TOYOTA Racing confirms 2015 drivers
TOYOTA Racing is delighted to confirm its driver line-up for the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship.
The team will again enter two TS040 HYBRID cars as it aims to extend its reign as drivers' and manufacturers' World Champions.
As World Champions, TOYOTA Racing will take the #1 and #2 plates while the individual driver line-ups have been fine-tuned for maximum performance.
The #1 car will feature drivers' World Champions Anthony Davidson and Sébastien Buemi alongside Kazuki Nakajima. Alex Wurz, Stéphane Sarrazin and Mike Conway will share the #2.
An announcement regarding a test and reserve driver will be made in the coming weeks.
Today's news reflects the team's satisfaction with the performances, attitude and commitment of its drivers, who played a significant part in a successful World Championship challenge in 2014.
It comes on the same day as TOYOTA confirmed plans for a World Rally Championship entry in 2017. TOYOTA Racing wishes to place on record its commitment to endurance racing, which will not be adversely affected by the WRC project.
Yoshiaki Kinoshita, Team President: "We are very happy to confirm our driver line-up for 2015. We have worked with all our drivers for a long time now and have developed very strong relationships. This stability and consistency has been a significant part of our recent success so it was a priority when planning for 2015 and beyond. Based on our experiences in 2014, we have decided to modify the line-ups for each car and we believe this will give us the optimum overall performance as the individual driving styles are now well matched. All our drivers are WEC race winners and we are confident they will add to their tally this season and in the future."
TS040 HYBRID #1:
Anthony Davidson
Born 18 April 1979, Hemel Hempstead, Great Britain
Le Mans debut 2003
Le Mans starts 7
Le Mans best result 2nd (2013)
WEC starts 17
WEC wins 5
WEC best season 1st (2014)
Sébastien Buemi
Born 31 October 1988, Aigle, Switzerland
Le Mans debut 2012
Le Mans starts 3
Le Mans best result 2nd (2013)
WEC starts 17
WEC wins 5
WEC best season 1st (2014)
Kazuki Nakajima
Born 11 January 1985, Okazaki, Japan
Le Mans debut 2012
Le Mans starts 3
Le Mans best result 4th (2013)
WEC starts 16
WEC wins 2
WEC best season 8th (2014)
TS040 HYBRID #2:
Alex Wurz
Born 15 February 1974, Waidhofen an der Thaya, Austria
Le Mans debut 1996
Le Mans starts 8
Le Mans best result 1st (1996 & 2009)
WEC starts 20
WEC wins 5
WEC best season 3rd (2012)
Stéphane Sarrazin
Born 2 November 1975, Alès, France
Le Mans debut 2001
Le Mans starts 13
Le Mans best result 2nd (2007, 2009 & 2013)
WEC starts 24
WEC wins 2
WEC best season 3rd (2013)
Mike Conway x
Born 19 August 1983, Sevenoaks, Great Britain
Le Mans debut 2013
Le Mans starts 1
Le Mans best result n/a
WEC starts 10
WEC wins 2
WEC best season 7th (2013)
About TOYOTA Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship:
TOYOTA first competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) in 1983, marking the start of a long period of participation in endurance racing. Since 1985, TOYOTA cars have raced in 16 Le Mans 24 Hours races, achieving a best result of second place on four occasions (1992, 1994, 1999 and 2013). TOYOTA entered the revived WEC in 2012, as TOYOTA Racing, with its first hybrid LMP1 car, the TS030 HYBRID, which won five of the 14 races it entered over two seasons. It was succeeded in 2014 by the 1,000PS, four-wheel-drive TS040 HYBRID, which won its debut race and subsequently the 2014 drivers' and manufacturers' World Championships. They were designed and built by TOYOTA Motorsport GmbH (TMG), where the race team is based. TMG is the former home of TOYOTA's World Rally and Formula 1 works teams, and was responsible for design and operation of TOYOTA's TS020 Le Mans car in 1998-99. TMG now combines motorsport participation with work as a high-performance engineering services provider to third party companies, as well as the TOYOTA family.
www.toyotahybridracing.com / www.toyota-motorsport.com / www.facebook.com/toyotamotorsport / @Toyota_Hybrid