World Endurance Championships: Weather delays race and Bamber glory

Weather conditions conspired against the Porsche 919 LMP Hybrid team of Earl Bamber, Timo Bernhard, and Brendon Hartley in Japan.

Expat Whanganui driver Earl Bamber and his Porsche 919 Hybrid team have left the door slightly ajar for the chasing Toyota pack after a rain-shortened seventh round of the World Endurance Championship in Japan early Monday morning NZ time.

Bamber, Palmerston North mate Brendon Hartley and their teammate Timo Bernhard were left short in fourth place and a lap down at the 6 Hours of Fuji after racing was abandoned due to fog and wet conditions at Fuji International Speedway.

It was Bamber's first opportunity to be the starting driver for the three-man team, who had won the pole earlier.

The New Zealander's Porsche team went to Japan with a healthy points cushion and only needed to finish ahead of the Toyota's to clinch the title, but now their advantage has been cut to 39 points, with 52 points still up for grabs at the final two rounds in Shanghai and Bahrain next month.

Toyota's TS050 Hybrid team of Sebastien Buemi, Anthony Davidson and Kazuki Nakajima picked up their third win of the season - and Toyota's fifth victory in six events at Fuji - after they were at the front with 113 laps completed in four and a half hours, which was over the 75 per cent threshold for there to be a result if racing is red-flagged.

The other Toyota team of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López took second place, being 1.498 seconds behind.

Buemi and Nakajima therefore moved up to 133 points in the World Driver's Championship standings, closing the gap on Bamber and crew (172).

Persistent wet throughout Sunday morning local time meant the race began behind the safety car.

The rain intensified and fog descended on Fuji Speedway, causing several interruptions to the race - the first came after 40 minutes with another safety car period.

The Toyota Hybrid cars took over first and second as the event continued with regular interruptions for safety cars due to rain, fog and accidents.

Heavy fog took driver visibility almost down to nil, leading to the race to be stopped just after four and a half hours, with it soon becoming clear there could not be a restart.

Bamber did his best and actually had the fastest lap time - recording a 1m 37.702s time on Lap 19.

"I started the race and the visibility, especially in traffic, with spray and fog was really very, very bad. I didn't see anything," he told Fairfax media.

"It was the right call to red flag the race after a bit over an hour. The water level wasn't the problem, but the fog had to clear and that didn't happen."

Bamber had built up a 12 second lead over the Toyota's once the safety car departed for the second time after 28 laps.

As the only car who hadn't refuelled after 39 laps, Bamber had to bring the car to the pits immediately after the next restart following weather delays, with Bernhard jumping in.

They dropped back to fourth and had to stay there, getting put a lap down by the leading Toyota, with Bernhard handing over to Hartley after 63 laps.

"It was going great for Earl in the beginning," said Hartley.

"He was in P1, leading by over ten seconds, but then we had safety car after safety car which obviously affected our race."

Toyota's 1-2 finish also allowed them to close the gap in the World Manufacturer's Championship points, sitting on 211.5 behind Porsche's 270.