Mike Conway is back in FIA World Endurance Championship action this weekend as the season returns after its mid season break and heads to Mexico.
This weekend’s race marks the start of the season’s ‘flyaway’ races as the championship leaves European shores. Conway and his teammates, Stéphane Sarrazin and Kamui Kobayashi, experienced a frustrating race weekend last time out at the 6 Hours of Nürburgring after a technical issue meant they had to eventually settle for sixth position.
This represented an ultimately disappointing debut for the new ultra-high-downforce aerodynamic package which has been developed to be used in the remaining WEC races. The latter stages of the race saw both Toyota cars display some impressive lap-times which offers Mike and his team plenty of encouragement going into this weekend’s race at a circuit which should better suit the car’s characteristics.
The Hermanos Rodriguez circuit offers a new challenge for many on the grid this weekend as the race marks the first ever World Endurance Championship to be held in Mexico. Fortunately for Conway and his team, he and Stéphane already have race experience of the circuit. The circuit itself offers one of the longest straights on the calendar but how the car’s engines and systems deal with the track’s high altitude could be a decisive factor as the circuit is situated 2,200ft above sea level.
Conway is looking forward to returning to action and is anticipating an interesting race weekend as he and his counterparts adjust to the challenges that the Mexican circuit brings.
Speaking ahead of the weekend, Mike said: “I’m looking forward to do the full Mexico circuit; it’s a fantastic venue and the Mexicans really enjoy motorsport so it should be pretty special for us. I’m happy I have already experienced the altitude there as this makes preparation a bit easier because I know what to expect. It’s going to be an intense week of work as we get used to the new track but I’m ready and I hope we can be back in the fight.”
Qualifying for the LMP1 class begins on Friday the 2nd of September at 14:40 with the 6 Hours of Mexico race beginning the following day at 13:30.
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