Mike Conway is ready and prepared for the second round of the FIA World Endurance Championship this weekend, as the #7 crew of Mike, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López head to Belgium for the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
A difficult start to the FIA WEC season at Silverstone three weeks ago saw Mike Conway and the #7 TS050 HYBRID qualify on pole but have its chances of winning taken away when José María crashed in damp conditions. After managing to bring the heavily damaged car back to the pits, the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing mechanics worked tirelessly to repair the damage and after 66 minutes in the garage – Mike brought the car home in 26th place.
This weekend, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will again utilise the high-downforce aerodynamic configuration on the TS050 HYBRID, which saw it claim pole at Silverstone. Fielding three cars for the first time this weekend, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will split setups, with the new #9 TS050 using a low-downforce configuration while the #7 and #8 driving the high-downforce cars.
This decision has been made to enhance the team’s preparations for the Le Mans 24 Hours as it’s the final competitive action before the highlight of the WEC season.
A firm favourite on the WEC calendar, Spa is the oldest circuit the team will travel to this year, having opened in 1922, and the 4.35-mile track has been an inaugural fixture on the FIA World Endurance Championship since the series’ revamp in 2012. The track holds bittersweet memories for the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing team, with the team taking the victory back in 2014 and then suffering engine issues in both cars last year.
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing is ready for one of its three home WEC events; with the Spa circuit located just 120km from the team’s headquarters in Cologne, Germany. This year, the team will be looking to again fight for victory whilst accelerating Le Mans preparations by optimising the low-downforce car in race trim and adjusting to the additional demands of competing with three cars.
Mike Conway is excited to race at Spa this weekend and is optimistic about the team’s chances.“Spa is one of my favourite circuits so I’m really looking forward to this. The track itself is just really cool, with elevation changes, fast flowing corners and a huge variety of corner types. It is really challenging but I like it a lot. I hope that the package we’ve used at Silverstone will have a similar pace at Spa. There are definitely still things to improve but we are confident. I think it will be a close race again with Porsche, so we will stay focused.”
The weekend gets underway on Thursday with Free Practice 1 at 11:45 (local time) and the 6-hour race following on Saturday at 14:30!