarded for LMP drivers, GTE drivers, LMP1 teams and GTE manufacturers.
Philip Beauchamp Hanson is a British racing driver who currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Ferrari AF Corse, and in the IMSA SportsCar Championship with JDC–Miller MotorSports.
The ADESS-03 is a Le Mans Prototype LMP3 built to ACO Le Mans Prototype LMP3 regulations. It was designed and built by ADESS AG. The car had its competition debut at the 2015 4 Hours of Fuji. The car also serves as a base for the GreenGT LMPH2G and H24 Hydrogen powered Le Mans Prototype.
Autoracing Club Bratislava, also known as ARC Bratislava, is an auto racing team based in Slovakia. The team is led by Miro Konôpka, who has been driving for the team since its inception. ARC Bratislava currently compete in the 24H Series, but are best known for competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship's short-lived LMP2 Pro-Am class and also the Asian Le Mans Series, where they spent nine consecutive seasons between 2015 and 2024. The team has competed in various FIA, ACO or SRO-sanctioned championships throughout its existence, using various prototypes or GT cars.
Julien Andlauer is a racing driver from France. He is a Porsche contracted driver who competes in a range of championships having won both French and German Carrera Cup Championships. Andlauer currently competes for Proton Competition in the Hypercar class of the WEC.
The 2016 4 Hours of Fuji was the second round of the 2016-17 Asian Le Mans Series season. It took place on December 4, 2016, at Fuji Speedway in Oyama, Shizuoka, Japan.
The 2017 4 Hours of Fuji was the second round of the 2017-18 Asian Le Mans Series season. It took place on December 3, 2017, at Fuji Speedway in Oyama, Shizuoka, Japan.
