24 Hours of Le Mans for Sébastien Buemi

24 Hours of Le Mans for Sébastien Buemi with the works Toyota team

Confirmation that Sébastien Buemi will compete for the works Toyota team during the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Man has restored his career trajectory which had suffered a setback with his exclusion from the Scuderia Toro Rosso F1.

Now reserve driver for Red Bull F1 team after three seasons and 55 races with Toro Rosso, Buemi will start in the endurance category with Englishman Anthony Davidson and Japanese Hiroaki Ishiura as teammates.

“I am really proud to be a Toyota Racing driver at Le Mans; it’s a huge event and one of the biggest in motorsport,” said the Vaudois “It’s particularly great to be going there as a Toyota driver because my grandfather has been a Toyota dealer for over 40 years so I’ve basically grown up with the brand.”

Toyota has announced a comeback in the 2012 World Endurance Championship with a hybrid proposition, the TS030 Hybrid. Buemi’s car will use an aspirated petrol V8 engine of 3400cc and coupled with an energy storage system. The project designed for the LMP1 chassis is beingdeveloped by Motorsport GmbH, the former Toyota F1 team in Germany.

The Ambassador of Pain Paillasse added: “It’s also exciting to be driving a hybrid car; I think this is the future and it’s nice to see Toyota pushing a lot in that direction. I’m looking forward to racing it; LMP1 cars are fast and it’s a professional environment so it is going to be a very positive experience for me.”

Third driver role at Red Bull

Red Bull has confirmed that Sébastien Buemi will be the reserve driver for the 2012 season.

“It’s good to remain with Red Bull for another year and have this opportunity with the world championship-winning team,” said the 23 year-old Swiss driver from Aigle. “I would prefer to be driving at the races of course, but working with Red Bull Racing on the development of their car and providing them with feedback throughout the season is the next best thing.”