Toyota test and reserve driver Mike Conway is set to get a second chance to race one of the Japanese manufacturer’s TS040 HYBRID LMP1s in Bahrain next month.
Conway will “most probably” race for a second time alongside Alex Wurz and Stephane Sarrazin in the #7 TS040 at the penultimate round of the World Endurance Championship on November 15, according to Toyota Motorsport GmbH technical director Pascal Vasselon.
The Briton would again replace Kazuki Nakajima, as he did at the Austin WEC round last month, because the Japanese driver has a clashing Super GT commitment.
It remains unclear whether Conway has a chance of a full-time race seat at Toyota in 2015.
Vasselon said that it had yet to be decided, adding that formulation of the team’s driver line-up for next season was “under control”.
He stressed that Nicolas Lapierre, who was stood down by Toyota for last weekend’s Fuji race by what was described as “mutual agreement”, was part of the team’s 2015 plans.
“We have offered Nicolas a contract for next year,” he said.
It is understood that Toyota has exercised its options on all six of its current full-time drivers for next season.
Whether this means they will all remain with the Japanese manufacturer remains uncertain, however.
Both Lapierre and Stephane Sarrazin have been linked with Nissan’s new LMP1 programme.
Vasselon refused to confirm that Lapierre, who lost points for Toyota after going off in the rain at both the Le Mans 24 Hours and Austin, had been dropped as part of a strategy to ensure that Toyota maximises its chances of securing both the WEC drivers’ title with the #8 car and the manufacturers’ crown.
“Nico has been facing very difficult family circumstances and we have agreed together that it is better for him to take a break and it is difficult to say more,” he explained.