Метка: Toyota Racing

Rovanpera reflects on «unreal» Rally Finland exit

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Kalle Rovanpera says losing a likely maiden World Rally Championship victory on home soil on the penultimate stage is “quite an unreal feeling” after a near perfect Rally Finland.

The two-time world champion was on course to become the first Finn to win the event since 2015, having won 11 stages that helped the Toyota driver into 45.8s lead over team-mate Sebastien Ogier heading into stage 19.

However, Rovanpera was unable to avoid a rock in the road that pitched his GR Yaris into a roll that ended his rally on the spot, handing the victory to Ogier.

It was the second Rally Finland in a row where Rovanpera has rolled out of a lead at his home event. The Finn said there was “no chance” to avoid the rock.

“Basically, the last proper corner of the stage, quite high-speed, a fourth-gear corner, and when you go into the driving line a bit later on, the middle of the corner, there was some rocks and there was no chance to avoid it in any way,” Rovanpera told Motorsport.com.

“We just took the hit and that was really big, then we saw the rock later and it as a really big one.

“There was no rock for the guys in front of us, I only saw the onboard and there was nothing.”

Kalle Rovanperä, Jonne Halttunen, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Kalle Rovanperä, Jonne Halttunen, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Toyota Racing

After losing out on a likely victory after dominating the rally, Rovanpera, added: “It is a quite unbelievable feeling when you do the whole weekend perfectly, the team and everybody has done a great job and we were so fast and had no moments or issues, all the time we were in control.

“Then something like this happens and you cannot avoid it yourself, it is quite an unreal feeling.”

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Rovanpera’s team-mate Elfyn Evans, who crashed out on the first corner of the same stage moments before the incident admitted it was “super unlucky”.

“I really feel for him there is nothing you can do in that situation,” Evans told Motorsport.com.

“We’ve seen so many guys have accidents like this in the past Seb [Ogier] has had one in testing, [Hayden] Paddon had one here one year and couldn’t start the rally.

“It’s probably the one of the biggest risks, let’s say in Rally Finland, is like having a loose stone on top of a rut like that. At high speed the car is low and you’re just a passenger.”



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No “feeling” yet for WRC title push as points system “devalues” championship

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Sebastien Ogier doesn’t yet have the “feeling” to challenge for a ninth World Rally Championship title, while again taking aim at the points system that he feels is devaluing the title race.

The eight-time world champion, competing in part-time season, has emerged as Thierry Neuville’s nearest rival in the championship after taking victory at Rally Finland after long-time leader and team-mate Kalle Rovanpera rolled on the penultimate stage.

Ogier is now 27 points behind Neuville with four events remaining and has already been asked by his Toyota team to do more events given his success this year.

A run of three wins and three second place finishes from six events has posed the question that Ogier could go on to claim a ninth world title should he extend his campaign.

After crossing the finish line in Finland, Ogier said: “I have to see [if we do a full campaign] but it looks like I have no other option. It is not my priority anymore.”

When asked by Motorsport.com about his plans for the remaining of the year, Ogier played down talk of a title fight and instead took aim at championship’s new points system that has helped put him in this position.

Sébastien Ogier, Vincent Landais, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Sébastien Ogier, Vincent Landais, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

“I think we’re going to have more and more pressure to do that [the rest of the year and going for the title] anyway, inside me, I don’t really have it yet, this wish, this feeling because I don’t value those things [titles] as much as people think maybe,” he explained.

“Especially with this points system, it’s simply a joke, it’s devaluing even more this championship. There will be a winner at the end [of the season] but will it be the one who deserves it, nobody knows.”

Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala admitted his squad is not “friends” of the points system but expects a decision from Ogier about his plans for the rest of the season before the end of the month. It is anticipated that Ogier will participate in Greece next month.

“With Seb I have mentioned that I would like him to drive more events. I’m waiting for his answer, but I think the chance he is now in the championship as he is second, we should try to keep the fight on and let him drive all the events. 

“It’s a very difficult situation, but at least we need to keep trying. Without trying, we cannot win anything,” Latvala told Motorsport.com.

“We are not the friends with the points system, but we cannot change it. I think in a couple weeks’ time we should know.”

Sébastien Ogier, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, Jari-Matti Latvala, Team principal Toyota Gazoo Racing

Sébastien Ogier, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, Jari-Matti Latvala, Team principal Toyota Gazoo Racing

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Reflecting on a second career Rally Finland win in what proved to be one of the most demanding editions of the event, Ogier said it was difficult to find happiness after what happened to Rovanpera.

“It was a little bit too brutal, if you ask me, I would honestly prefer being second right now, but motorsport is like this sometimes, sometimes it’s unfair,” said Ogier.

“I lost the win in Sardinia [this year] with bad luck, today I got it with luck. But I cannot feel too much happiness inside me, and maybe it will come afterwards because still it is a win in Finland.

“It is still one of the rallies everyone wants to win the most, so I will probably at some point be happy with it, but right now I’m not.”



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Toyota reveals new liveries for WRC Rally Finland

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Toyota has unveiled special liveries that will adorn entries for Kalle Rovanpera and Sebastien Ogier for next week’s World Rally Championship round in Finland.

The Japanese brand will field an expanded five-car Rally1 line-up at the team’s home event with both part-time drivers Rovanpera and Ogier competing alongside full-time entrants Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta, while rising star Sami Pajari will make his Rally1 debut at his home event.

In the lead-up to the rally, Toyota has revealed that the Rovanpera and Ogier entries will run using special liveries inspired by the limited edition Rovanpera and Ogier edition road-going GR Yaris models launched earlier this year.

Evans and Katsuta will compete utilising the team’s usual 2024 colour scheme, while Pajari’s GR Yaris will feature a predominantly white livery.

Rovanpera heads to his home event yet to stand on the top step of the podium after finishing second in 2022 before crashing out of the lead last year.

“Every year, Rally Finland is quite a special occasion. Of course, it’s our home rally and one of the nicest events to do with lots of fans and family around,” said Rovanpera, who has taken wins in Kenya, Poland and Latvia this year.

Toyota Racing liveries for Rally Finland

Toyota Racing liveries for Rally Finland

Photo by: Toyota Racing

“It’s always exciting and the stages are really nice but quite demanding also. Having legendary roads like Ouninpohja on the schedule this year will be amazing.

“Our approach and our target will be like on every rally we’ve done this year: try to do the best job we can to fight for the win and bring good points for the team.

“I haven’t managed to get the very best result on Rally Finland but I don’t want to place any extra stress on achieving that. I just want to treat it like any other rally and try to do my best.”

This will be Ogier’s first start in Finland since his eighth title-winning year in 2021. The Frenchman heads into the event having claimed two wins and three second-place finishes from his five starts this season.

“Rally Finland is a unique event in the championship that I think every driver loves to drive. It’s also a difficult rally, where the local drivers have always been very strong, but this is the kind of challenge that I like and it has been a rally that I really wanted to do again after a couple of years away,” said Ogier.

“It’s also a home event for the team, of course, and I’m happy to be part of this strong line-up and I’ll try to bring everything I can to achieve the best team result. After a break from driving in really fast rallies, I think I had some good speed and a good weekend in Latvia, and I hope to bring that to Finland.”

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Fully recovered Ogier relishing “pure rally” WRC return in Latvia

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Sebastien Ogier has no concerns over his fitness ahead of a return to World Rally Championship competition this weekend after a recce crash ruled him out of Poland.

The eight-time world champion has made a full recovery from whiplash-related injuries to his neck following a head-on collision with another vehicle while preparing for Rally Poland last month.

The part-time Toyota driver, who has taken two wins this year, has since undergone several medical checks and has been deemed fit to compete on Rally Latvia’s fast gravel stages.      

“If I’m here it is because I’m back to good form otherwise I will not take the risk,” Ogier told Autosport/Motorsport.com.

“Basically, it [the injuries] was the consequences of the whiplash and of course that takes a bit of time to have a full recovery and sometimes we underestimate what the incidents can do.

“I’m at the point of my life where I don’t want to take extra risk if I’m not feeling 100%, but anyway in Poland there was no chance for us to do the rally.”

Sébastien Ogier, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Ogier was back behind the wheel at last week’s Goodwood Festival of Speed where he drove Toyota’s ‘Sebastien Ogier’ limited edition version GR Yaris road car after joining comedian and actor Rowan Atkinson for a drive up the hillclimb course in a hydrogen-powered GR Yaris. The 40-year-old then stepped up his preparations by testing his WRC Rally1 car in Finland last Sunday.     

“It was not as funny as when he is being Mr Bean, but it’s cool to meet him because I’ve watched him like most of us have at some point in my life and he makes me laugh,” Ogier said of his Goodwood experience with Atkinson.

“I told him to keep doing what you do, because laughing is very important as we need that in our life. I learned actually that he is very passionate about cars and is a decent driver.”

This weekend’s rally is a brand-new test for the WRC and large number of the crews including Ogier. The Frenchman is however relishing competing on unknown stages, which he feels represents pure rallying.

“I think some sections should be fun to drive this weekend. I would say my favourite stages would be the tests on Friday stages,” Ogier added.

“I like new rallies, I like coming into stages where you have to take the pace notes and then trust them during the race to be fast. For me that is pure rally and not learning onboard videos by heart.

“I think the feeling in the Yaris is pretty nice and I feel comfortable in the car. However, we’ve seen recently that the Hyundai is very quick and probably on pure speed, the quickest at the moment, but I still believe that we have a chance to be competitive anywhere, but it will be a tough fight.”

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Toyota issued suspended €10,000 fine for WEC BoP comments

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Toyota has been hit with a suspended €10,000 fine for comments made by race director Rob Leupen on the World Endurance Championship’s Balance of Performance, in contravention of series regulations.

The fine, equivalent to £8,400/$7,700, is the first time that a penalty has been applied for a breach of a rule that has been in place since the beginning of last season.

It was invoked by the stewards of the meeting at the Interlagos round of the WEC last weekend.

They considered his comments reported on the Dutch and Italian editions of Motorsport.com last week to be “a serious breach of the regulations”.

They argued that they “call into question the impartiality of the FIA” and have “the direct consequence of casting doubt on the integrity of the sporting results of the championship and damaging their credibility”.

Because it was the first time a penalty had been applied under the rule, the stewards decided the fine would be suspended until the end of the year pending no further violation by anyone associated with Toyota Gazoo Racing.

“All competitors are put on notice that future violations may not receive a suspended penalty,” the stewards’ report concluded.

Leupen said that the late Hypercar class BoP change ahead of the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours “wasn’t compliant with the regulations”.

Rob Leupen, Toyota race director

Rob Leupen, Toyota race director

Photo by: Toyota Gazoo Racing

It ran contrary to the guidelines agreed by the manufacturers competing in Hypercars, though the FIA and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, which jointly administer the WEC, retained the right to change the BoP.

He went on to say that he had no complaints about the BoP in place under the new 2024 procedures at Le Mans this year, but made a call for greater transparency.

“This year it was better, but even in this case, you notice that the process for the BoP is not transparent,” he said.

“You can transparently define the processes on which the BoP is based.

“You could say: ‘Here they are and this is the way we’re going to do it’. And then you could also get feedback.

“We give it after every race, it’s just that we do not receive it in return.

“The traffic is one-way. It doesn’t work. We need to work together to improve the situation.”

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Hartley concedes WEC title despite Toyota #8 winning at Interlagos

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Reigning World Endurance Championship title winners Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa have all but conceded the crown despite winning Sunday’s Interlagos round.

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Hartley believes that even after taking maximum race points in the Sao Paulo 6 Hours and moving from eighth to fifth place in the championship, the #8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID will be playing what he called a “supporting role” to the sister Le Mans Hypercar over the remainder of the campaign.

“We know that the championship is a long shot and were thinking that way before we came here to Brazil,” said Hartley, who along with Buemi and Hirakawa arrived in Brazil trailing team-mates Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries by 38 points.

“We thought we were going to be playing a back-up role here, but we ended up winning the race, though I’m not sure it changes much.

“The #7 car is in the better position in the championship and I’m pretty sure we are going to be supporting them over the coming races. I think that’s going to be our job over the rest of the season.

“There’s also the manufacturers’ championship to consider, which Toyota really wants to win again, and we’re going to have to play our part there.”

#8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid: Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa

#8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 — Hybrid: Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

Hartley pointed out that the championship-leading Porsche crew of Laurens Vanthoor, Andre Lotterer and Kevin Estre “scored good points” in Brazil, which will make any comeback by the drivers of the #8 Toyota that much more difficult.

The New Zealander conceded that the #7 entry was the quicker of the two Toyotas in Brazil and would have won but for a fuel pressure problem early in the third hour that resulted in the loss of three minutes when a control unit was changed in the sidepod.

“We got the victory but #7 was flying today — they went a different direction on set-up,” explained Hartley. “They were quicker than us and had much less tyre deg.”

Conway, who was returning to the Toyota line-up after missing last month’s Le Mans 24 Hours through injury, built up a clear lead over Hartley in the early laps and was back in the lead after taking a drive-through penalty for a Full Course Yellow infringement before the second round of pitstops. 

Hartley explained that the grip from his Michelin tyres “fell off the cliff” in the closing laps of his opening double stint.

The #8 car moved into the lead when the sister Toyota encountered its problem as Conway handed over de Vries and went on to control the remainder of the race before taking victory by more than a minute.

De Vries and Kobayashi were able to fight back up to fourth, which allowed them to retain third place in the championship behind the Porsche Penske Motorsport crew and Le Mans-winning Ferrari drivers Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina.

Conway is seventh in the points courtesy of his absence from Le Mans after breaking his collarbone and two ribs in a cycling accident.

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Toyota dominates to defeat Porsche

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Toyota dominated at Interlagos on the way to a second World Endurance Championship victory of the season on Sunday.

The Japanese manufacturer’s #8 GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercar shared by Brendon Hartley, Ryo Hirakawa and Sebastien Buemi took the victory laurels in the Sao Paolo 6 Hours by a clear margin ahead of the two Penske-run factory Porsche 963 LMDhs.

Buemi crossed the line 1m08s ahead of the #6 Porsche driven by Laurens Vanthoor, Andre Lotterer and Kevin Estre, which in turn was 7s up on the sister car of Frederic Makowiecki, Michael Christensen and Matt Campbell.

Toyota led the way for the majority of the race and would almost certainly have finished 1-2 but for a rare technical problem for the sister #7 entry of Mike Conway, Nyck de Vries and Kamui Kobayashi.

Theirs was the faster of the two GR010s in the fifth round of the 2024 WEC and led the way through the opening double stint until an issue with a fuel pressure sensor when Conway handed over to de Vries early in the third hour cost the car three minutes.

Conway had built up a lead of 18s over Hartley when he had to take a drive-through penalty for a Full Course Yellow infringement, but was quickly back ahead of his team-mate and able to rebuild an advantage before he stopped.

De Vries and then Kobayashi were able to haul the car up the order, the Japanese bringing the car first into the top six and then up to fourth in the final hour.

The Japanese driver passed Alessandro Pier Guidi’s Ferrari 499P LMH with five minutes to go shortly after Jenson Button had stopped out of fourth place for a late drive-through following a tyre pressure infringement on the #38 Jota customer Porsche.

The Toyota was able to make the medium compound Michelin work on the aggressive Interlagos surface and in higher temperatures encountered during practice and qualifying.

Its two GR010s ran exclusively on the softer of the two tyres available in Sao Paulo, whereas Porsche and Ferrari also used the hard during the race.

Start action

Start action

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

Both Porsche Penske Motorsport entries ran into minor delays over the course of the six hours.

The #6 entry sustained a puncture early on after Vanthoor had a coming together with Will Stevens in the #12 Jota Porsche, which resulted in the Briton receiving a 30s penalty.

The championship-leading PPM car looked set to finish behind the team’s other entry before #5 lost 20s to a change of the tail section after contact with an LMGT3 class entry when Christensen handed over to Campbell.

Kobayashi crossed the line 7s behind Campbell and just half that margin ahead of the Ferrari Pier Guidi co-drove with James Calado and Antonio Giovinazzi.

The Italian car was delayed by a drive-through for a Full Course Yellow infringement early in the race, but the manufacturer never looked like repeating its Le Mans 24 Hours victory of last month.

The second of the AF Corse-run factory 499Ps, the Le Mans-winning entry shared by Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina, rounded out the top six on a day that it couldn’t match the sister car.

The best of the Jota cars, in which Button was joined by Phil Hanson and Oliver Rasmussen, ended up seventh.

Peugeot took eighth place with the #93 9X8 2024 shared by Nico Muller, Mikkel Jensen and Jean-Eric Vergne.

The revised version of the French manufacturer’s LMH produced its best showing so far, Muller making progress up the order on the hard tyre when temperatures were approaching their hottest.

BMW took ninth with the WRT-run M Hybrid V8 LMDh shared by Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello and Marco Wittmann, while Alpine snuck into the points with the #36 A424 LMDh shared by Mick Schumacher, Nicolas Lapierre and Matthieu Vaxiviere.

Cadillac failed to follow up on Alex Lynn’s fourth place on the grid, the V-Series.R he shared with Earl Bamber ending up 13th after encountering brake issues.

#92 Manthey Purerxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3: Aliaksandr Malykhin, Joel Sturm, Klaus Bachler

#92 Manthey Purerxcing Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3: Aliaksandr Malykhin, Joel Sturm, Klaus Bachler

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

Porsche took a fourth LMGT3 class victory in fives races and the Manthey PureRxing Porsche 911 GT3-R shared by Klaus Bachler, Joel Sturm and Alex Malykhin a second of the season.

They dominated proceedings on the way to a one-lap victory over the Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 driven by Alex Riberas, Daniel Mancinelli and Ian James.

Malykhin trailed the Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 driven by class pole winner Sarah Bovy until midway through their opening double stint when he was able to move past a car that was clearly struggling on its tyres and then move into a clear lead.

The Iron Lynx-run Lambo was firmly established in second place in the middle stages of the race with Rahel Frey at the wheel when it lost coolant.

After 16 minutes in its box, the car briefly returned to the track before the Italian team retired the Huracan.

Riberas closed in on Bachler late in the penultimate hour, getting to within 4s before their final short pitstops.

The gap went out to 16s after the Aston took four Goodyear tyres and the Porsche only two before coming back down to the 4s after a late FCY.

Riberas was deemed, however, to have violated the FCY regulations and was handed a drive-through.

Third place went to the best of the two United Autosports McLaren 720S GT3 Evos in which Marino Sato was joined by Nicolas Pino and Josh Caygill.

They ended up 48s in arrears of the Aston on the way to taking a first podium for the Anglo-American team on its return to the GT ranks in the WEC this year.

Race result:



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Toyota dominates second practice with 1-2

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


The two Toyotas led the way in second free practice for Sunday’s Interlagos World Endurance Championship round as the top four cars were separated by five-hundredths of a second.

Sebastien Buemi sealed the top spot with a 1m26.727s aboard the #8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercar early in the extended session on Friday afternoon. 

Kamui Kobayashi then vaulted the sister #7 entry up from seventh in the closing minutes with a 1m26.760s that left him just three hundredths behind.

The two Ferrari 499P LMHs took third and fourth, a late run from Alessandro Pier Guidi yielding a 1m25.770s to knock team-mate Antonio Fuoco down to fourth.

Fuoco had earlier jumped to second with a 1m25.776s before the improvements from Kobayashi and Pier Guidi bumped him down to fourth, though still only 0.049s off the pace. 

Cadillac driver Alex Lynn moved up to second in the American manufacturer’s solo V-Series.R LMDh at the beginning of a flurry of quick times in the final hour of a session that had been extended as a result of the early curtailment of opening free practice. 

The British driver’s 1m25.869s was only good enough for fifth in the final classification as the second Toyota and the two Ferraris improved. 

The two Jota customer entries led the way for Porsche in sixth and seventh positions, Callum Ilott edging out Jenson Button as the two Hertz-liveried 963 LMDhs traded times. 

#50 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P Hypercar of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen

#50 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P Hypercar of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

Ilott’s 1m25.931s gave him a margin of just four hundredths over his team-mate, who ended up on 1m25.979s.

The customer Ferrari run by AF Corse took eighth in Robert Shwartzman’s hands, while Julien Andlauer was ninth in Proton Competition’s privateer Porsche. 

Robin Frijns rounded out the top 10 in the best of the WRT BMW M Hybrid V8s with a 1m26.693s, which was still within a second of the pace. 

Top Peugeot driver was Jean-Eric Vergne in 11th place aboard the #93 9X8 2024 LMH with a time just over a second down on Buemi’s best for Toyota. 

Charles Milesi took 12th for Alpine, while the championship-leading Porsche Penske Motorsport entry was 12th in Laurens Vanthoor’s hands.

The Auto Sport Promotion LMGT3 class Lexus squad bounced back from the accident that resulted in the early stoppage of FP1. 

Jose Maria Lopez led the way in class with a 1m35.725s aboard the #87 Lexus RC F GT3. 

The Argentinian driver, back in the ASP Lexus after returning to Toyota’s Hypercar line-up at Le Mans, ended up three tenths up on late improver Franck Perera in the best of the Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2s.

Perera posted a 1m36.060s to edge out Alessio Rovera’s AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3.

Daniel Juncadella, who had topped the class leaderboard for much of the session, ended up fourth in the best of the TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs.

The second ASP Lexus that was crashed at Turn 4 by Arnold Robin in FP1 has been withdrawn from the meeting. Frenchman Robin was given a clean bill of health after a check-over at a local hospital after the big accident.

Third free practice for Sunday’s Sao Paolo 6 Hours begins at 10:30 local time, with qualifying kicking off at 14:30.

WEC Interlagos second practice result



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«Still a few unknowns» for Conway on post-injury Toyota WEC return in Brazil

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Toyota driver Mike Conway has conceded that there are “still a few unknowns” ahead of his return to the cockpit at this weekend’s Interlagos World Endurance Championship round.

The Briton stressed that only after his first laps in opening free practice on Friday morning ahead of the Sao Paolo 6 Hours will he have the final validation of his fitness as he recovers from the injuries that ruled him out of last month’s Le Mans 24 Hours.

“I’ve ticked a lot of the boxes and the next one is sitting in the car — obviously it is still an unknown,” he said.

“It feels alright doing the driver changes, even when they drop the car. I feel good and I’m hopeful.”

Conway broke his right collarbone, which required surgery, and fractured two ribs in a cycling accident three days ahead of the Le Mans Test Day in June.

His recovery schedule precluded him getting some laps in a racing car ahead of his return to the line-up of the #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercar alongside Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries.

“I didn’t really want to: with the scheduled we had — and it was a tight schedule to get back in — I didn’t want to set myself back by getting in something too early,” he explained.

Conway has been in the Toyota simulator before and after the confirmation that he would be in the car for Interlagos last Friday.

#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid: Mike Conway

#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 — Hybrid: Mike Conway

Photo by: Toyota

He revealed that he still felt pain “here and there” and is still “a bit still a bit stiff in the mornings”.

He also explained that the anticlockwise Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace will put more stress on his injured shoulder than a conventional clockwise circuit.

“The right arm has got more work to do around here,” he explained.

“There are a lot of left-hand corners; it would have been nice to go to a track with more right-handers.”

Should Conway encounter problems that prevent him from racing this weekend, the #7 Toyota would go into Sunday’s six-hour event with a two-driver crew.

Ritomo Miyata, Toyota’s official reserve driver, is not present in Brazil.

Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe technical director David Floury explained that it was never the plan to bring Miyata into the line-up at one of the six-hour races in the event of the withdrawal of one of its regular crew.

Miyata was overlooked for the Le Mans double-points WEC round after Conway’s accident.

Toyota instead recalled Jose Maria Lopez, who has been replaced in the Japanese manufacturer’s Hypercar class squad by de Vries for this season.

The Argentinian driver moved over from Toyota sister marque Lexus’s WEC LMGT3 class representative, Auto Sport Promotion, with which he is contesting the full series in one of its pair of RC F GT3s.

Free practice for Sunday’s Sao Paolo 6 Hours, round five of the 2024 WEC, begins at 10:45 local time on Friday.



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