Injury forces Lopez out of Spa 6 Hour

Toyota Gazoo Racing LMP1 driver José María López has been ruled out of this Saturday's FIA WEC 6 Hours of Spa by a vertebrae injury sustained in his accident during the opening round of the season at Silverstone last month. This leaves his teammates Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi to compete as a pair on short notice in the No. 7 Toyota TS050 Hybrid.

Both the FIA Medical Delegate Dr. Jacques Tropenant and the Toyota doctor have decided to not clear him to race this Saturday. With the extra recovery time, the team hopes to ensure he is fully recovered to race at Le Mans next month.

"I'm extremely disappointed to miss this weekend's race as I was really looking forward to driving the TS050 Hybrid at Spa," said López, (pictured, middle, with Conway and Kobayashi, JEP/LAT photo). "I feel basically fine but we all agree that we should take no chances; the priority is to be absolutely fit for Le Mans.

"Probably I could race if we were at a different track but a driver's body experiences extreme forces through Eau Rouge so, after discussions with the FIA Medical Delegate and our team doctor, we decided I should not drive this weekend."

The team plans to put López back behind the wheel of the TS050 in a test session at the end of this month, to allow him to get further track time ahead of the Le Mans Test Day on June 4.

Saturday's FIA WEC 6 Hours of Spa is set to begin at 2:30 p.m. local time in Belgium.