Newly-crowned WEC champion ryohirakawa doubted he could perform at such a high level of racing when he was hired by Toyota to replace Kazuki Nakajima at the start of the year.
The trio went on to take victory in June's double-points Le Mans round and at Fuji in September, with second place in this month's Bahrain finale behind the sister #7 car delivering Toyota its fourth straight WEC crown.
"I didn’t drive well in the first couple of tests, I was so nervous, feeling the pressure," the 28-year-old told Motorsport.com."But the team and my teammates, not only car #8 but also car #7, helped me a lot. I caught up quite quickly thanks to them. "This year we somehow achieved our goals, to win Le Mans and the championship. But a year ago I couldn’t believe that was possible."Hirakawa's opportunity to join the Toyota WEC line-up came five years after he was rejected for a place in the marque's third LMP1 car at Le Mans in favour of compatriot Yuji Kunimoto in 2017.
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