Toyota Racing Confirms Second Car Driver Assignments For Le Mans
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Over the weekend, Toyota Racing announced the drivers of its second TS030 Hybrid LM P1 prototype coupe for the Le Mans 24-Hour classic held each June. The team already confirmed the lineup of Alex Wurz Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima for the full FIA Endurance Championship campaign, beginning at the second race of the season at Spa-Francorchamps.
The Le Mans-only TS030 Toyota Hybrid will have Anthony Davidson, a winner at the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring and a winner at the Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps; he brings significant recent experience of manufacturer participation at Le Mans to the team, having worked with Peugeot Sport Total the past two seasons; he'll be 33 when the 24-hour race begins.
I'm really happy to be a part of the Toyota racing team and delighted to be returning to Le Mans this year," Davidson said. "To be joining a team like Toyota Racing and competing with a hybrid powertrain makes this particularly special. I'm looking forward to experiencing hybrid power for the first time in my career."
Hiroaki Ishiura, 31 when the cars roll off at The Sarthe, has had a promising career in the competitive Super GT in his native Japan; he has also experienced European endurance racing with his participation in the 2011 Nurburgring 24 Hours. "This is a big opportunity for me to achieve one of my lifetime ambitious: to race in the Le Mans 24 Hours," Ishiura said. "The TS030 Hybrid is already quite familiar to me because I tested the car at the roll-out; in fact I was the first person to drive it!"
The third driver for this campaign is Sebastien Buemi, 23, of Switzerland, who makes his endurance racing debut at the wheel off the Toyota TS030 Hybrid. Buemi raced for Scuderia Toro Rosso the past two seasons; he remains third driver for Red Bull Racing in Formula One.
"It's particularly great to be going to Le Mans as a Toyota driver because my grandfather has been a Toyota dealer for over 40 years, so I've basically grown up with the brand," Buemi acknowledged. "I've driven hybrid cars in the past - the first and second generation Prius - but the TS030 Hybrid is something else. I'm looking forward to racing it; LM P1 cars are fast and it's a professional environment so it is going to be a very positive experience for me."
Team President Yoshiaki Kinoshita finds the complete driver lineup for the second car an exciting one. "Anthony, Hiroaki and Sebastien are talented and intelligent drivers who have achieved plenty already in motorsport, so we are very confident they can make a positive contribution to Toyota Racing. Our drivers are selected on the basis of not only their speed and consistency, but also their ability to work well within a team. It's been great to see the positive attitude all three have already brought to our project," he said.
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