Mike Conway travels to Italy for round three of the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship as the revered Autodromo Nazionale Monza makes its first appearance on the WEC calendar.
From the opening two rounds of the championship, Mike and the #7 TOYOTA Gazoo Racing squad have claimed a second and third place finish at the wheel of the GR010 HYBRID and currently occupy second place in the championship as a result.
Bidding for his first victory of the season, Mike will race at the Monza circuit for the first time since his GP2 campaign in 2008 but more recently drove the GR010 HYBRID’s predecessor, the TS050 HYBRID at the series prologue in 2017.
The 5.793km track is one of the oldest in existence - just the third purpose-built race circuit in the world following its construction in 1922. Stooped in history, the track is also one of the fastest in the world with a series of high-speed straights and corners guiding drivers through the picturesque Parco di Monza. The 6 Hours of Monza will mark the first time WEC has raced in Italy in almost 30 years.
Weather conditions are expected to be warm and sunny with temperatures set to reach 31ºC by race day on Sunday.
“I am happy to be going back to Monza," Mike said. "We were there a few years ago for the Prologue test and I really enjoyed driving the TS050 HYBRID on a high-speed track like that. I'm sure it will be the same with the GR010 HYBRID. It will be a challenge for us because it's our first time there with the Hypercar and we need to get the set-up right, particularly under braking and over the kerbs. Hopefully we can achieve that and come out on top.”
Track action begins on Friday afternoon with the opening Free Practice session at 15:30 local time (14:30 BST). A busy Saturday then follows with two more Free Practice sessions at 09:30 (08:30) and 14:00 (13:00) respectively. The all-important Qualifying session kicks off at 18:00 (17:00) on Saturday evening with the six-hour showpiece race getting underway at 12:00 (11:00) on Sunday afternoon.
As usual, viewers will be able to catch all of the action on Eurosport and through the FIA WEC app along with live timing available through the FIA WEC website.
