Toyota Taking Things “Step-by-Step” with “Special” Masson
Photo: MPS Agency
Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe technical director David Floury says the marque is adopting a “step-by-step” approach towards developing Esteban Masson, who has emerged as a clear candidate for a future race seat with the Japanese marque.
Masson was handed Toyota junior status off the back of an impressive campaign for the Akkodis ASP Lexus LMGT3 team in the FIA World Endurance Championship last year, and has gained experience in LMP2 machinery this year in the European Le Mans Series.
He and his Panis VDS Racing teammates Charles Milesi and Oliver Gray lead the ELMS standings heading into this weekend’s Portimao decider.
Masson’s performances have led to suggestions that he could be in line for a Toyota Hypercar seat in future, with the Frenchman having already sampled the GR010 Hypercar in last year’s post-season rookie test in Bahrain.
Although the Frenchman has not driven the GR010 since then, Floury hinted that further opportunities for Masson could be around the corner.
“Esteban is probably a bit special,” said Floury. “We are betting on him. I must say so far he is delivering to expectations.
“He has done a good job in LMP2 and he is getting stronger and stronger every race. Even at Silverstone, it was his first qualifying and he did a very good job [scoring pole], and in the race he was on slicks in tricky conditions he was fast and made no mistakes.
“He seems to be quite promising and we will keep developing him. But we should take things step-by-step. Hopefully he can clinch the championship in Portimao, and then the plan is to have him test the Hypercar again.”
Floury however said that Masson’s next chance to drive the GR010 would not be in this year’s rookie test, which takes place the day after the season-closing 8 Hours of Bahrain.
“There is no real point in him going through the rookie test again,” he said. “Another point is that we are quite limited in terms of testing opportunities. We have only eight test days for the whole year and we have a lot to do in every test.
“We have to make sure we give enough track time to our race drivers.”
While Toyota has not made a final decision on Masson’s plans for 2026, Floury hinted at a similar program to this year, saying that the 21-year-old would benefit from racing again in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMP2 class.
“I think it’s a good opportunity for him to race in Le Mans again next year,” said Floury when asked by Sportscar365 if Masson could step up to a Hypercar reserve role. “If he is our reserve, it might be difficult to manage.
“Jose Maria [Lopez] has done a good job when he’s jumped in the car, he is always familiar with everything and on the pace. So far we are happy with Jose Maria as the reserve, although for next year it is not decided.”
Floury played down the prospect of either of Akkodis ASP’s current Silver-graded drivers, Clemens Schmid and Finn Gehrsitz, following in Masson’s footsteps in the near future.
“They are doing a good job but we already have Esteban,” said Floury. “There might be opportunities in one year, but we cannot do everything at the same time.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe vice-chairman Kazuki Nakajima has suggested that Toyota’s primary lineup of drivers for the 2026 season will remain unchanged as it prepares to revamp the GR010 Hybrid with a series of upgrades.
“We are quite pleased with our driver lineup,” Nakajima told Sportscar365. “We always need to think long-term, but we believe that the level of our drivers is very close together, consistent and they are all interacting very well with each other.
“Not only within each car crew, but across the whole team, I think we have really good bonding and everyone is working well together.”
Source: Sports Car 365