Here are some facts and figures about the WEC in Japan, Fuji Speedway and Mount Fuji, Japan’s holy mountain that dominates the skyline of the 4.5km circuit.

1. Toyota won the first three races at the Japanese manufacturer’s home event between 2012 and 2014.  In 2015 Porsche took a 1-2 finish on their way to the 2015 world titles.
2. Roman Rusinov and G-Drive Racing won the LMP2 class in 2014 and 2015. The driver of the no43 RGR Sport Ligier Ricardo Gonzalez took the LMP2 class in 2013 at the wheel of an OAK Racing Morgan and his 2016 teammate Bruno Senna recorded a win in the LMGTE Am class in the same year.
3. Julien Canal is the only driver to have won in Japan in two different classes.  He took victory in 2012 in LMGTE Am in the no50 Larbre Competition Corvette and won in LMP2 in the no26 G-Drive Racing Ligier in 2014 and 2015. 
4. Kazuki Nakajima has won the 6 Hours of Fuji twice in 2012 and 2013.
5. Ferrari currently has two wins in LMGTE Pro in 2014 and 2015 with Porsche winning in 2012 and Aston Martin in 2013.
6. Aston Martin has won in the LMGTE Am class twice in Fuji in 2013 and 2014, with Larbre Competition taking the top step of the podium in 2012 and Patrick Dempsey, Patrick Long and Marco Seefried winning in the Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche in 2015.
7. The current WEC lap record was set by Loic Duval in the no8 Audi R18 during the 2015 race with 1m25.621
8. The LMP2 lap record was set in 2012 by Nelson Panciatici in the Signatech Nissan Oreca 03 with a lap of 1m33.453.
9. Aston Martin holds both LMGTE records with Stefan Mücke in LMGTE Pro (1m40.532) and Nicki Thiim in LMGTE Am (1m40.766) both set in 2014.
10. The fastest lap recorded by an LMP1 car was set in 2015 during qualifying by Mark Webber.  The Australian set a 1m22.639 lap (198.8kph average speed), 3.596 seconds quicker than the previous qualifying record of 1m26.235 (190.5kph) set by André Lotterer in 2013 in the Audi R18 e-tron quattro.  This was set during qualifying and so can’t be counted as the official LMP1 lap record.
11. The fastest speed recorded at Fuji Speedway by a WEC competitor was set by Timo Bernhard in the Porsche 919 Hybrid in 2014. The German driver recorded a top speed of 316.7 kph / 196.8 mph.
12. The 2013 6 Hours of Fuji had to be abandoned after only 16 laps behind the safety car due to torrential rain.  Half championship points were awarded.
13. Fuji Speedway was established in 1963 and originally designed as a 4km banked superspeedway but only one of the banked turns was ever constructed.   The track was converted to a road course circuit and opened in 1965.  The 30 degree ‘Daiichi’ banking was used as part of the circuit but a number of fatal accidents caused it to be abandoned with a change of track configuration.
14. The current 4.563km / 2.835 mile layout, established in 2005, is the 5th configuration of the circuit since Fuji Speedway opened in 1965.
15. At 1.5km / 0.93 miles the start finish straights is one of the longest in motorsport.
16. Fuji Speedway brought the first Formula One race to Japan at the end of the 1976 season. The race had a dramatic World Championship battle between James Hunt and Niki Lauda, and in torrential rain, Hunt earned enough points to win the title.  This battle between Lauda and Hunt was immortalised in the 2013 film ‘Rush’.
17. The 1000km of Fuji was first held in 1967 and ran continuously until 1992, and more recently in 1999 and 2007.  In 2012 the World Endurance Championship introduced the 6 Hours of Fuji, the 2014 race winners recording a distance of 1076km at the end of the 6 Hours.
18. The World Sportscar Championship was held at Fuji Speedway between 1982 and 1988, with Stefan Bellof setting the fastest ever recorded lap at Fuji in a Porsche 956 in 1983.  Bellof’s time of 1m10.02 was set on the old 4.360km / 2.709 mile track.
19. Mount Fuji, or Fuji San as the mountain is reverently referred to by the Japanese, provides one of the most dramatic backdrops to any race circuit in the world.  Mount Fuji is one of three holy mountains in Japan, Mount Tate and Mount Haku being the others.
20. Mount Fuji is 3,776.24 m / 12,389 ft high and is actually an active volcano which last erupted in 1707/08.
21. Mount Fuji was added to the World Heritage List as a Cultural Site by UNESCO on June 22, 2013.