As they look to finally end their 24 Hours of Le Mans curse, Mike Conway believes that Toyota Gazoo Racing are prepared for any eventualities that could halt their quest for a first overall victory.
Toyota have seen potential and probable victories taken away from them in 1999 and most recently in the 2016 and ’17 races – stopping within 5 minutes of the finish with a reported turbocharger problem in ’16. The results have left Japan with no overall victory at Circuit de la Sarthe since Mazda’s surprise success in 1991.
2018 marks Toyota’s best chance as the only LMP1 Hybrid entry, the #8 car of Fernando Alonso, Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima taking a convincing pole, two seconds ahead of the #7 of Conway, José María López and Kamui Kobayashi. Conway noted the importance of this year’s race, saying that Toyota must capitalise on the pace of the TS050 Hybrid.
“It is an important year for us,” Conway said, speaking to The Checkered Flag.
“Obviously the last few years it just hasn’t happened, but we’ve always shown that we have the fight, the spirit and the speed to be there.”
He added that a 1-2 formation finish will be the aim, but he recognises that it is “a bloody hard thing to achieve”.
“We just now need to execute the win and the 1-2 finish.
“A winning result for the team is a 1-2, and that is a bloody hard thing to achieve, two cars over the line and on the same lap close together. That’s the objective and that’s what we will be trying to do, we will be pushing as hard as we possibly can for that.”
Conway revealed that Toyota have posed several different situations to their drivers on the team’s simulator in Cologne – even driving with three wheels on the car. The Brit added that this was done unbeknownst to the drivers beforehand. He hopes that the preparation tactics will hold the six drivers in good stead if the worst happens.
“We have tested loads of system failures and punctures, any scenario we could think of, over the winter break,” he explained. “All of the issues were sprung upon us unknowingly.
“Initially you think it could be a problem with the simulator and you find yourself crabbing down the road at speed, then you realise you’ve had a puncture or the suspension has collapsed or something. It’s good to get prepared because there is a high risk of getting a puncture at this place and you can destroy the car if you try and recover the car too quick.
“Hopefully its all enough and it will get us a good result.”
