The Argentine has switched to the new LMGT3 class to race for sister brand Lexus after spending six full seasons in the WEC's top class, taking victory at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2021 and back-to-back WEC titles in 2019-20 and 2021, the final season of LMP1 and the first for Hypercar.
Lopez is the platinum-graded driver aboard the #87 RC F GT3 run by the French Auto Sport Promotion team, which switches brands this year after many years of success with Mercedes equipment in GT World Challenge Europe.
He will be joined in the pro-am class that replaces GTE Am by Esteban Masson and Takeshi Kimura, as Kelvin van der Linde, Timur Boguslavskiy and Arnold Robin share the sister #78 car.
Speaking to select media including Autosport, Lopez stressed it was never in his plan to seek another seat in Hypercar and cut ties with Toyota.
"I’ve been very long involved with this family of Toyota so my main objective was to stay with them," said the 40-year-old.
"Of course, I will not lie, I would have liked to probably do a couple of years more in Hypercar, but I’m not a kid anymore.
"This project was very interesting for me and also for everyone involved behind. The category is looking amazing and I’m very happy to be part of it.
"It’s a new experience for sure, it’s not going to be easy. When I see all the guys around me, they’ve been racing in GT3.
"The racing in GT3 is always very nice. Even when we are in Hypercar, we are looking at the monitors and we are impressed by how close is the fight and things that probably we were not very used to it in Hypercar. It’s not going to be easy, but I’m very excited about it."
Lopez said he had adapted well to the Lexus in tests at Portimao, Barcelona and Paul Ricard, and believes he has "no excuse" not to hit the ground running.
"It’s been good, it’s hard to say how I am compared to the others," he said when asked about testing. "I have to say, I was impressed, I felt very comfortable in the car from the beginning.
"There is a few things I need to get used to it, which means the ABS and a few things from driving the car, but I felt comfortable.
"So there is no excuse for me. I’m looking forward to being on track and seeing how I perform compared to the other guys."
Lopez anticipates that the depth of competition with nine brands on the LMGT3 grid will make the going tough, and added that he's prepared for "a big challenge in front of us".
"Everyone is there for winning, I know it’s very challenging," he said.
"I hope that we arrive in Qatar and we have a good pace straight away, in the perfect world it would be ideal.
"But I try to prepare myself knowing that it’s going to be very hard and we see what happens."
