2026 6 Hours of Fuji: Toyota strikes first before Alpine takes over in FP2

The opening day of track action at the 2026 6 Hours of Fuji produced two different Hypercar pacesetters, with Toyota beginning its home weekend on top before Alpine delivered the fastest lap of Friday in FP2.

Toyota starts strongly on home soil

Toyota set the benchmark in FP1 as Ryo Hirakawa took the #8 Toyota TR010 to a 1:29.694, immediately putting the Japanese manufacturer at the front on home territory.

Toyota's pace was an encouraging opening statement at a circuit where it has traditionally been formidable. But as explored in our Fuji technical and tyre analysis, the circuit's enormous 1.475km straight and technical final sector demand very different compromises from the Hypercars.

In LMGT3, Garage 59 McLaren controlled FP1, with Finn Gehrsitz setting a 1:40.214 in the #58 entry. The sister #10 McLaren was just 0.045s slower, while the #34 Racing Team Turkey Corvette followed closely behind.

Alpine responds with FP2 benchmark

The competitive order changed significantly during the afternoon.

Victor Martins put the #36 Alpine A424 fastest overall with a 1:29.304, improving on Toyota's morning benchmark by almost four tenths. The performance reinforced Alpine's credentials after the team arrived at Fuji with revised two-driver line-ups.

Aston Martin came agonisingly close to denying Alpine, with Tom Gamble taking the #007 Valkyrie to within 0.039s of Martins. The sister #35 Alpine finished third, while Genesis continued an impressive first visit to Fuji by placing its cars fourth and fifth.

Toyota slipped to eighth with the #8 car, illustrating just how much the order shifted as teams moved deeper into their long-run and setup programmes.

FP2 was interrupted twice by Full Course Yellow periods for debris at Turn 3, but the session otherwise remained dry and productive.

Ford takes its turn at the top in LMGT3

After McLaren's FP1 dominance, Ben Tuck put the #77 Proton Competition Ford Mustang fastest in LMGT3 with a 1:39.828.

The #79 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG finished only 0.035s behind, with the home-favourite #78 Akkodis ASP Lexus third.

Friday therefore ended without a clear favourite in either category. Toyota, Alpine, Aston Martin, Cadillac and Genesis all showed front-running potential, exactly the uncertainty anticipated in our 6 Hours of Fuji weekend preview.

Alpine owns the fastest lap, but Fuji's opening day suggests outright pace alone will not define this six-hour contest.