Mike Conway aims to end the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship on a high this weekend as he heads east to compete in the final race of the season, the Bapco 6 Hours of Bahrain.

The 5.412km Bahrain International Circuit is a real drivers’ track, with fast sweeping corners combining with long straights and a number of tight, heavy braking corners that provide plenty of opportunities for overtaking. One of Mike’s favourites for the year, on his four previous visits to the track he has reached the podium three times – including victory in the LMP2 Class in 2013 and his first LMP1 race win with TOYOTA in 2014.

Saturday’s race marks TOYOTA’s closing encounter with Porsche for the foreseeable future, with the German manufacturer leaving the LMP1 class at the end of the season, adding a further interesting element as the two manufacturers do battle for the final time.

The 2017 campaign has been a difficult one for Mike and the #7 TS050 HYBRID as their four pole positions have yet to be converted into a race win this season but with the final race of the season still left to compete – Mike and the team are hoping to set the record straight and reach the top of the podium for the first time since Fuji last year.

Mike is excited to get back behind the wheel this weekend and believes the lessons learnt in Shanghai will help the team deliver a positive result this weekend.

“Bahrain is one of my favourite races so I am looking forward to going there and hopefully getting the win for car #7. We have been pushing for that all year. We have had four pole positions so we have to convert that to a win at some point. We learned a lot in Shanghai about tyre wear and Bahrain is a similar circuit in that regard, so hopefully that will be to our advantage.”

Hisatake Murata, TOYOTA Team President, is motivated to beat Porsche for the final time this weekend.

“We are very motivated to finish the season with a victory in Bahrain, especially as that would give us the most wins in 2017. Porsche has proved their strength with another World Championship so they are clearly tough competitors. We will be pushing as hard as possible to give the fans an exciting battle for the final LMP1 competition between TOYOTA and Porsche. After our strong performances in Fuji and Shanghai, we are ready to fight in Bahrain.”

With both drivers’ and manufacturers’ title wrapped up in Shanghai, Mike heads into the weekend with nothing to lose and has his eyes on the victory when lights go out for the 6-hour race this Saturday at 13:00 (GMT).