We caught up with Mike as he prepared for the two-day official test, The Prologue, which is the curtain raiser for the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship season.

Q: FIA World Endurance Drivers Champion has a nice ring to it.  What were the highlights for you in your championship winning season?

Mike Conway: “Being named world champion definitely has a good feeling and good memories.  Last year was one of those long seasons, which wasn’t expected at the beginning.  It was full of a lot of good results, some downs at times; we had a disappointing Le Mans. But to still come away with the championship, it felt pretty special at the end.

Q: What were your feelings in Bahrain where you knew that it would be the last race for the Toyota TS050-Hybrid?

MC: “Yes, it was funny because before my last stint in Bahrain I knew it would be the last I would drive the TS050 in anger, in a race and it was mixed emotions.  So, part of me was just let’s go and give it absolutely everything, which I did anyway.  While at the same time we were closing a bit of a chapter.  It’s been an amazing run with that car, and it’s been incredible to drive.”

Q: Are you looking forward to the arrival of the new FIA WEC era and the HYPERCAR category here in Spa?

MC: “I am, the whole Hypercar momentum has been building over the last year to six months and I think with all the manufacturers coming back in, with the momentum we will be having over the next few years, to mean we start here at Spa with the Hypercar era is a cool feeling. To be part of that and to know it is starting here and continuing on for the next few years is quite cool.”

Q: As a driver what are the positives you take from the new Le Mans Hypercar regulations? Do you see more manufacturers being attracted to the WEC?

MC: “With the new rules for the Hypercar is definitely more attractive to manufacturers, ones that are moving from the GT era to move over to the prototypes is pretty cool. I think everyone is pretty excited.  There are manufacturers who have been in the championship before and coming back like Peugeot, Audi and Porsche, so, yes, it’s pretty exciting to have them all back in.”

Q: How important in your view are the Le Mans Hypercar regulations to the manufacturers and Toyota in particular?

MC: “I think the new rules were key to bringing back certain manufacturers. The way the rules are written, and the regulations were made meant we could bring budgets down and get other manufacturers back in.  It’s definitely done that and it’s what we needed.”

Q: What are the main differences in how you drive the Toyota GR010-Hybrid compared to the TS050 you raced last season? And how much closer is the connection to road car products?

MC: “To compare the zero 50 to the GR zero 10. It’s quite different.  I guess one factor is the weight, the new car is quite a bit heavier. The engine power is higher than we had in the zero 50 but then the hybrid is lower.  It certainly different, the cars will be a little bit slower now but that’s just where the regulations are.  It’s still a prototype and still a lot of fun to drive, a lot of fun to develop.  Some corners that maybe were not as challenging in the older car will be way more challenging now and it’s still a very exciting car to drive.

“The relationship to the Hypercar road car version is pretty cool as a lot of the stuff we will try and develop, not just now but what we’ve been doing of the past several years, is all intertwining in the road car development. It’s exciting to know that as drivers for Toyota we’ve all been part of that.” 

Q: What are your thoughts ahead of the 2021 season?  What are the goals for yourself and the team?

MC: “The goals for myself for 2021 are definitely to try and retain the championship. It’s one thing to win it and harder to maintain it.  I will be definitely pushing for that and my teammates will be doing the same.  We will have different competition, which we don’t know exactly how that will be yet, so it’s going to be an interesting season for sure.  So race by race, we’ll do our maximum and as the season goes on we’ll see where we are.”

Q: The first race is here in Spa.  What are your thoughts on the track and how you will approach the first event of the season in the brand new GR010?

MC: “I always love coming here, it’s a really cool track, one of my favourites. I love doing laps around here.  I’m excited to get on track with the new GR010 and see what’s it like.  I haven’t done any simulator work yet, so when we get on track it will be the first kind of flavours I am getting around this place.  We’ve done a lot of mileage already in this car so we know the limitations and what it can do.  I’m excited; it should be a good weekend.”