Toyota confirmed this morning that Alex Wurz, Kazuki Nakajima and Nicolas Lapierre will head its LMP1 programme next year.
The trio will drive the Cologne-built hybrid car at Le Mans and in selected rounds of the World Endurance Championship.
Wurz and Nakajima were of course team mates at Williams in 2007. The Japanese driver had the third driver role and then landed a race seat when Wurz retired prior to the last race in Brazil.
Toyota says that it “will work intensely with all three drivers to learn more about the specific demands of endurance racing, as well as continuously developing the car. In the near future, this will include sessions on TMG’s driving simulator, which already features the Le Mans track and an LMP1 vehicle model.
“Each driver has significant experience at the top level of international motorsport and they have been selected to help the team develop during what is expected to be a learning season in 2012. The length of the respective contracts remains undisclosed.”
Toyota added that: “One car will be entered in selected rounds, although the final identity of the team and its race schedule remain under discussion.”
“As soon as I heard about the possibility to join the team I was instantly excited and keen to be involved,” said Wurz. “I love endurance racing and I have been a fan of Le Mans since my childhood, so I have great memories of Toyotas competing there, particularly the GT-One which was a really sexy, cool-looking car.
“As an ambitious Le Mans racer, this heritage combined with the immense technical capabilities at TMG makes a very attractive combination. So I am extremely happy to be involved, along with Nicolas and Kazuki. One of the most important things in endurance racing is the connection between the drivers. If the drivers are working together it is a very productive situation for the team and ultimately improves lap times and results.
“Nicolas has shown his speed while I really rate Kazuki as a person and a driver so I think we will be a strong team. I can’t wait to get started and I am fascinated by the new challenge of competing with a hybrid car. It is the future of racing so I am very excited that Toyota comes in with this technology. I know Toyota has a lot of expertise in this area and I hope this plays to our advantage.”
Lapierre said: “TMG has some very impressive capabilities and, together with the hybrid system, we have the potential to develop a really strong car. I am interested to experience the hybrid system for the first time; this adds a different aspect to our challenge and we have to consider some different strategic factors.”
“Le Mans will be a new experience for me but it is one I am very much looking forward to,” said Nakajima. “I am familiar with endurance racing thanks to my time in Japanese Super GT and this will help me to adjust.”
Adam Cooper F1 
Any chance of seeing the Toyota team compete in the States? I keep hearing that ALMS might be coming the CotA here in Austin, that would be cool.