The penultimate qualifying session of the FIA World Endurance Championship, held at Japan’s Fuji circuit, saw both Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3s finish in the top ten. Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci and Ferrari official driver Davide Rigon, in the number 54 car that won the last two editions, will line up eighth on the grid. The sister car, number 21, crewed by François Heriau, Simon Mann and the other Ferrari official driver Alessio Rovera, will start from tenth.

As per the regulations, Bronze-licence drivers participated in the first qualifying session. Track conditions were ideal, with an air temperature of 23°C and asphalt at 35°C. Both 296 LMGT3 cars made it into the top ten necessary to advance to the subsequent Hyperpole: François Heriau, in the number 21, clocked the seventh-fastest time of 1'41"221, 752 thousandths of a second off pole, while Thomas Flohr, in the number 54, was tenth in 1'41"375, 908 thousandths of a second off the benchmark.

The Hyperpole session, open to Silver-licence drivers, took place under similar track conditions. Francesco Castellacci, in the number 54 car, finished eighth with a best lap of 1'40"600, 619 thousandths of a second off pole position. Simon Mann was tenth in the number 21, posting a time of 1'40"819, 838 thousandths of a second off the fastest lap.

The two Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3s will start from the fourth and fifth rows of the grid for the 6 Hours of Fuji, which will kick off on Sunday, 28 September at 11 a.m. local time.