WEC confirms Fuji date change to accommodate Alonso

The FIA World Endurance Championship has confirmed that the 6 Hours of Fuji will be brought forward by one week in order to allow two-time Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso to take part in the race.

The WEC originally scheduled the round at Fuji Speedway for October 14 before pushing it back by one week to avoid clashing with the IMSA Petit Le Mans sports car race so that drivers could feature in both events.

McLaren F1 driver Alonso signed a deal to race for Toyota in the WEC 2018/19 'super season' last month, but was set to miss the Fuji race due to the clash with the United States Grand Prix on the October 20-21 weekend.

However, following a request from Toyota - which also owns the Fuji track - to revert to the original date, the WEC confirmed at its season launch in Le Mans on Friday that the race would now go ahead on October 14.

The date change ensures Alonso will now be able to take part in every WEC round through 2018, with plans for the 2019 events at Sebring, Spa and Le Mans still remaining unclear, depending on the Spaniard's F1 commitments.

The decision does however recreate the clash with Petit Le Mans on the October 13-14 weekend, leaving a number of drivers in the lurch who were due to enter both races including Harry Tincknell, Olivier Pla, Renger van der Zande, Mike Conway and Augusto Farfus.

An additional clash has also been created with the Super GT round at Autopolis in Japan, where Toyota LMP1 drivers Kazuki Nakajima and Kamui Kobayashi were due to feature. 

2018/19 FIA World Endurance Championship Calendar

1. 6 Hours of Spa - May 5
2. 24 Hours of Le Mans - June 16-17
3. 6 Hours of Silverstone - August 19
4. 6 Hours of Fuji - October 14
5. 6 Hours of Shanghai - November 18
6. 1,500 Miles of Sebring - March 16-17, 2019
7. 6 Hours of Spa - May 4, 2019
8. 24 Hours of Le Mans - June 15-16, 2019