WEC 2021 TEAM & DRIVER
DRIVER
-
MIKE CONWAY
GR010 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. In 2014, he became a WEC reserve driver for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing competing in three races and winning one. He was selected as the #7 regular driver from 2015, and he had four wins in the 2019 - 2020 season earning the title of series champion. He had competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans five times from 2016 to 2020, pairing with Kamui Kobayashi and others, and reached the podium with three 2nd place finishes and one 3rd place finish.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS -
KAMUI KOBAYASHI
GR010 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. In his five appearances in the finals, he reached the podium with three 2nd place finishes and one 3rd place finish. In the 2019 - 2020 season, he had four wins and earned the title of season champion. He also made spot entry in the Daytona 24-hour race and won back-to-back victories in 2019 and 2020.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS -
JOSÉ MARÍA LÓPEZ
GR010 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 temporarily returned to his home country afterward, but came back to Europe in 2014 and began participating as a full member of the WTCC, winning the title of champion 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. He achieved a podium finish all three times he competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and was second place for the series in the 2018 - 2019 season and became the champion in the 2019 - 2020 season with four wins. He has also participated in Formula E since 2016.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS -
SÉBASTIEN BUEMI
GR010 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. Buemi has competed in the WEC with TOYOTA GAZOO Racing since 2012 and earned the title of champion in the 2014 and 2018 - 2019 seasons as a regular driver of car #8.He also won three consecutive 24 Hours of Le Mans races from 2018 to 2020 teamed with Kazuki Nakajima among others. He has also been competing in Formula E since 2014.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS -
KAZUKI NAKAJIMA
GR010 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 participate in 2015, 2016, and 2020).He was the FN/SF champion in 2012 and 2014. He became the regular driver of the car #8 in the WEC in 2015 and the first ever Japanese champion earning five wins in the 2018 - 2019 season. He also won three consecutive 24 Hours of Le Mans races from 2018 to 2020.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS -
BRENDON HARTLEY
GR010 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 in his home country. The following year he received scholarship from an international beverage company to compete in formula car races across Europe. In 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 in F1 as a regular driver in 2018, and as a test driver in 2019.In the WEC, he joined TOYOTA GAZOO Racing in the 2019 - 2020 season, driving car #8 as a team with Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima. He finished in 2nd place or above in all eight races he participated in, with two wins and six 2nd place finishes. Due to this superb performance, he was ranked #2 in the series driver rankings.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
TEAM
-
- Team PresidentHisatake Murata
-
- General manager, GR Powertrain Development Div.Kenji Sumi
-
- Technical DirectorPascal Vasselon
-
- Team DirectorRob Leupen
-
- Vehicle Development Project LeaderJohn Litjens
-
- Team ManagerJohn Steeghs
