Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe Director Explains Lopez’s Recall to #7 Hypercar for Le Mans
Toyota’s WEC Lineup Reshuffle After Conway’s Cycling Accident
Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe director Rob Leupen has revealed that the decision to recall Jose Lopez to the #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercar for the FIA WEC 2023 double-points round on 15/16 June was a straightforward one. The move came after Mike Conway suffered injuries in a cycling accident, breaking two ribs and his collarbone on Thursday.
Leupen explained that Lopez’s experience made him the prime candidate to fill the gap, given the inexperience of Ritomo Miyata, who was initially named as test and reserve driver for Toyota’s WEC assault at the start of the year. Miyata, the 2022 Super Formula and Super GT champion in Japan, will still get his first experience of the Circuit de la Sarthe at Le Mans on Sunday during the official pre-event Test Day, and will remain on call for Toyota for the remainder of the event.
“We discussed it within the team, and with Kamui [Kobayashi] involved and Akio Toyoda [Toyota chairman] back in Japan, and it was decided it was best for everyone, including Ritomo, for Jose to jump in #7,” Leupen stated.
Replacing Lopez in the Lexus LMGT3 Class
Meanwhile, the harder decision for Toyota was how to replace Lopez at the Auto Sport Promotion Lexus team, where he is contesting the full WEC this year in the new LMGT3 class. Expatriate Briton Jack Hawksworth has been flown in from the USA to take the seat alongside Esteban Masson and Takeshi Kimura in the #87 Lexus RC F GT3.
Leupen revealed that switching Miyata to the Lexus was considered, but Ben Barnicoat, who won last year’s IMSA SportsCar Championship GT Daytona Pro title in a Vasser Sullivan Lexus with Hawksworth, was not an option. Barnicoat is set to race AF Corse’s LMP2 entry with Nicolas Varrone and Francois Perrodo at Le Mans.
Hawksworth’s Whirlwind Journey to Le Mans
Hawksworth described the circumstances leading up to his Le Mans debut as a “whirlwind.” He received the call from Lexus on Friday while driving to the track from his hotel at Mid-Ohio, where he was scheduled to race a Toyota GR Supra GT4 Evo for the Hattori Motorsports team this weekend.
“I was on my way to the circuit and then I got a phone call from Andy Graves from Toyota Racing Development [which oversees the Lexus programme in the USA],” explained Hawksworth. “That was it – I was on my way here! I went to the track, picked up my stuff, and then I went back to the hotel, and then straight to Detroit and booked a flight on the way.”
Hawksworth arrived at Le Mans late on Saturday morning, just in time for ASP’s scheduled scrutineering slot at lunchtime. “Le Mans was on my bucket list, but not on my immediate radar,” he said. “To be able to do it with Lexus, a brand I’ve been racing with for so long, is kind of cool.”
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