Kazuki Nakajima 'needs miracle' to make Le Mans after Spa WEC crash

Toyota Motorsport GmbH team director Rob Leupen said that it would require a "small miracle" for the Japanese driver to recover in time from the fractured vertebra he sustained in an accident in free practice on Thursday at the Spa World Endurance Championship round.

"Normally this type of injury takes two to three months to heal and the Le Mans test day is in five weeks [on May 31]," Leupen told AUTOSPORT.

"Being realistic he is not going to recover in time to do Le Mans."

TMG technical director Pascal Vasselon explained that Toyota was keeping it options open for the blue-riband WEC round on June 13/14.

"Kazuki has a fighting spirit and doesn't want to rule himself out," he said.

Toyota, which has completed its endurance running for the 24 Hours, will bring in test and reserve driver Kamui Kobayashi for its roll-out run at Spa ahead of the Le Mans test in preparation for the Formula 1 podium finisher taking part in the WEC's premier race.

Nakajima fractured the L4 vertebra in his lower back after running into the back of Oliver Jarvis's Audi on a wet track in first practice.

He is currently in hospital in the nearby town of Verviers, where he could continue his rehabilitation, and will not require surgery.

"We are currently looking at the best solution and will make a decision together with Kazuki, but he seems to like the food," said Leupen.

The #1 Toyota TS040 HYBRID, which Anthony Davidson and Sebastien Buemi will now race as a duo this weekend at Spa, has been rebuilt around a new monocoque brought from TMG headquarters and will take part in final free practice on Friday afternoon.

Vasselon revealed that had the team lost a monocoque this time last year, it would have been ruled out of the race.

"We have had several damaged monocoques this year [including one in testing at Paul Ricard last month] and if what happened now had happened last year, we would not have raced," he explained.

"We are lucky that we are racing the same monocoque as last year, so we can recover last year's monocoques."