Lopez Replaces Injured Conway in No. 7 Toyota for Le Mans

Jose Maria Lopez will make his return to Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Hypercar lineup to replace Mike Conway at the 24 Hours of Le Mans after the Brit suffered an injury following a cycling accident.

The Argentinean driver will join Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries aboard the No. 7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid for the 92nd running of the French endurance classic.

Lopez was a regular part of Toyota’s top-class prototype efforts from 2017 to 2023, winning a world championship in both LMP1 and Hypercar and winning the 2021 edition of Le Mans overall.

A statement released by Toyota on Friday states that Conway “suffered fractures to his ribs and collarbone in a cycling accident on Thursday.”

Notably, Toyota has opted not to call upon the services of reserve driver Ritomo Miyata, who is also competing at Le Mans as part of the lineup for the No. 37 Cool Racing Oreca 07 Gibson.

Instead, Lopez has been called up from Akkodis ASP Team, which runs the pair of LMGT3 entries for Toyota’s sister brand Lexus.

There, Lopez, was supposed to share the No. 87 Lexus RC F GT3 with Takeshi Kimura and Esteban Masson.

It is currently not yet clear who will take Lopez’s place in the LMGT3 squad.

Sportscar365 has reached out to Akkodis ASP Team for comment.