Hirakawa handed surprise Toyota WEC hypercar test chance
Ryo Hirakawa has been handed an unexpected chance to drive Toyota’s Le Mans Hypercar in a test following the next round of the FIA World Endurance Championship at Portimao.


The Super Formula and SUPER GT star, 27, will be at the wheel of the all-new GR010 Hybrid in Portugal on 15-17 June.
It marks Hirakawa’s first involvement in Toyota’s WEC programme since he tested for the Japanese manufacturer back in early 2017, ahead of that year’s Le Mans 24 Hours.
Having been placed in the European Le Mans Series in 2016, Hirakawa was being groomed for a future LMP1 drive with Toyota, but was ultimately passed up for a seat in the third Toyota TS050 Hybrid for Le Mans in 2017 in favour of Yuji Kunimoto.
He returned to Japanese racing full-time thereafter, winning the 2017 SUPER GT title alongside Nick Cassidy and finishing runner-up in the three following seasons. He also finished second overall to Naoki Yamamoto in Super Formula last season.
It is understood the test is just a one-off outing at this stage, with Toyota curious to give Hirakawa another outing following his recent successes in Japan. But it will inevitably raise the question of whether Hirakawa could land a full-time Toyota Hypercar role in future.
Toyota had placed another of its Japanese aces, 2019 SUPER GT champion Kenta Yamashita, in the WEC for the COVID-19-disrupted 2019/20 season with LMP2 team High Class Racing.

#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota Gr010 - Hybrid: Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Jose Maria Lopez
Photo by: Erik Junius
But, despite Yamashita earning plaudits for his drive at Le Mans, it was ultimately decided that he should return to racing full-time in SUPER GT for the 2021 season.
Toyota team director Rob Leupen had suggested last year that Yamashita could be in line to eventually succeed Kazuki Nakajima on the Toyota WEC roster, which in recent seasons has always featured one Japanese driver per car.
Hirakawa has one important advantage over Yamashita in that he speaks fluent English. Yamashita had moved to Germany in early 2020 in order to help him develop his language skills, but returned to Japan in March due to the onset of the global health crisis.
Nyck de Vries is currently the only test and development driver on Toyota’s books following the departure of both Yamashita and previous reserve driver Thomas Laurent.
Takaboshi replaces absent Hirakawa for Sugo Super Formula
Hirakawa taking part in the test means he will be miss the next round of the Super Formula season at Sugo on June 20, owing to Japan’s strict 14-day quarantine rule.
Nissan SUPER GT driver Mitsunori Takaboshi will fill the vacant spot at Impul alongside Yuhi Sekiguchi, having made one race outing last year with B-Max Racing in place of the team's originally contracted driver Sergio Sette Camara.
Hirakawa currently lies second in the Super Formula standings behind Tomoki Nojiri, who has won two of the first three races of the season.
Related video

WEC set for largest grid since 2012 at Monza
Hirakawa: Toyota WEC test is “quite a big chance”

Latest news
The final episode on the Monza round of the FIA World Endurance Championship sees the action reach a dramatic and thrilling conclusion in the race.
Rast, Muller and Cassidy to miss Fuji WEC to focus on DTM
Rene Rast, Nico Muller and Nick Cassidy are all expected to miss the fifth round of the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship at Fuji Speedway next month to prioritise their DTM commitments.
In the third episode on the behind-the-scenes at the Monza round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, attention turns to the pre-race preparations.
WRT to run BMW's factory LMDh team in WEC after Audi split
Successful sportscar outfit WRT will run BMW's World Endurance Championship LMDh programme in 2024 after splitting with Audi, and is expected to race the Bavarian marque's GT3 machinery next season.
The problem sausage kerbs continue to cause
Track limits are the problem that motorsport doesn't seem to be able to rid itself of. But the use of so-called 'sausage kerbs' as a deterrent has in several instances only served to worsen the problem, and a growing number of voices want to see action taken
The history lessons Peugeot should have learned on its return
The Peugeot 9X8 will make its World Endurance Championship debut at Monza this weekend. The French manufacturer has gone radical and will be hoping it doesn’t need to overhaul its contender, as it did with its first Le Mans challenger…
Why Peugeot's sportscar return will capture the imagination
OPINION: Peugeot will make its World Endurance Championship debut at Monza this weekend with the 9X8 Le Mans Hypercar that has ignored design conventions by eschewing a rear wing. Its distinctive look will help sportscar racing appeal to fresh audiences as a new golden era is ushered in
How Formula E's double-duty drivers influenced their Le Mans teams' fortunes
Eight Formula E drivers made the 7,000-mile sprint from the streets of Jakarta to the fabled Circuit de la Sarthe and every one had a story to share at this year's Le Mans 24 Hours. Despite a range of triumphs and disappointments, each driver doubling up on the day job played a key role in their teams' fortunes
How an Italian junior formula giant is readying for its Le Mans future
Prema remains a colossus in single-seaters, but the serial Formula 2 and Formula 3 title-winning squad has joined forces with top GT squad Iron Lynx for an attack on sportscars in the World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series. Ahead of its debut at the Le Mans 24 Hours, its sights are firmly fixed on LMP2 glory – and a future in Hypercars next year...
The British rookies targeting a good first impression at Le Mans
Three young Britons will make their first starts in the Le Mans 24 Hours this weekend in the highly-competitive 23-car GTE Am field. But how did they get here? Autosport hears their stories.
The wingless wonder Peugeot hopes will restore it to Le Mans glory
Peugeot went radical with the initial plan for its Le Mans Hypercar project, and then stuck to its guns. Here’s how things are shaping up a few weeks before the debut of the 9X8 in next month's Monza World Endurance Championship round
How Toyota’s sole survivor turned the tables at Spa
After a chastening opening to the season at Sebring that ended in an enormous accident, Toyota's #7 crew got their World Endurance Championship underway with victory at a treacherously slippery Spa to make up for its sister car's Sebring defeat to Alpine, as Glickenhaus's promising qualifying turned to disaster in the race