Anthony Davidson completes first test with Toyota's TS030 hybrid Le Mans racer
Anthony Davidson had his first test of Toyota's TS030 hybrid Le Mans racer at Aragon this week
The former Peugeot driver joined team-mates Alexander Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre, Kazuki Nakajima and Sebastien Buemi at the three day test, which concluded with an endurance simulation on Thursday.
"For my first time at the wheel of the TS030 HYBRID, I felt confident very quickly," said Davidson. "I really enjoyed my first experience with the Hybrid technology. The start procedure, with only the electric motor, is quite amazing.
"The car is good, with a lot of grip and it performs well in the slow corner: It's very agile. This is the first step with our new aero package and I think we have a strong potential."
The test gave Toyota a chance to further evaluate its latest specification aerodynamic package, while it also focused on tyre testing and practicing pitstops in race conditions.
Toyota Motorsport technical director Pascal Vasselon said: "Aragon is representative of Le Mans in terms of track layout, asphalt characteristics and weather conditions. Therefore, we have been able to evaluate several options on our new bodywork and develop it with the 24 Hours in mind.
"Adding to that, we continue our work on the assessment of Michelin's tyre range to ensure we can cover all kinds of temperature and track conditions."
Vasselon added that the test did not pass without problems, as Toyota makes up for track time lost when its first test car was damaged beyond repair last month.
"The endurance test has not been as smooth as expected," he said. "We had a couple of issues, but we fixed them to achieve a reasonable mileage.
"Step by step, we are close to having a car capable to do a 24-hour race. After such a long time without being on track, I am pleased to see that both team and car have made a real step forward."
Toyota added that it had been able to use this week's test to finalise the specifications of its THS-R hybrid powertrain ahead of Le Mans.
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