Malaysia: Anthony Davidson looking forward

By Phil Huff
March 19 2005

Anthony Davidson is looking forward to his chance to race at Malaysia, after hearing that he was to get his chance at 6:30am, while packing his bags to return back to England.

"I am very much looking forward to making my race debut for BAR Honda here at Sepang," said the team's third driver. "Malaysia is an extremely tough race for the regular drivers, so I know tomorrow will be a big challenge for me. However, my third driver role means I have to be prepared for times like these and I feel fit enough and mentally prepared to take over in the car."

Malaysia was once circuit where Davidson failed to run a lot of laps, ending his Friday session last year on just 30 laps after an engine failure.

"I have completed a lot of laps in free practice this morning and am happy with my times and the car balance," he continued, "so I have a good starting point and will give it everything I've got for the team tomorrow."

Arriving at Sepang on Thursday night, Anthony is still jet lagged. However, with no running now until the single lap on Sunday morning, he's got plenty of time to catch up on his sleep. Physically there's little doubt he's in the right condition, holding the BAR record for the most number of laps completed in a day at 157.

Anthony has been a Lucky Strike BAR Honda driver since 2001, but struck lucky 2002 to get a couple of F1 races in. As Alex Yoong was rested from the Minardi F1 team, Anthony was called up. Two races for Minardi Asiatech was a great opportunity but, sadly, both ended in spins in a car he was unfamiliar with. He all but matched highly rated team mate throughout both weekends, none other than Mark Webber.