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Conway returns to Toyota's WEC roster for Brazil round after injury

Toyota driver Mike Conway will return to the cockpit at the Interlagos World Endurance Championship round after recovering from injuries that ruled him out of the Le Mans 24 Hours.

The Briton will retake his place in the #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercar alongside Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries for the Sao Paolo 6 Hours in Brazil, round five of the 2024 WEC, on 14 July after missing Le Mans last month.

Conway was forced to sit out the blue riband round of the WEC after sustaining a broken collarbone and two broken ribs in a cycling accident.

The incident happened just three days before the cars were due on track at Le Mans in the pre-event Test Day on the Sunday ahead of race week.

Toyota chose to recall Jose Maria Lopez to its Hypercar class line-up rather than bringing official test and reserve driver Ritomo Miyata into the race line-up.

Lopez, Kobayashi and de Vries went on to finish second in the race, finishing 14s behind the winning Ferrari 499P LMH.

Conway said: “It’s great to be back and I can’t wait to be behind the wheel again.

“Watching Le Mans from a distance was tough for me: I went through all the ups and downs with Kamui, Nyck and Jose but it was incredibly frustrating that I could not be part of it.

#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid: Jose Maria Lopez, Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck De Vries (Photo by: Alexander Trienitz)

“I always knew we were in safe hands with Jose, and he did a great job.

“Now I am just looking forward to competing again, fighting at the front and hopefully helping Kamui, Nyck and the team win the world championship.”

Kobayashi and de Vries sit third in the drivers’ points behind Porsche drivers Laurens Vanthoor, Kevin Estre and Andre Lotterer and the Le Mans-winning Ferrari crew of Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina.

Lopez will return to the wheel of the LMGT3 class Lexus RC F GT3 run by the French Auto Sport Promotion team, alongside Esteban Masson and Takashi Kimura, at Interlagos after Jack Hawksworth stepped in for Le Mans.

The Argentinian driver switched over to Toyota sister brand Lexus when he was replaced by de Vries in Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Hypercar roster.

Track action begins on the 2.68-mile Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace on Friday 12 July with two 90-minute free practice sessions.

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