Mike Conway and his TOYOTA GAZOO Racing team head into uncharted territory for the second round of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship season at the inaugural 6 Hours of Imola this weekend.

After a determined performance in Qatar last month, Mike and the team travel to Italy second in the manufacturers’ World Championship and determined to return to the podium.

Cadillac’s disqualification four weeks after the chequered flag in Qatar elevated Mike, and his teammates Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries, into fifth place in their #7 GR010 Hybrid.

This week’s second round marks Mike and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s first visit to the 4.909km Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, located around 40km south-east of Bologna in the Emilia-Romagna region. It replaces Monza, which is undergoing renovations, as Italy’s representative on the 2024 schedule.

After that 40-year absence from top-level endurance racing, Imola will host a fierce battle among 19 Hypercars, featuring competitors from Alpine, BMW, Cadillac, Ferrari, Isotta Fraschini, Lamborghini, Peugeot and Porsche for honours this weekend in the second of eight races on the 2024 WEC calendar.

An intense programme of preparation will begin for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing on Friday 19 April with two 90-minute free practice sessions. Hypercar qualifying takes place from 3.25pm CEST on Saturday to determine the grid for the inaugural WEC 6 Hours of Imola, which begins at 1pm on Sunday 21 April.

Speaking ahead of the weekend, Conway said: “This weekend will be a new experience for me because I haven’t raced at Imola before, although obviously it’s one of the classic motorsport circuits so I’ve seen plenty of races there and I drove it on the simulator recently.

“Now I am looking forward to finally having the chance to race there. In Qatar, we scored good points for the World Championship and now we need to keep the pressure on, taking advantage of every opportunity we get. It will not be easy, against tough competition, but we’ll keep fighting.”