Lopez Chose ‘Toyota Family’ Over Other Hypercar Drive

Lexus LMGT3 driver Jose Maria Lopez says he preferred staying within the Toyota family over seeking employment elsewhere in the Hypercar category when he was replaced by Nyck de Vries and is looking forward to a “new experience” racing with Akkodis ASP Team.

The two-time WEC champion will spearhead Lexus’ debut campaign in WEC in the new LMGT3 class, sharing the cockpit of the No. 87 RC F GT3 with Bronze-rated driver Takeshi Kimura and Esteban Masson.

The 2024 season, which kicks off with the Qatar 1812km on March 2, will be the first one for Lopez in anything other than a top-class Toyota prototype.

He completed six seasons with the team, securing a pair of world titles (one in LMP1, one in Hypercar) and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans overall in 2021.

In November, it was announced that he would part ways with the Hypercar squad and to be replaced by De Vries, but was to remain aligned to Toyota by driving for sister brand Lexus.

Speaking to reporters during a pre-season media call, Lopez said that he ‘not really’ considered moving to a different team in Hypercar, instead preferring to remain part of the Japanese manufacturer’s orbit by joining Lexus instead.

“I’ve been involved with this Toyota family for very long, so my main objective was to stay with them,” he said.

“Of course, I won’t lie, I would have liked to probably do a couple more years in Hypercar but I’m not a kid anymore.

“I think this project was very interesting for me and also for everyone involved behind [the scenes]. The category is looking amazing and I think I’m very happy to be part of it.

“It’s a new experience for sure, it’s not going to be easy when you see all the guys around me, they’ve been racing in GT3. The racing in GT’s is always very nice.

“Even in Hypercar, we were always looking at the monitors and we were impressed by how close their fight is. We’re not very used to it in Hypercar, so it’s not going to be easy, but I’m very excited about it.”

In comparison to highly successful stints in touring car and prototype racing, where he racked up five world titles across the two disciplines, Lopez is relatively lacking in GT racing experience.

He raced in the 2008 FIA GT Championship alongside the likes of Gaston Mazzacane and Esteban Tuero, drove an Aston Martin DBR9 for two FIA GT1 World Championship rounds in his native Argentina in 2010 and briefly competed in the American Le Mans Series in 2007.

Lopez first sampled the RC F GT3 during a test at Portimao in October that also featured IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD Pro champion Jack Hawksworth and said that his adaptation to the V8-powered GT3 machine “has been good.”

“It’s hard to say how I am compared to the others, I think I’m going to see that in Qatar,” he said.

“I tested the car for the first time in Portimao, the Goodyear tire test.

“We brought one of the guys from the USA (Hawksworth) who has been racing the car for a while so it was important for us to have him for the experience he has in the United States.

“It was a big help. I have to say I was on pace, I felt very comfortable in the car from the beginning. There’s a few things I need to get used to, the ABS and a few things driving the car but I felt comfortable.

“I [drove] the car for the second time in Barcelona. That time I was already with my teammate Kelvin van der Linde. He has a a good experience in GT3 as well, so I could compare myself with him.

“Then I ran in Paul Ricard a couple of weeks ago, so there is no excuse for me.

“I’ve been [driving] the car and of course I’m looking forward to be on track and see how I perform compared to the other guys. Also to see how the car performs in terms of comparison with other teams as well.”