Dunlop’s teams are travelling to Japan for the sixth round of the World Endurance Championship (WEC). Eight cars will compete on Dunlop rubber in the LMP2 class at the Fuji circuit beneath Mount Fuji 100km south-west of Tokyo.

G-Drive Racing will be looking for a third consecutive win after taking maximum points in Brazil and the USA, but two of the Oak Racing Morgans, also on Dunlop tyres, are immediately ahead in the standings. G-Drive’s sister Delta-ADR squad could make life hard for those above in the table having taken a win in the first race of the season in addition to taking maximum points at the Fuji race in 2012. The Lotus team took its first podium of the year at the last round and will be looking for more while former ELMS champions Greaves Motorsport could easily regain form and take a top-three finish. Joining the regular squads is Japanese team Gainer International with the only Zytek-Nissan in the race, although a proven winning chassis on Dunlop tyres with Jota Sport in the European Le Mans Series. So far in the WEC the Oak Racing Morgans have taken one win, the all-important Le Mans, but the Orecas of G-Drive and Delta-ADR have amassed three victories between them.

A 60% chance of rain is currently forecast for qualifying and the race this weekend so Dunlop’s work on wet weather performance could be beneficial for the teams. The tyres have already proved to be invaluable in intermediate and wet conditions, winning the Le Mans and Nürburgring 24 Hour races this year.

Matt Rees, Dunlop Engineer: “We’re looking forward to a good race. The track is over 5.5km long with eleven left and five right turns and is a medium energy circuit. There is a section of turns in sector three that will work the front left tyre hard so while we expect the teams to be using the medium option some may want to try the hard compound on the front left, or even both lefts, depending on strategy, driving style and car set-up.”