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#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid: Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Jose Maria Lopez
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Why Jose Maria Lopez isn’t motivated by emulating Fangio

Having twice missed out on Formula 1 and reinvented himself as a touring car driver, Jose Maria Lopez has had a rocky ride to becoming a four-time world champion. One more would put him level with his nation's favourite son, but there's another prize he would value far more than the honour of matching Juan Manuel Fangio's tally.

If Vernon Kay were to front a motorsport-themed edition of Family Fortunes asking for the names of Argentinian racing drivers, you can bet that the first answer given would be five-time Formula 1 world champion Juan Manuel Fangio. F1 aficionados might cite Jose Froilan Gonzalez or Carlos Reutemann, with Oscar Larrauri and Esteban Tuero at the more niche end of the spectrum.

It’s unlikely that one would immediately think of Toyota’s FIA World Endurance Championship charger Jose Maria Lopez for the simple reason that he never raced in motorsport’s most popular series. But with four world titles already to his name, Lopez is arguably the nation’s foremost export since the late Reutemann and it's not too much of a stretch to picture him surpassing Fangio in the world titles stakes.

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