The Fuji 6 Hours concluded with a violent collision between Garage 59’s Finn Gehrsitz and Aston Martin factory driver Mattia Drudi, sending the McLaren 720S GT3 into the wall and forcing a safety‑car restart that ultimately carried the #27 Aston Martin to second place.
Racing Incident Verdict
Stewards ruled the contact as a racing incident, finding no single driver at fault. Both drivers maintained straight trajectories at high speed, with a pit‑lane exit from a third car cited as a contributing factor.
Stewardship and Driver Discussions
After the road side, Gehrsitz and Drudi were called into the steward’s office where they agreed that neither was predominantly responsible. Both acknowledged the high speeds, close proximity and the sudden appearance of another car exiting the pit lane.
Impact on the Field
Gehrsitz’s vehicle suffered a severe impact, terminating his race, while the safety‑car period enabled Drudi’s #27 car to leap to eighth before carving through the field to claim a podium finish.
Team Reactions
Team‑mates Benjamin Goethe, Anthony West, and Zach Robichon commented that the collision was unfortunate but expected in tight racing, with Robichon praising Drudi’s clean overtakes and the strategic choice to stay on track during the safety‑car.
Garage 59 Setbacks
The incident also cost the #10 McLaren, run by Antares Au, Tom Fleming, and Marvin Kirchhofer, the LMGT3 lead at the final pitstop, when Kirchhofer was overtaken by Corvettes despite not changing tyres.
Garage 59’s decisions on tyre strategy and the unexpected safety‑car pause proved costly, ultimately leaving both mother cars disadvantaged when the race resumed under changing conditions.
With no official penalties imposed, the stewards’ ruling leaves the FIA to monitor similar situations in future rounds of the championship, underscoring the fine line between aggressive racing and avoidable contact.
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