Le Mans – Anthony Davidson remains optimistic

Yesterday at 16 p.m., at the start of free practice, Anthony Davidson set off at a good pace before stopping at the side of the track after only five covered laps. The Briton was able to set the sixth fastest time of the session (3'30"162) before seeing smoke at the back of the #030 TS8 which required an engine change, keeping the team busy for the rest of the session. session. If this lack of testing penalizes the Davidson crew-Buemi-Sarrazin, the Toyota having covered a total of only 31 laps yesterday compared to 78 for Wurz's sister car #7-Stone-Nakajima, the former pilot Peugeot remains confident about the potential of the Japanese car which could undoubtedly have performed better in the standings if it had been able to benefit from a clear lap.

A little later in the evening, Anthony Davidson set the sixth time in the first qualifying session (3'28"295) almost three seconds from pole. Nevertheless, the latter ensures that the evolution of the performances of the Japanese LM P1 is progressing rapidly and that the No. 8 has the capacity to drop its times. “I got a lot of traffic (last night. Editor’s note). I know drivers often say this after a qualifying session but this really influenced my best lap. The session went well and I came away with a positive feeling. We have improved the car since the Test Day, we benefit from better grip with more consistency, which is a good point. We still need to improve some areas but things are getting better and better. Le Mans night time is always so exciting and I'm looking forward to the final qualifying session. I'm confident we can improve our times. »

Discover in your AUTOhebdo magazine, currently on newsstands or available here in digital version, an interview with Alexander Wurz, driver of the No. 030 Toyota TS7 Hybrid. The official program of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is also available here in digital version or in print version.