After a career as a test driver at BAR, a not shameful but not brilliant career as a starter at Super Aguri, Davidson took the road to endurance.
And with some success, since he would win the FIA World Endurance Championship title with Toyota in 2014, among others.
“My greatest memory [des voitures de WEC]is that I discovered them much too late in my career,” paradoxically confided Davidson to the FOM.
“When people ask me: “Do you have any regrets in your career?” I answer yes, clearly. When I was testing in F1 all those years, I should have been racing. This is what I say to young drivers now: we have to do something else. »
“The LMP1 cars of the time were almost F1 cars with bodies. I loved driving them and I learned a lot of things that I still use today in F1 with hybrid technology. It's pure racing. And there are also the magical events like Le Mans, which, despite how cruel this place has been for me over the years, remain a challenge that I have always enjoyed! »
But Anthony Davidson almost experienced the worst at Le Mans in 2012. The Toyota N.8, which he was driving, was about to overtake a Ferrari GTE; but following a disagreement, the Toyota was thrown into the air and Davidson violently ended his race against the tires at the Mulsanne bend, at the end of the Hunaudières straight.
“I knew I was going to die” Davidson says today – going back even before his accident.
“I arrived at this edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a little apprehension, and I had that feeling all week. »
“I couldn't put my finger on it, I couldn't express it, but I knew, after playing this sport for so many years… I wanted to suppress it, put it aside, but it was so strange. »
“I never do this, but before the race I left the driver's room and then went back to put my things away. After that, I took my phone and sent a message to my wife: “I love you”. It was like, in my head, I knew I wasn't going to come back to that room. I still get chills just thinking about it. It was like I had a premonition – I really did. »
“Then I went into race mode… I got in the car, I was there, doing what I had to do, taking risks, driving like crazy, the way you should do. But when that moment came, where the driver I was overtaking turned and our cars collided, as soon as my car took off into the air, the engine cut out and everything went silent. It was like a realization: “It’s now!” »
It is almost a near-death experience that the British pilot then describes.
“It was the strangest thing. Basically, I felt like I was going to die… I knew I was going to die. But then I felt completely at peace. It's almost comforting to know that in those moments something is happening in your brain, some sort of calming drug, I don't know, is being released into your body. I've heard people say similar things when talking about drowning. »
The first impact, of more than 30G, caused the damage to his back, and the second, of more than 10G, followed. Davidson escaped with two broken vertebrae.
“I could feel that I was going fast and that I was high,” he continues.
“I didn’t know where the impact would come from. I crossed my arms, a million thoughts were running through my mind, and yes, I thought about my family, about my life… It's not your life flashing before your eyes, but it's almost like my brain is doing some sort of defragmentation, putting things in order – that's the best way to describe it. »
“I was just waiting for a huge impact, and then the lights go out, the end of the game, moment over. And it hit hard. Very strong. I didn't hit my head, but the car landed on its wheels with a 32G impact, as the team later found out. It was this impact that broke my back. Imagine what it's like to be dropped from the height of a ceiling to the ground. It was like an implosion…”
“This force flowed through me like you can’t imagine. Bang. I let out a primal scream, like a warrior's cry. I've never made a noise like that in my life! Then the car hit the barrier at the front, which was another 12G impact. When it stopped, I opened my eyes and couldn't believe I was still here. »
Davidson was sidelined for about six months. This incident has “changed the way I approached racing,” especially on overtaking slower cars, he says, and made his WEC title even more special after overcoming “memories that haunted me. »
“I overcame a huge mental obstacle” he concludes.
