Le Mans: Nakajima close to test day clearance

Toyota driver Kazuki Nakajima's participation in this weekend's Le Mans test day should be signed off tomorrow afternoon following the injuries he sustained at Spa.

Nakajima, who suffered a fractured vertebra in the Spa World Endurance Championship round earlier this month, has been given the all-clear to compete by both his own doctors in Japan and those of Toyota. The Japanese driver must now be given the final go-ahead by the FIA medical delegate for the WEC when he arrives in Le Mans for the test day.

"We fully expect that Kazuki will be taking part this weekend and should be able to confirm that on Saturday morning once he has seen the FIA medical delegate," a spokesman for Toyota Motorsport GmbH told AUTOSPORT.

A final decision on Nakajima's participation in the race alongside Anthony Davidson and Sebastien Buemi will be made after the test day.

"We will make a decision based on how the test goes, but we are expecting him to race," added the spokesman.

Toyota test and reserve driver Kamui Kobayashi will be present in Le Mans for the test on Sunday, but it is unclear whether he will drive the #1 Toyota TS040 HYBRID if Nakajima is declared fit.

Kobayashi, who is qualified to race at Le Mans after competing in the 24 Hours with the factory Ferrari AF Corse team in 2013, has so far tested the TS040 on three occasions, including Toyota's shakedown at Spa on May 19-20.

Porsche GT driver Frederic Makowiecki, who looked set to join the LMP1 squad for Le Mans for much of the winter, is listed in all three of the German manufacturer's 919 Hybrids for the test day. Four of the five reserves on Le Mans entry list are scheduled to take part on Sunday.

KCMG has entered its open-top ORECA-Nissan 03R with a roster of drivers including Christian Klien, Ibanez Racing will run its reserve entry for a second ORECA 03R alongside its confirmed car, Formula Racing will be present with its AF Corse-run Ferrari 458 Italia and Gulf Racing UK with its Porsche 911 RSR.

AF Corse will run a further two cars GTE Am Ferraris.

Two works-run Ginetta-Nissan LMP3s (pictured) bring the total number of cars taking part this weekend to 64.

Originally on Autosport.com