WEC – Davidson and Sarrazin eager to do battle

Toyota is preparing to return to the charge against Audi by fielding two TS6s at the 030 Hours of Silverstone. The Japanese manufacturer had already put itself on the level of its rival from Ingolstadt last year by winning three victories in six races with the n°7 of Nicolas Lapierre and Alex Wurz. After taking advantage of the winter break to optimize its hybrid LMP1 prototype, the Japanese team will enter two cars for the entire season, the No. 8 of Stéphane Sarrazin, Anthony Davidson and Sébastien Buemi (in interview in issue 1904 currently available in digital and paper version) being registered for the eight events of the Championship.

Anthony Davidson has a bad memory behind the wheel of the Toyota 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Briton flew away following contact with a GT at the end of the Hunaudières and remained away from the circuits for several months following his accident. However, the 2011 ILMC champion is impatient at the idea of ​​driving the TS030 again in his national event. ?I can't wait to race again for Toyota Racing, the wait has lasted too long! The tests were very conclusive and, personally, I was happy to find the car again after this long forced break. It will be all the more special as I haven't raced at home since 2010, the year I won the race. Obviously, the objective is to repeat this victory to start the season as well as possible. The fight will be difficult but we have a very competitive car and we are ready for the season. »

Stéphane Sarrazin shares his teammate's impatience after having also waited to get back behind the wheel of the Toyota since the double round of the clock at Le Mans. The Frenchman was nevertheless able to remain active by notably defending the colors of Starworks Motorsport in WEC (package this year) and Sébastien Loeb Racing in ELMS. “I’m looking forward to teaming up again with Anthony and Sébastien behind the wheel of the #8. We had some good tests this winter and I feel ready for the first round of the season. The TS030 Hybrid already impressed me when I first raced it at Le Mans last year, but it has improved further since then; so I can't wait to test it in the race. My last time at the wheel was ten months ago, it's funny when I think about it, but I've raced a lot in the meantime in other categories. So I had plenty of opportunity to sharpen my driving and I can't wait to be able to fight at the front again. »

Discover Toyota's preview for the 2013 WEC season by visiting this link.

All the teams and their crews, the circuits as well as the challenges of this new season of the world championshipEndurance can be discovered in the WEC 2013 Guide dated April 10, in AUTOhebdo n°1904, available now in digital version et in all kiosks.