Autosportfoto

Toyota replaces Davidson for Austin World Endurance round

Toyota has reshuffled its driver line-up for this weekend's round of the World Endurance Championship at Austin.

Stephane Sarrazin will return to the Japanese manufacturer's driver roster to take the place of Anthony Davidson alongside Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima in the #8 Toyota TS050 HYBRID on a one-off basis.

A statement from Toyota said that Davidson would not be traveling to the USA for personal reasons.

Sarrazin will be making his third race appearance with Toyota Gazoo Racing this season.

He drove the additional, third car at the Spa round in May and was then moved into the #7 entry alongside Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Conway in a swap with Jose Maria Lopez for the Le Mans 24 Hours in June.

The Frenchman said: "It's a surprise to be racing the TS050 HYBRID again this season, but I am excited to be back and I'm looking forward to racing with Sebastien, Kazuki and the whole team.

"I will give my all to score as many points for the team as possible."

The line-up in the #7 car of Kobayashi, Conway and Lopez is unchanged for Austin.

Buemi, Nakajima and Davidson are Toyota's best-placed crew in the championship, lying 41 points behind Porsche drivers Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley and Earl Bamber with four rounds of the WEC remaining.

Zdroj: autosport.com