2013 was a departure year for Mike Conway. Moving into sports cars for the first time after successful career in IndyCar’s, the 30-year old Brit secured an LMP2 front-row start at Le Mans with G-Drive Racing. His talents didn’t go unnoticed, with Toyota swiftly acquiring Conway’s services at a test and reserve driver during the Japanese squad’s 2014 Championship campaign.
Upon landing a full-time drive in 2015, Conway had to curb his ambitions, if not his enthusiasm, when it became apparent the TS040 Hybrid hadn’t made sufficient gains to be a 2015 title contender. It was a situation that would have ruffled lesser drivers, but Conway knows better than most how to get the most from his machinery and turn a negative into a positive.
Even at the sharp end of the season, Conway is buoyed by the progress that has been made on the Toyota power-train. “There’s definitely an improvement and hopefully we can use that performance to put on next year’s engine as well” enthuses Conway. “I can’t give away too many details on that of course, but it’s looking very good I think. It’s exciting to see it all coming together.”
Despite not being embroiled in a title fight, Toyota is always learning. Unlike Formula One, there is no luxury in letting your head drop in a team sport like endurance racing. As such, the drivers are always pushing and engineers know exactly where they stand in terms of exploring the limits of the technology.