Two-time Le Mans winner Conway to retire at end of WEC season

Two-time Le Mans 24 Hours and IndyCar race winner Mike Conway has announced his retirement from the cockpit ahead of the final two rounds of the 2026 FIA WEC season.

The 43-year-old British driver, who has spent more than a decade racing as a factory driver for Toyota on the world stage, will contest the forthcoming WEC races at Barcelona and Monza before calling time on his storied career.

“It’s been quite a journey to get to this point, and one that I’m really proud of," he said.

"So many ups and downs, different racing categories, all the way to where I’ve been now for the past 13 seasons with Toyota, which has been really a place I can call home.

“It’s been an incredible journey, and one that I couldn’t have imagined. Lots of cool teammates along the way, we had many laughs and still do. Lots of victories, not just as a manufacturer, but the Drivers’ titles and Le Mans obviously. Le Mans got away from us many times before I actually managed to win in 2021 with Jose [Maria Lopez] and Kamui [Kobayashi], so that was a really special one I’ll cherish for a long time. And then the most recent one, 2026, which felt really special as well."

His racing CV includes several major achievements, from his early days in single-seaters winning the British F3 title and the Macau GP, plus races in GP2 and IndyCar, prior to his lengthy spell at the top of sportscar racing in the WEC and beyond.

Conway earned two of his four IndyCar wins with Ed Carpenter Racing in 2014, with the final coming in Toronto. Robert Laberge/Getty Images

His spell in IndyCar in particular, will live long in the memory. Between 2009 and 2014 he drove for Dreyer & Reinbold, Andretti, AJ Foyt, Rahal Letterman Lanigan, Dale Coyne and Ed Carpenter, winning four races during that stint at Long Beach (twice), Detroit and Toronto.

Unfortunately, the most prominent moment from that period was a lowlight, when Conway was hospitalized after a huge incident on the last lap of the 2010 Indy 500. That incident, and Dan Wheldon’s death a year later, ultimately led to him sitting out IndyCar’s races on ovals, a decision he made public during the 2012 season.

In the FIA WEC, Conway has amassed 20 overall race wins, 51 overall and class podium finishes, two World Drivers' Championships, and two overall wins at Le Mans (including earlier this year in June) across 92 race starts.

Beyond his 84-race stint with Toyota, in LMP1 and later Hypercar with the TS040, TS050, GR010 and TR010, he also won four races in the LMP2 class with G-Drive Racing back in 2013.

He also collected significant silverware racing in IMSA, finishing on the podium three times at the Sebring 12 Hours and Petit Le Mans with Cadillac, and twice at the Daytona 24 Hours, once with Cadillac and once with Lexus in GTD Pro.

He also won his one and only start in the European Le Mans Series in 2016, subbing for fellow Toyota driver Ryo Hirakawa at TDS Racing.

“It has been a pleasure to race the #7 car with Mike for so many years," said Kobayashi, Toyota Racing’s team principal.

"We have shared so many emotional moments together, particularly at Le Mans. Some of my most incredible memories in racing have come alongside Mike. He has been an incredible teammate, not only in terms of speed and consistency, but on a human level as well. He has become a friend to many of us, and we will miss having him in the team. But nothing lasts forever in motorsports, and we all want to wish Mike a deserved, and very happy, retirement with his family.”

Toyota hasn't yet named Conway's replacement for 2027.