WEC 2019-2020 TEAM & DRIVER
DRIVER
MIKE CONWAY
TS050 HYBRID Car No. 7 Driver
Born-- August 19, 1983 Nationality-- Sevenoaks, Great BritainMike Conway (born August 19th, 1983) is a British born racing driver. Starting out from kart racing, in his home Britain, he stepped up to Formula Ford and Formula Renault UK. He competed in the British F3 in 2005 becoming a champion the following year. In 2007, he competed in GP2 as well as signing as a test driver for F1. In 2009, he competed in the American IndyCar Series. (until 2014) From 2013, he also competed in the WEC winning four times in LMP2. In 2014, he became a WEC reserve driver for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing competing in three races and winning one. He became a regular WEC driver from 2015 and in 24 hours of Le Mans, he paired with Kamui Kobayashi and other teammates. in the 4 races between 2016 to 2019 winning the second place three times. He finished the 2018-2019 season with two wins ending as the second place in the series.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
KAMUI KOBAYASHI
TS050 HYBRID Car No. 7 Driver
Born-- September 13, 1986 Nationality-- Hyogo, JapanKamui Kobayashi (born on September 13th, 1986) is a racing driver born in Hyogo prefecture. He started karting at the age of 9, and in 2000, won the All Japan Junior Kart Championship. In the following year, he emerged victorious in the ICA class of the All Japan Kart Championship. In the same year, he was the recipient of a scholarship from the Formula Toyota Racing School (FTRS). After finally obtaining his limited competitive racing license that is only granted at the age of 15, he made his 4-wheeled racing debut with Formula Toyota in 2002. From 2004 onwards, he participated in formula races in Europe under the TDP scheme. Kobayashi joined the F3 Euro Series in 2006, and the GP2 Series in 2008 which he made winning a race. In the following year, he won the championship of the GP2 Series Asia and became a F1 test driver. He made his full debut in F1 racing in 2010, and came in third in the Japan Grand Prix in 2012. Kobayashi then returned to Japan in 2015 to participate in the Super Formula Championship. From 2016, he has also participated in the WEC, and won the 7th round at Fuji for the first time in the same year. In 2017, Kobayashi set a new course record at 24 Hours of Le Mans and secured pole position. He competed in 24 Hours of Daytona in 2019 and emerged as the event's overall winner.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
JOSÉ MARÍA LÓPEZ
TS050 HYBRID Car No. 7 Driver
Born-- April 26, 1983 Nationality-- Tercero, ArgentinaJosé María López (born April 26th, 1983) is an Argentinian racing driver. Starting out from karting when he was seven years old, in 2001 he moved to Europe to participate in entry-level categories of Formula race in each country. The following year he became champion of Italian Formula Renault. In 2005 he moved up to participate in the GP2. In 2007 he also began participating in the GT category of the American Le Mans Series and the FIA GT Championship. He returned for a bit to the domestic races of Argentina, but went abroad again in 2014. He participated fully in the World Touring Car Championship as a driver on a French works team. He went on to dominate, becoming the champion of the WTCC for three years in a row. He began work as a test driver for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing in 2015, and became a regular driver in 2017, joining Kamui Kobayashi and others. For the 2018 - 2019 season, he finished second place in the series with two wins. He has also participated in Formula E since 2016.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
SÉBASTIEN BUEMI
TS050 HYBRID Car No. 8 Driver
Born-- October 31, 1988 Nationality-- Aigle, SwitzerlandSébastien Buemi (born October 31st, 1988) is a Swiss racing driver. He started his career with karting in 1993, winning titles in Swiss and European series. He made his car racing debut in German Formula BMW in 2004. The follow year, earning himself a scholarship with a world-class beverages company, he finished the series in second place. Buemi moved on to Spanish F3 and then on to the F3 Euro Series and the A1 Grand Prix series. In 2007, he made a spot entry in the GP2 replacing an injured driver and became a test and reserve driver in an F1 team. Between 2009 and 2011, he was a regular driver of the F1 team. Since 2012, Buemi has competed in the WEC with TOYOTA GAZOO Racing, earning himself a championship in 2016. During the 2018-2019 series, he made successive wins with Kazuki Nakajima and their teammate, becoming a WEC champion for the second time in his career. He has been competing in Formula E since 2014.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
KAZUKI NAKAJIMA
TS050 HYBRID Car No. 8 Driver
Born-- January 11, 1985 Nationality-- Okazaki, JapanKazuki Nakajima (born January 11th, 1985) is a racing driver from Aichi, Japan. After leaving his mark in karting, he received a scholarship from Formula Toyota Racing School (FTRS) in 2003 and was champion of his first Formula Toyota season. In 2004 he moved to the Japanese F3, and the next year he competed in the GT300 class of SUPER GT. In 2006, he received support from the Toyota Young Drivers Program (TDP) to go to Europe, where he took on the F3 Euro Series and GP2. In 2007, Kazuki became a F1 test driver, and he competed in the 2008 and 2009 seasons. From 2011 he competed in Formula Nippon (FN; currently Super Formula, SF) and the GT500 class of SUPER GT (he did not compete in 2015 or 2016). He was the FN/SF champion in 2012 and 2014. Kazuki began competing in WEC from 2012, and he became the first Japanese driver to record back-to-back wins at 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2018 and 2019. He was also WEC champion of the 2018-2019 season.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
BRENDON HARTLEY
TS050 HYBRID Car No. 8 Driver
Born-- November 10, 1989 Nationality-- Palmerston North,New ZealandBrendon Hartley (born November 10th, 1989) is a racing driver from New Zealand. He began karting at the age of six, and at age thirteen he won New Zealand's Formula Ford Festival. The following year he received scholarship from an international beverage company to compete in formula car races across Europe. 2009 Hartley get the chance to be a reserve and test driver for an F1 team, but he left that position to focus on his competition. After that, he participated in GP2 races, and in 2012, made his endurance racing debut in competitions such as WEC and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He participated as a regular driver in F1 in 2018, and as a test driver in 2019. Starting in September 2019, he will be racing for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing in the WEC 2019-2020 season.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
TEAM
- Team PresidentHisatake Murata
- General manager, GR Powertrain Development Div.Masaya Kaji
- Technical DirectorPascal Vasselon
- Team DirectorRob Leupen
- Vehicle Development Project LeaderJohn Litjens
- Team ManagerJohn Steeghs
