Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Kobayashi lands Toyota WEC drive

Former Sauber and Caterham driver Kamui Kobayashi has secured a full-time LMP1 seat with Toyota.

The Japanese driver was test and reserve driver for Toyota having left F1 and will replace the retired Alex Wurz in its LMP1 team this year, sharing a car with Stephane Sarrazin and Mike Conway.

Kobayashi began his F1 career with Toyota, standing in for the injured Timo Glock in the final two races in 2009 but the Japanese manufacturer's departure from the sport at the end of that year left him seeking a drive. He managed to secure a seat at Sauber for 2010 and stayed with the team for three season, scoring his only podium at his home race at Suzuka in 2012.

Having been dropped by Sauber, Kobayashi left F1 for a year and drove for AF Corse in the 2013 World Endurance Championship (WEC) before returning with Caterham in 2014. However, Caterham struggled and missed two races, eventually entering administration at the end of the season.

Last year Kobayashi raced in Japan's Super Formula, finishing sixth in the championship.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.