Mike Conway was announced late in 2013 as the new Test and Reserve driver for Toyota Racing’s LMP1 programme, the factory team having kept close tabs on one of the standout performers in LMP2 throughout the year.

2013 saw Conway move to a sportscar programme for the first time after a career until then that exclusively featured single seaters.

Tell us how the deal came about?

“Well during the year we ran an Oreca (in the G-Drive team) and Oreca also handle technical support and logistics for the Toyota programme so they were clearly keeping an eye on me and seemed very happy with my performance in the car.

“There was one particular qualifying session at Le Mans which I think caught their eye. It was going dark, it was raining and I was only 8 seconds off the quickest LMP1 time. I think from that point onwards people were looking very closely at what I was up to, not just on ultimate pace but my consistency too compared to others. We were talking before the end of the season, I met a few of their top guys and then went to the factory to take a look and to meet with Pascal (Vasselon) and it went from there really.”

You said earlier in 2013 that your ideal season in 2014 would be some selected IndyCar racing and a full season in the FIA WEC, you’re pretty close to that ideal now aren’t you?

“Yes, it’s pretty unbelievable, at the start of the year, even into January, I was really unsure over what to do, where I would be and where I could see myself.

“Then Bobby Rahal called and said he had a deal coming together for Long Beach as a one-off, was I interested? I did that deal but knew it was only one race so then I sat down with Mark (Blundell, Mike’s manager) and obviously he raced sportscars and he thought it might be a good route to go down for me, something with potential for a long-term future whilst a future in IndyCar looked very uncertain.

“The move came from that conversation and I am really happy with the move, was lucky through the year to pick up some more IndyCar races (and the offer of more still in 2014) and have had, really, just a great year. Great racing, lots of fun and one to look back on and think that there wasn’t much more that I could have done. The Toyota deal really was a massive cherry on the cake so I really couldn’t be happier.”

Have you had a chance yet to drive the TS030, or the Simulator?

“Not yet, I’m scheduled for my first Simulator test in January so that will be my first taste of it but I have been chatting with the team, and the drivers, I have lots of questions as, of course, the hybrid aspect of the car is pretty new to me but it all sounds very cool, lots of power. I’m expecting it to be a pretty exciting car to drive.”

You’ve had the opportunity as an interested bystander to see the LMP1s up close, and you’ve seen them too from the seat of your 2013 LMP2 – What’s your impression of the current breed of factory Prototype racers?

“It isn’t just the power that’s impressive, the way that the guys can take the high speed corners, carrying lots of speed through and the way they can brake so late is very impressive. When they come by you you wish you were in one – every time!

“During this year I was paying attention as to where the (hybrid) activation points were for the hybrid cars and I could see a fair few times when I was alongside one and the KERS is activated – normally they go by, quicker but not massively so, but when the hybrid systems kick in they go from being in the mirror to just shooting by so fast, oh man! Very impressive!

“That was my real world introduction to the power that these systems produce. No matter how many times you hear the numbers it’s the reality of the way they perform that is truly impressive. Mind boggling stuff really.

“Of course I’m looking forward to seeing how that feels from the drivers seat, trying to get the best from that power boost out of the corners should be a real challenge, and it’s one I’m really looking forward to.

You’ve raced at the highest levels of the sport. What’s your impression of the performance and capability of the Toyota team as a whole when you measure it by the levels you are familiar with?

“I visited the factory at the end of the season and it is hugely impressive. I expected the place to be very good indeed, bearing in mind its F1 heritage, but it exceeded my expectation. There’s no stone unturned there, no facility that it lacks. It’s technology focussed on performance and endurance, exactly tailored to the task in hand, pretty much everything they need can be done in house.

“From design, through mock-up to build, test, development and race, all under one (pretty large) roof, it’s a very cool place. That’s not just about the car as a whole but each individual component too, they have the capability to build, test and simulate them and to have the confidence that when it goes on the car it is fully tested already. Amazing stuff.

“I got the same buzz there as I did when first I went to an F1 factory, as a driver, as a racer, you feel like a kid in a sweet shop! So much potential, so much that you can use to learn and develop yourself too. I asked a lot of questions that day and I’ve been doing a lot more of that since too! The whole thing is really very exciting.”

The press release from the team describes you as their Test and Reserve Driver, have they quantified what that’s likely to involve in reality?

“Yes I’ll be doing a lot of simulation work and will be involved in all of their test running, including a planned 36 hour test. That will keep me pretty busy but I also have to be available at every race in case I am needed. January, February and March look set to be very busy and I am really looking forward to it.

And with the potential for at least one of the current drivers again having a busy mixed programme of racing in 2014 there is the distinct possibility that you might race the car in 2014?

“At the moment I’ve been briefed to just be available, of course if the opportunity arose to race then that would be awesome but there are six full season guys who will be in the queue ahead of me. Believe me though if I am needed I will be ready and that would be a dream come true.

(DSC believes that it is a near certainty that Conway will race at least twice for Toyota in 2014)

You’re one of very few current drivers that have been involved directly in all three of the ‘Big Three’ motorsport events, albeit in GP2 at the Monaco GP, but then in the race at the Indy 500 and at Le Mans of course, can you describe what the atmosphere at those events is like from the perspective of a driver looking to make their way up in the sport?

“You watch Monaco on TV and you arrive there, as part of the show, really excited to see what its like in reality, with the celebs around, the huge yachts in the Harbour and the track that looks so cool.

“Before all of that though I actually got my first taste of the place when I was in a go kart in 1999 or 2000. I remember really well that Anthony (Davison) had his engine seize right in front of me going into the Swimming Pool complex, it was as if he’d pulled on a handbrake and I went up and over the back of him, we both ended up in the hay bales.

“The karts used a circuit that included the pit lane, Swimming Pool complex and the last corner, it was a very cool first taste of Monaco.

“But the GP2 and F1 week is just so different, it’s rammed with people, the boats all arrive, there are supercars running around all over the place and the atmosphere is really exciting.

“The funny thing is though that you don’t get time to think about it until after the event at races like that. You’re focused on the race, and sitting there on the grid with the armco so close either side that demands your total attention! On the grid you do get that moment to remember where you actually are and what has happened in that place before.

“When you get to the podium afterwards and it’s all gone quiet, then it really sinks in as to what you’ve just done, and where you’ve just done it. Really cool.

“Then there is the Indy 500 and Le Mans, both really unique.

“At Indy there’s just a constant build up, you arrive pumped up – This is Indy! but the pace of the event has its own rhythm, and every day you arrive, drive through the tunnel to the infield and you can feel it building and you’re just willing the clock to tick quicker. You know what you can do but the time it all takes moves quite slowly.

“Every day the car is getting quicker, you’re going through another set of changes and even though it is a long lead up you have the constant pressure of knowing that this place bites. Even a slight mistake and you’ll put this thing in the wall and the clock will go backwards again. There’s constant tension and you are always pushing hard to improve, it’s a two week long knife edge until you actually qualify and then there’s a huge release, a real relief and you feel yourself relax for the first time since you arrived!

“Then there’s a week’s break until the race but even then it’s non stop, there are parades, TV interviews, sponsor commitments, lunches, dinners – you really have no real time to yourself until the night before the race.

“On raceday you’re up early to get into the circuit because of the crowds. You get a police escort in and then you get your first impression of how big this thing is, the escort takes you by miles and miles of traffic with people waiting to get into the circuit, an amazing sight.

“Even then though it really only sinks in when you get to the circuit. The drivers are gathered together to be presented to the crowd and when you move to get out there it’s then, in that moment, that you realise what that noise is that’s been building all morning. It’s just a sea of people as far as the eye can see, the noise, the roar, the colours, absolutely amazing!

“That’s the moment when you realise that whatever you expected THIS is the Indy 500!

“Honestly, until the green flag you’re still in awe of the event, on the three warm up laps I was looking around, it is an amazing spectacle, really very, very special.

“Once the green flag drops though it really is just like any other race, you concentrate on just one thing. I feel very privileged to have done it a few times.

“Le Mans in some ways is similar, you have the whole week of testing, qualifying and ceremonial and it builds. The crowd gets bigger and bigger, the camping grounds fill up and you see some very funny stuff from the fans as the week moves on.

“And then, when you’re standing on the grid, with the cars, drivers and their teams all lined up, the flags, the anthems, and being introduced to the crowd, again you suddenly have a sense of being somewhere special, but at the same time you want that race to get started.

“The crowd at Le Mans is so passionate, a lot of them there for the whole day, the whole night, and almost the whole of the next day too through all weathers.

“It’s also an event that creeps up on you, you go through your first couple of stints and its going well, then it starts to get dark and you experience another part of Le Mans thinking “I have to almost re-learn the circuit here!’ It is so different at night, all of your reference points are gone and it takes time to build your confidence back up as to what you know about the track whilst at the same time dealing with traffic, GT traffic, LMP1 traffic, and, of course, your own race and your own battles.

“Then as the morning breaks it’s another cool time, not quite eerie but there’s a strange light, a strange atmosphere and a special time to be in the car. Getting into the car in darkness and getting out in the daylight you feel like you have broken through a barrier, that you’ve survived the toughest part and then settle back into a normal daytime routine.

You know more than most what can go wrong in a race car, what’s you’re thought on the levels of safety that technology has brought to the sport?

“I think safety in this part of the sport is very good indeed, the move to closed cockpits is a good and sensible one. The circuits that we race at (in the FIA WEC) are all F1 spec and they have always pushed hard for safety to be very much in the forefront of the design and facilities we have. We race on really good and safe circuits in very well engineered and safe cars.

“It’s good to see the level of effort and attention to detail that goes into testing and practising driver extraction with each of the cars at every circuit. Lots of safety checks of the cars and equipment, it’s very good to see. As things move forward, with the new generation of cars emerging it will move forward again.”

GG