Conway Returns to Toyota for Bahrain

Photo: Toyota Racing

Mike Conway is set to return the wheel of a Toyota TS040 Hybrid next month in Bahrain, after getting a second race outing with the Japanese manufacturer.

The IndyCar star and Toyota test and reserve driver will again fill in for Kazuki Nakajima in the No. 7 entry alongside Alex Wurz and Stephane Sarrazin.

It will mark Conway’s second start of the FIA WEC season, after making his LMP1 race debut in last month’s Six Hours of Circuit of The Americas.

“We want to give some races to Mike,” Toyota Racing technical director Pascal Vasselon told Sportscar365 in Fuji. “This was decided a long time ago, to give him two races… He did a very good weekend [at COTA].”

While yet to announce its 2015 driver lineup, it’s understood the 31-year-old Briton is in the running for a full-season race seat, with at least one of Toyota’s drivers reportedly not returning.

Nicolas Lapierre, who missed the Fuji round due to personal reasons, is on the entry list for next weekend’s race in Shanghai as well as the Bahrain round, although the Frenchman’s participation has not yet been confirmed by Toyota.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John