Toyota's Anthony Davidson looks forward to COTA return
He may have been missing in action at the Six Hours of Mexico but Toyota LM P1 racer Anthony Davidson is eagerly awaiting the chance to get back behind the wheel in Texas for the Six Hour of Circuit of the Americas.
After suffering a rib injury in testing at Circuit Paul Ricard, Davidson return to the wheel of the No.5 Toyota TS 040 Hybrid for Thursday morning testing in Mexico only to discover he needed more time before making a full-time return alongside Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima.
He was one of two LM P1 stars to miss the Mexican event with Audi’s Benoit Treluyer also skipping the race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez while recovering from the cycling crash-induced back injury which also forced him to miss the Nurburgring.
“Weirdly unlike most injuries the worst thing for ribs is sleeping,” Davidson said.
“Lying on that side in bed it aggravates it. Actually standing around not moving much is the best thing for them.
“It is a strange part of your body to hurt and anybody who has gone through rib pain before can totally emphasise. The last thing you want is to go through those high-g corners putting pressure on a carbon seat – it’s not nice!
“I felt it on the out lap in Mexico in testing. I carried on and did a couple more laps but realised quickly I was probably going to do myself more harm than good for the rest of the season.
“I think we made the sensible decision not to race in Mexico and I wasn’t alone because Benoit Treluyer was in the same situation with his back injury.
“He is working towards COTA as well just like I am.”
The British ace was fastest in qualifying here in Texas in 2014 and went on to finish third. He also scored a podium in second place at the FIA WEC’s debut race in Austin in 2013.
“For a modern race track designed around the current FIA spec 1 standard it has such character,” Davidson said.
“It is a real rarity today in circuit design. I love the circuit. It is so challenging and so rewarding when you get it right.
“It flows well, it works well with traffic which is a big part of our game in LM P1. I’m still learning it.
“There are so many unique details about the track. You have huge elevation going into turn one. That’s a one off corner and people talk about it as the main point of COTA but it’s not.
“The main challenge is the section that leads after it. Picking your line through there, where to carry the speed and where to do your fuel lifts are really important.”
Circuit of The Americas’ unique combination of fast, medium and slow speed corners presents challenges even for the most experienced of racers like Davidson – particularly the in the final sector of the course.
“The next most important part of the track is the penultimate complex with the slow-speed technical stuff arounds turn 13, 14 and 15,” he said.
“It is really deceptive as to where you should put the car. You often go for the wrong line and it doesn’t work out but inside the car it feels like it should.
“Throw in the traffic with that mix and it is a really hard track to master.
“You always feel like you come away from there with the need to do more laps.”
Paul Ryan
Photos by Adrenal Media
