Mike Conway climbed the podium for the sixth time this season as the #6 TS050 HYBRID raced to a P2 finish at this weekend’s 6 Hours of Shanghai, the penultimate race of the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship.

The Sevenoaks driver and his teammates, Stéphane Sarrazin and Kamui Kobayashi recovered from the misfortune of two tyre punctures to earn second place and their fourth consecutive podium finish.

That result keeps Mike and his teammates in the fight for the drivers’ World Championship, having closed the gap on Porsche #2 to 17 points with 26 still to fight for in the final race, in Bahrain on 19 November.

Having started Sunday’s showcase event from the second row and having suffered from two unforeseen stops, Conway felt that the team had made the most out of what could have been a difficult weekend.

“It’s been a positive day overall for us and great to be on the podium yet again. It’s a pity to get two punctures but the team did a great job to recover; everyone dug in and got the maximum out of our race today. We fought right to the end so thanks to everyone for their effort. I’m pleased to see the #5 guys on the podium as well; it’s great for them and the team.”

After delivering a double-podium finish, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Team President, Toshio Sato, was proud of both cars’ efforts in what was another fiercely competitive race weekend.

“We are pleased to have both cars on the podium for the first time this season, despite some bad luck. Just like in the last three races, we have again seen an incredibly close fight with very little separating the three LMP1 manufacturers.”

“This shows how high the level of competition is in WEC and I think the many fans here in Shanghai enjoyed this spectacle. Now we have a short time to prepare for the last race in Bahrain when we expect to again be competitive; we want to maintain our strong performance and fight for the win again.”

The curtain falls on the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship in less than a fortnight’s time at the 6 Hours of Bahrain where Conway will be looking to help his team overhaul the #2 Porsche and claim the world title.