Mike Conway will be back at the wheel on Sunday, racing on the World Endurance Championship circuit in Brazil at the 6 Hours of São Paulo for the first time since joining the ranks of the motorsport elite.
It is a month since the 42-year-old from Kent became a multiple winner of the 24 Hour of Le Mans. In the past 60 years the only other British drivers to have done so are Derek Bell and Allan McNish, both members of the Le Mans drivers’ Hall of Fame.
Yet beyond the boundaries of the track, few people are aware of Conway and his uneven, unlikely, death-defying story.
A childhood karting friend of Lewis Hamilton, Conway once dreamed the same F1 dream that Hamilton did.
“Lewis and I raced in go-karts from eight years old until we went into cars and we raced again in Formula Renault,” he said.
“We were close friends then. Karting is a family environment where the mums and dads hang out with each other and kids hang out with each other too. But our careers went in different directions.”
After a dabble as a test driver with Honda F1, Conway’s path took him to the United States and IndyCar racing. That was very nearly the end of him. He was involved in a terrifying crash in the Indianapolis 500 that shattered his car and left him with a fractured spine and a broken leg. His horrified parents were trackside. Conway was lucky to survive. “We all think we are invincible until we find out we’re not,” he said.
“It was quite a long recovery. I tried to black the crash out the best I could but I found that when I went back to IndyCar it did bring back some memories.
“The following year I ended up having a few more crashes – nothing bad – but it left me thinking: ‘maybe this isn’t the future for me.’”
At that point Conway, working through the psychological challenges, actively toyed with packing in motorsport.
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“When you take a few blows and things aren’t going your way you lose that will to keep going,” he said.
He decided to come back to Europe and try sports car endurance racing. He gave himself one year.
“I wasn’t even sure I could drive that long because I’d never done it before,” he said. “But I loved sports cars from the start. You adapt yourself and adapt your driving style. It was really good to learn something new, something that was all about teamwork.”
Two World Endurance Championship titles and 19 race wins later, the move turns out to have been an inspired one.
At the pinnacle of his achievements are his two race wins in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Conway has competed in it 12 times and also has four second-place finishes and a third. Along the way, he has become part of the fabric of the iconic race.
“You can watch it on TV but when you’re actually there experiencing it then it’s a whole different ball game,” he said.
The scale is off the charts with 350,000 attending annually. The spectacle at night under the lights is noisily entrancing.
It is a festival on top of a motor race with a motorsport museum on site that is a petrol head’s Aladdin’s cave, and bands, funfair rides, fireworks and drone shows for more fairweather fans.
All the time the racers are giving it hell around the Circuit de la Sarthe.
The three drivers in each team rotate while the others take it in turns to rest. Sleep for the drivers is fitful at best.
“I probably got about an hour this year,” said Conway. “It took until about the Friday afterwards to feel normal.”
Exhausted and elated at the race’s conclusion, he sat on the track absorbing the scene. Thousands of fans were milling around in the sunshine, reluctant to leave.
Nearby was the finish line that carried handwritten good luck messages from fans, a line his Toyota team had crossed first – just 10.9 seconds in front after a journey of 3,225 miles.
“I made sure I tried to take it all in. I just sat down on the track and soaked it up even though my arse was on fire because the tarmac was so hot,” said Conway.
“There were lots of tears of joy. The buildup is so intense to something which is so unpredictable so when it ends it all comes out.
“I did find it an emotional one this year. Even before the race, when I got strapped in and they were going to close the door, I got a bit choked up which I haven’t done in the past.
“It’s such a special event. There’s so many people there and you really feel the history. It’s a full-on 24-hour sprint and it’s the hardest event on the calendar but that’s why it means so much.”
Conway wishes all the top F1 drivers could experience it.
“It would be nice if the F1 calendar didn’t clash with Le Mans because you might see a lot more drivers come and do it then,” he said.
“We’re seeing more and more who want to try – I was interested to watch Max Verstappen at the Nürburgring 24 Hour this year – and there’s definitely others that want to do it.
“I don’t know if Lewis has an interest but drivers like Kimi Antonelli are keen. I think it’s great for the sport.”
F1 remains the most glamorous destination in motorsport but McLaren and Ford’s entry into the World Endurance Championship next season after Aston Martin’s arrival last season reflect its widening appeal.
“It’s a cool time to be in it,” said Conway. “It’s a golden era for sports cars.”
And yet 2026 may be his last season.
Retirement has been rumoured. He is not willing to confirm that as yet but, he says, his future will become clear before the summer is out.
If it is to be the end of the line then Conway, who lives in Monaco with his wife and three-year-old daughter, will depart as the most successful British driver in World Endurance Championship history.
“It’s worked out great, I’d say.”
Photograph by James Moy/Getty Images