Toyota Gazoo Racing has announced that 23-year-old Super GT and Super Formula driver Ritomo Miyata has been selected to become its latest ‘WEC Challenge Program driver’.
The programme, which Toyota runs in-house, will see Miyata participate in sim work at Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe’s base in Cologne Germany, and join the team at Le Mans, Monza and Fuji this season on WEC weekends in a non-driving capacity.
During this process, Toyota aims to integrate him into the team, so he can become more familiar with international motorsport. If he performs well and makes significant progress, he will be offered a chance later to continue as a member of the programme.
Miyata has “shown consistent speed in the domestic competition” according to Toyota. In 2023 he has been competing in Super GT’s GT500 category with TGR Team au TOM’S and with VANTELIN TEAM TOM’S in the Japanese single-seater series, Super Formula. So far this season he has already claimed a Super GT race win at Fuji and a Super Formula win at Suzuka.
“He has expressed his determination to compete at World Championship level and already made strong efforts to achieve this, including participating in a simulator session at TGR Europe last year. He impressed the team with his driving performance, and set competitive lap times, to earn his selection as a WEC Challenge driver,” Toyota revealed as part of the announcement.
In addition, a new WEC Challenge Program training session for young drivers has been announced for the Le Mans 24 Hours. Toyota Gazoo Racing Driver Challenge Program Racing School members Jin Nakamura and Rikuto Kobayashi will participate and experience firsthand how WEC drivers and engineers take on the challenge of Le Mans.
By broadening the horizons of aspiring drivers through overseas experience at one of the world’s toughest and most prestigious races, Toyota Gazoo Racing aims to build strong foundations which will enhance their chances of participating in WEC in the future.
In the past, Toyota has used its young driver programmes to evaluate drivers for its WEC effort. Ryo Hirakawa, who currently competes in Hypercar with the Japanese manufacturer, was previously part of a young driver initiative.
Featured image courtesy of Toyota
