Nakajima to leave Toyota Hypercar team after 2021 WEC season
Kazuki Nakajima will leave Toyota's FIA World Endurance Championship squad after this weekend's 2021 series finale in Bahrain.
The former Williams Formula 1 driver will be replaced in the WEC line-up after nine seasons with the team, during which time he won the Le Mans 24 Hours blue riband round three times and took the 2018/19 title alongside Fernando Alonso and Sebastien Buemi.
It looks certain that his place will be taken in the two-car squad of GR010 Hybrid Le Mans Hypercars by Ryo Hirakawa, who has been groomed for a WEC seat at Toyota since 2016.
Nakajima said: "It has been an honour to compete for Toyota Gazoo Racing for nine seasons and I feel so lucky to have won races, championships and the Le Mans 24 Hours alongside so many talented, passionate and dedicated colleagues.
"I want to express my greatest thanks to TGR for this 10-year journey in WEC.
"I have so many memories with this team, who have been a family to me in tough times as well as in happy times, and I will always feel like a TGR team member."
The announcement from Toyota, which used the words "standing down" to described Nakajima's departure, stated that he "will always remain a member of the TGR WEC family and the team hopes he will continue to contribute to its development in the future".
Nakajima was present at the first test of the TS030 Hybrid with which Toyota returned to the pinnacle of sportscar racing on the relaunch of the WEC in 2012 and contested three races that season.
In total he has made 58 starts in the WEC for Toyota, winning 16 of them. Only Buemi has more starts and victories for Toyota in the WEC.
Toyota has yet to confirm Hirakawa, but Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe technical director Pascal Vasselon stated in Bahrain on Wednesday that "our driver crews for next year are set".
Hirakawa, who joined Toyota driver development programme in 2013, was placed with the TDS Racing LMP2 squad for the European Le Mans Series and Le Mans with a view to him joining the WEC squad in the future.
The 27-year-old came back into contention for a WEC driver this year following a successful 2020 season in which he finished second and third respectively in Super Formula and SUPER GT.
He has undertaken two tests with the WEC team this year after which Vasselon refused to be drawn on his chances of landing a seat for 2022.
"We have a lot of data and material but as usual we will disclose our driver line-up in January, maybe earlier in December along with Toyota's full programme in motorsport," he said last week.
It is appears likely that Hirakawa will slot into the Nakajima's seat in the #8 GR010 alongside Buemi and Hartley.
Last month Nakajima told Motorsport.com: "In both Super Formula and Super GT, [Hirakawa's] speed is undeniable.
“If he does well, it will become harder for me to have a place, but setting that aside, I just want to support him.
"There are a lot of fast young drivers within Toyota, but he's got the results and the speed, so if Toyota creates a system where results can lead to a place in WEC, I think it's a good thing for the future.”
Nakajima now looks set for a twin programme in Japan in 2022 comprising both Super Formula and SUPER GT.
Additional reporting by Kenichiro Ebii
The WEC 8 Hours of Bahrain will be streamed live on Motorsport.tv. Click here for more information.
#8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid: Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima, Brendon Hartley
Photo by: Alessio Morgese
Related video
Alpine set to race on in WEC next year with current LMP1 car
The remarkable fixes Toyota used to avert another Le Mans disaster
The remarkable fixes Toyota used to avert another Le Mans disaster
The 1-2 finish achieved by Toyota at this year's Le Mans 24 Hours was a result that will have surprised few, given its status as pre-event favourite. But the result was anything but straightforward, as worsening fuel pressure concerns required the team's drivers and engineers to pursue "creative fixes" on the fly. Here is the full story of how it reached the end without a lengthy pit visit
The 10 greatest drives of lost legend Jo Siffert
It's 50 years since Jo Siffert was killed in his prime at Brands Hatch. The Swiss scored just two world championship wins in a Formula 1 career spent largely with privateer teams, but showed on numerous occasions in single-seaters and in sportscars with Porsche that he could beat any of the best drivers of his era given the right equipment.
Inside the Le Mans finish too barmy for Hollywood
Team WRT has been at the forefront of GT racing for years and made a successful move to prototypes for 2021, capped by an LMP2 win on its Le Mans debut. It could've been even better had the race been one lap shorter, when its cars ran 1-2, but the stranger-than-fiction reality has spurred the team to reach greater heights.
Why Toyota's Le Mans victory was not as simple as it looked
Toyota scored its fourth Le Mans 24 Hours victory and a 1-2, with the #7 car of Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Jose Maria Lopez beating the #8. But although it looked straightforward from the outside, Toyota faced serious problem that had to be solved with some quick-thinking and ingenuity.
What we've learned from the Le Mans 24 Hours so far
The new dawn for the FIA World Endurance Championship has arrived at Le Mans, as Hypercars prepare to duel for victory in the world's oldest endurance race. Motorsport.com picks out the 10 things we have learned in the build up to the race.
Le Mans 2021: The team-by-team guide
After a two-month delay due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 Le Mans 24 Hours is set to get underway with the start of the Hypercar era at the Circuit de la Sarthe.
Can Toyota's #7 crew break its Le Mans curse?
One Toyota, normally with the number 7 on the side, always seems to attract the bad luck in the Le Mans 24 Hours. Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez are hoping for a change in fortune this time around, but face significantly more unknowns than in recent years
Why Glickenhaus should be taken seriously on its Le Mans bow
Many were quick to dismiss Glickenhaus when the boutique American sportscar firm's entry into the top class of the Le Mans 24 Hours was announced. It's all-new LMH racer, powered by an engine built by a rally specialist, goes in as the underdog against Toyota but the mathematical odds suggest that it has more than just a faint hope of success.