In difficult circumstances, the #8 GR010 HYBRID of Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa fought hard to score points in ninth. However, José María López, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries suffered an off-track incident and ended up 14th in their #7 GR010 HYBRID.
In a race featuring multiple safety cars and a slippery track, drivers were tested to the limit in front of a 66,217 weekend crowd, who braved the weather to give their support throughout a dramatic six-hour contest.
Fans and teams had to be patient until racing could finally begin after nearly two hours – including an hour behind the safety car and a red flag period – with Brendon seventh in the #8 and Nyck 17th in the #7. Brendon dropped to 10th while Nyck moved up to 13th before another safety car a few laps later.
When racing resumed again, Nyck continued his charge and passed several rivals to break into the top 10. At the first driver changes just before half distance, during another safety car, José took over the #7 in eighth. Brendon had two off-track moments before Ryo started his stint in 11th.
Conditions deteriorated as the rain intensified, triggering incidents throughout the field when the race went green. Ryo was pushed into a spin by an LMGT3 car, but he fought back from 15th to 11th before handing over to Sébastien late in the fourth hour. A dramatic stint for the #7 ended with José stuck in the turn 13 gravel after two earlier spins. He was recovered under a safety car, before Kamui took the wheel in 17th.
The race was green again only briefly before yet another safety car. Sébastien then moved up to eighth heading into the final 90 minutes, although he lost a position to the recovering #83 Ferrari. The track began to dry inside the final half hour, and Kamui changed to slick tyres but suffered a harmless spin soon after.
Sébastien kept it clean through the final minutes to take the flag in ninth, with Kamui finishing 14th, four laps down. The team now turns its focus to achieving a stronger result at its home race, the 6 Hours of Fuji, on 28 September.
