Mike Conway: From Karting Champion to Le Mans Winner With Toyota

Mike Conway is a British driver who raced in karting, single-seaters, IndyCar and the FIA World Endurance Championship. He won the 2006 British Formula 3 title, several IndyCar races and two World Endurance titles with Toyota. Le Mans overall victories came in 2021 and again in 2026.

Who is Mike Conway?

Mike Conway was born on 19 August 1983 in Bromley, London. He spent most of his career as a Toyota factory driver in endurance racing, with a spell in IndyCar in the early 2010s. He has said he will retire from racing when the 2026 season ends.

Conway's career combines open-wheel success with sports car success. He won the British F3 International Series, took several IndyCar races, and then built a long run in the World Endurance Championship. His record shows the same consistency across each category, with the most visible results coming in the Toyota years.

From a karting start in Hertfordshire to a Le Mans win in 2026, Conway built a career on steady performance across very different cars.

How did Conway rise through karting and British F3?

His first kart outings came at eight, at Rye House in Hertfordshire. He went on to win the Formula A British Karting title and then raced Formula Ford with Van Diemen. He became Formula Renault UK champion in 2004 with Fortec Motorsport, the team he had worked with in Formula Renault.

In 2005 he moved into the British F3 International Series with the same team. He was the highest-placed rookie in the championship, ending third in the standings behind Alvaro Parente and Charlie Kimball. At the Macau Grand Prix that year he was fourth in both qualifying and the qualifying race, but engine failure in the main race dropped him to 14th.

The move to Raikkonen Robertson Racing came after he signed with 2MB Sports Management, which was run by two ex-Grand Prix stars, Martin Brundle and Mark Blundell. The team was owned by Kimi Raikkonen and his race manager, Steve Robertson. Conway's 2006 season was dominant, and he secured the British F3 title with three races still to run.

He also finished as the leading British driver in Race Two of the Pau Grand Prix that year, although Romain Grosjean won the race. At Macau in 2006 he qualified 11th and finished seventh in the qualifying race before winning the main event, making him the first Briton to win there since Darren Manning in 1999.

How did Conway's GP2 career go?

His GP2 bow came at Silverstone in June 2006, when he stepped in for the hurt Olivier Pla in a DPR Direxiv entry. He battled to 11th in race one after stalling at the start, and he also finished 11th in race two. That year he was named National Racing Driver of the Year at the McLaren Autosport Awards.

In 2007 he drove for Super Nova Racing and took a podium at Silverstone. He also signed as a test driver for the Honda Racing F1 Team. For 2008 he moved to Trident Racing, and his first GP2 series win came at Monaco in the sprint race.

The Monaco feature race had been a strong one for him as well. He was running third until backmarker Javier Villa collided with him on the final lap. At Magny-Cours he crossed the line eighth in the feature race, then sixth in a soaked sprint race. He ended the 2008 drivers' championship in 12th place, two positions better than the previous year.

Why did Conway move into IndyCar?

Conway moved to IndyCar after he impressed during a test at Infineon Raceway in 2008, where he topped one session in front of several regular series drivers. He signed with Dreyer and Reinbold Racing for a full-time IndyCar season in 2009. The move gave him a route into the highest level of American open-wheel racing.

His IndyCar years were eventful but productive. He won the Long Beach race in 2011 and later took wins at Belle Isle and at both the Long Beach and Toronto doubleheaders. In between, he endured a serious crash at Indianapolis that changed the direction of his career.

What happened at the 2010 Indianapolis 500?

The 2010 Indianapolis 500 ended badly for Conway. On the last lap he was alongside Ryan Hunter-Reay when the two made contact. Hunter-Reay's car was short of fuel and slowed between turns three and four, and Conway's Dallara-Honda was launched into the air. He broke a leg and suffered a compression fracture in his upper spine.

He was flown to the Methodist Hospital of Indianapolis, where he was fitted with a brace for his back. The injuries largely ended his season. The accident was a turning point, and his recovery shaped the years that followed.

How did Conway's IndyCar career develop after 2010?

Andretti Autosport confirmed a full-time 2011 IndyCar seat for Conway on 1 February of that year. His first IndyCar victory came at Long Beach on 17 April 2011. The rest of that year was less successful, with only three more top-ten finishes, a failure to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 and a 17th-place finish in the championship.

In 2012 he moved to A. J. Foyt Enterprises and returned to the Indianapolis 500. He qualified near the back and was moving forward when he entered the pits during a scheduled stop. A crew member was struck and his front wing was damaged, and a later spin in front of Will Power sent his car into the inside wall and then into the fence. He was uninjured but finished 29th.

Later in 2012 he finished third at Toronto, the high point of his season. In the week before the Fontana finale he told the Foyt team he no longer felt comfortable on oval tracks, and he asked not to race. Wade Cunningham replaced him. He pointed to the 2010 Indianapolis 500 crash and to the wider debate about ovals after Dan Wheldon's death in October 2011.

In 2013 he made a single start at Long Beach for Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan, ending 25th after an electrical fault. He then drove doubleheader rounds for Dale Coyne Racing, winning on his first outing at the Belle Isle Park road course. In 2014 he raced only road and street circuits for Ed Carpenter Racing and won the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and the Honda Indy Toronto doubleheader.

How did Conway start his sports car career?

In 2013 Conway decided to race sports cars alongside his IndyCar programme. He signed on for the whole World Endurance season with G-Drive Racing in LMP2, sharing the car with John Martin and Roman Rusinov. The team started the season with two points finishes, but at Le Mans the car was excluded from third place because of a fuel tank infraction.

The crew then found form. They dominated from pole at Sao Paulo and at Austin, finished second in Japan and won the last two races to finish third in the LMP2 category standings. It was a strong first season in endurance racing.

In 2014 he became a test and reserve driver at Toyota Gazoo Racing in the top class, and drove for the team in three rounds. He took his first overall sportscar win at Bahrain, where he beat the Porsche entries on pace. That same summer he was named as a Dragon Racing driver for the first Formula E season, but he quit the team before round one.

How did Conway win World Endurance titles with Toyota?

From 2015 Conway was a full-time Toyota driver, partnering Stephane Sarrazin and Alexander Wurz. Toyota struggled to match its rivals that year, and the team finished sixth in the standings. When Wurz retired, Kamui Kobayashi joined the line-up for 2016.

The 2016 Le Mans race was a near miss. Conway took the lead in the opening hour and lost it during the night, but he regained it in the morning before a garage stop for floor damage cost the car a place. The car finished second after the No. 5 retired on the final lap. The team later won its home race at Fuji and finished third overall in the title fight.

In 2017 Conway, Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez shared the No. 7 car. They finished second at Spa, but the car's clutch failed during the night at Le Mans and forced a retirement. Over the rest of the season the team scored only two more podiums.

The 2018-19 season brought Toyota's dominance, since no other manufacturer contested the top class. Conway won at Fuji and Shanghai, and the No. 7 was runner-up in the standings, 41 points adrift of the No. 8. The 2019 Le Mans race was lost within the final hour when a puncture dropped the car behind its sister car.

The 2019-20 season was the final year of the old LMP1 rules, and the No. 7 crew won the championship. Conway and Kobayashi took pole at Silverstone and won the race with Lopez. The car won again at the 2019 8 Hours of Bahrain and at Spa after the COVID break, and Conway and Lopez took a pole and a victory in Bahrain to secure the title.

What did Conway win in the Hypercar era?

In 2021 the new Le Mans Hypercar regulations arrived, and Toyota ran the GR010 Hybrid. The No. 7 team had a troubled Spa and finished third before a second-place finish at Portimao. It then won the Monza round after a short battle with Alpine, and Kobayashi took pole at Le Mans.

At Le Mans, Conway took the lead once the sister car crashed on the first restart behind the safety car. The No. 7 team had few problems and won, giving Conway, Kobayashi and Lopez their first 24 Hours victories. The team then won the first Bahrain event of the season and a second place in the final round was enough to keep the World Championship. It was the first title won in the Hypercar era.

The 2022 season was harder. Lopez caused a heavy crash at Sebring, but the team bounced back to win at Spa and later at Bahrain, where Conway's speed let the team ask Brendon Hartley to wave him through. The No. 7 car ended third in the overall table, sixteen points adrift of the sister car.

In 2023 the No. 7 car opened with a Sebring victory and added Spa later on. The team was runner-up in the standings, and the No. 8 took both the Bahrain race win and the title. In 2024 Lopez left, and Conway partnered Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries.

Why did Conway miss Le Mans in 2024?

A cycling accident the day before the 2024 Le Mans race left Conway with fractured ribs and a broken collarbone, so Lopez replaced him for that weekend. Conway returned at Sao Paulo, where he led the early stages before a fuel pressure problem dropped him off the lead lap. The team finished second at the Lone Star Le Mans, losing out to a drive-through penalty for Kobayashi.

Conway described the penalty as bizarre. The rest of the season was quiet, and at the Bahrain finale the car retired from the lead with a fuel pump problem. In 2025 Conway and his teammates were unchanged, and he later suffered another collarbone injury in a bike crash.

How did Conway's final season go?

The 2026 season saw Conway race the updated TR010 chassis with Toyota. The No. 7 car took third at the Imola opener and fifth at Spa. At Le Mans the team beat the No. 20 BMW to the chequered flag, their second Le Mans success together.

The team then lost the championship lead after a 12th-place finish at Sao Paulo, and a late technical problem denied it the win at Austin. Kobayashi received a drive-through penalty at Fuji, but the team still finished eighth there and kept second in the standings. Conway has said he will step away from racing once the 2026 campaign ends.

What are Conway's main results?