The New Zealand driver Brendon Hartley has missed out on sealing the overall drivers title in the rain-affected Japan round of the World Endurance Championship.
Hartley, who will drive for Toro Rosso in this weekend's United States Formula One Grand Prix, was fourth with his Porsche team when the race was stopped.
Hartley, 27, and co-drivers fellow New Zealander Earl Bamber and Timo Bernhard, needed to finish ahead of the no.8 Toyota to seal the drivers' crown, but the Toyota was leading when the race was stopped and won the event.
Atrocious weather conditions made driving conditions treacherous for Hartley and his Porche team. Photo: Supplied
This year's Le Mans winners started on pole in the six hour race in Fuji with Bamber impressively recording the fastest race lap (1:37.702 minutes on lap 19 of 115).
"It was going great for Earl in the beginning. He was in P1 (first place), leading by over ten seconds, but then we had safety car after safety car which obviously affected our race.
"We had very tricky conditions today with a slippery track and poor visibility. But we kept the car on track and had clean stints."
Hartley/Bamber/Bernhard top the drivers' rankings with 172 points, their advantage over the best placed Toyota drivers having melted to 39 points.
There are two more rounds to go.
