Davidson on course for Toyota WEC return at COTA

Former world champion Davidson was forced to miss the 6 Hours of Mexico due to a rib injury sustained in a high-speed testing crash six weeks ago, realising after a brief test run in Mexico City that he was in too much pain to continue.

He will rejoin Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima for what’s expected to be the hottest race of the season.

“I’m happy to be back in the car again,” said Davidson. “Of course it was frustrating to sit out Mexico but it was the right thing to do.

“Weirdly, unlike most injuries, the worst thing for ribs is sleeping. Lying on your 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 empathise. The last thing you want is to go through those high-g corners putting pressure on a carbon seat – it’s not nice!”

Taking on Austin’s challenge

Davidson says he is looking forward to taking on the challenge of COTA, which is one of his favourites on the schedule.

“For a modern race track designed around the current FIA spec-1 standard it has such character,” he added.

“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 LMP1. I’m still learning it.

“There are so many unique details about the track. You have huge elevation going into Turn 1. 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.

“The next-most important part of the track is the penultimate complex with the slow-speed technical stuff around Turns 13, 14 and 15.

“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.”