Nyck de Vries joins Toyota Gazoo Racing

Toyota Gazoo Racing’s #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid will welcome a new driver in 2024: Nyck de Vries. The 28-year-old Dutchman was previously a Toyota reserve driver in the FIA WEC from 2020 to 2022. He has competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Racing Team Nederland, G-Drive Racing and TDS Racing X Vaillante. After building up experience across various classes, de Vries will return to Toyota as a designated driver. José María López had defended Toyota’s colours in the FIA WEC since 2017. Next season will see him move from the Hypercar class to LMGT3 with Team Akkodis ASP. He will take charge of development of the Lexus RCF GT3 for the team and support the drivers. Ritomo Miyata, who won both the Japanese Super Formula championship and the SUPER GT 500 class this season, will take on the role of reserve driver.

Kamui Kobayashi: In motorsport, things are constantly evolving and it’s the same with driver line-ups. In car #7, Mike, José and I drove together since 2017, which is a really long time in any category. We enjoyed some amazing moments together, but also some tough times, particularly at Le Mans. I would like to thank José for his massive contribution, as a driver and a team-mate. He will always be a part of our TOYOTA GAZOO Racing family. At the same time, it is exciting to welcome Nyck back to the team as part of the #7 crew. We know from his time as our Test and Reserve Driver, plus his other racing, how quick and consistent he is. Next season again we have a top driver line-up in both cars, and this will be important when we face even more competitors in Hypercar. I am sure we will grow stronger together as a team over the winter, ready for the new challenge.

Nyck de Vries: I am super excited to be returning to endurance racing, especially with TOYOTA GAZOO Racing. Endurance racing is something that I have always enjoyed and it is a discipline with incredible momentum at the moment. I was with the team in a different role for a few years but never got the chance to race, so it is great that the time has now arrived, and I want to thank the team for their continuous support and faith in me. I am very much looking forward to sharing car #7 with both Mike and Kamui. They are both very talented drivers who achieved a lot, and I am sure we will make a great team.

Meanwhile, Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa will continue to share the wheel of the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid.