Mike Conway heads to Austin, Texas, this week for the sixth round of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship, the 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas.
The second leg of the trip to North America sees Mike move on from Mexico City, the host of the previous round at the start of the month, where his #7 TS050 HYBRID finished the 6-hour race in 4th position.
Circuit of the Americas is a driving and engineering challenge; it has a mix of fast corners, a long straight and a slow-speed section, that take inspiration from some of the world’s most famous corners.
Twelve months ago, Mike and teammate Kamui Kobayashi finished on the podium in Austin and will be aiming to repeat that feat, alongside #7 TS050 HYBRID team-mate José María López who will experience his first outing at the track.
This year’s race adopts a different schedule to last year, reverting to a daytime race after three years as a day-night contest. This change presents a new challenge for the team and drivers, as they battle heat and humidity of Central Texas.
After a tough race in Mexico, where the team encountered problems with downforce due to the high altitude, the team hopes the Circuit of the Americas will present no such problems and Mike travels to Texas hoping to add to his two podium finishes this year with TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s first victory of 2017.
Mike’s tally of 48.5 points currently leaves him 5th in the Drivers’ Championship, with his TOYOTA team 56.5 points behind Porsche in the Manufacturers’ Championship as we enter the final four rounds of the season.
Mike is hopeful that he and TOYOTA can bounce back from the disappointment of Mexico two weeks ago.
“I am looking forward to Austin because it is one of my favourite events on the calendar. The track is fun to drive, with a really fast first sector. You need a good amount of downforce there so let’s see how we can perform. We have had strong results there in the past and all the team is motivated to fight back strongly after a disappointing race in Mexico.”