The 6 Hours of Fuji race in the upcoming World Endurance Championship season has been moved so that it doesn’t clash with the United States Grand Prix. This change now allows Fernando Alonso to race in all of the World Endurance Championship races this season.
The event was originally scheduled for the weekend of October 14, but the event was moved back one week to avoid a schedule conflict with the Petit Le Mans IMSA finale. However, after Fernando Alonso was given permission by McLaren to race with Toyota, the event organizers requested that the event be put back to its original date.
The October 21 date would have caused a scheduling conflict with the Formula One United States Grand Prix. Usually this wouldn’t be a big deal, but with the scheduling conflict, Alonso would not have been able to compete in the 6 Hours of Fuji due to McLaren’s commitment to F1.
While the most recent finalized change to the 6 Hours of Fuji race worked out well for Fernando Alonso, many drivers who race in both WEC and IMSA are now forced to decide which race they will take part in. Many of these drivers already signed a contract to drive both races, which now leaves them struggling with contract negotiations to fix the issue.
Alonso’s future WEC teammate Mike Conway is one of the drivers stuck in this situation. Olivier Pla is another driver caught in the middle and he voiced his frustrations on social media, Tweeting:
Many thanks @FIAWEC I can’t believe you did it… your lack of consideration and respect for the drivers who had a contrat with a team in IMSA to race in NAEC the same weekend are unbelievable. I’m sure I will be not the only one to be impressed with what you did ????
— Olivier Pla (@olivierpla) February 9, 2018
At the moment, the 6 Hours of Fuji is now scheduled for the weekend of October 14, with the United States Grand Prix taking place the following weekend.
