Toyota has shifted focus from championship to race wins – Davidson

Toyota Gazoo Racing's Anthony Davidson says that the team's aim has shifted from winning the FIA WEC title, to winning as many races as possible before the end of the season.

As it stands, the No. 2 Porsche LMP Team crew of Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley and Earl Bamber lead Davidson's teammates in the No. 8 Toyota – Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima – by 52 points with three races to go. Therefore, to win the title tomorrow at Fuji, all the Porsche trio need to do is finish ahead of the rival Toyota.

Porsche is also set to take the LMP1 Manufacturer's title too, as the German marque holds a near-insurmountable 78.5-point lead after three consecutive 1-2 finishes since Le Mans.

Davidson, though, still insists that he is motivated to help his teammates and score wins before the end of the 2017 season. He is of course, unable to win the title now mathematically, after missing the last race at COTA for personal reasons.

"While there's still a mathematical chance for Seb and Kazuki to win the Driver's World Championship, it's looking less and less likely now, after the Porsche crew took pole today and scored another point," he admitted to RACER. "We're going to keep pushing, though, as much as we can, and if that puts them into a position for the championship then that's great.

"We're just looking to win races now though – the mood has shifted, as the Driver's Championship is almost out of reach. We started the year brilliantly, winning at Silverstone and Spa, and yes there's been a dip with bad luck and performances since Porsche changed to its high-downforce kit, but it feels like we can regain the momentum for the rest of the season. Fuji, Shanghai and Bahrain suit the TS050 better."

Davidson also admitted that Toyota feels it would be better suited to fight Porsche in tomorrow's race in dry weather. A dry race appears unlikely though. Rain and mist has affected every session so far this weekend, and heavy rain showers are forecast for race day too. In qualifying, Toyota was unable to match Porsche over a lap on pace, qualifying third and fourth on the grid.

"We haven't had any dry running, unfortunately. They say it's going to be wet, but we're hoping that there's a slim chance it will be dry," he explained. "Normally I would have preferred rain, but for some reason we haven't had the same pace as Porsche in the wet. Had it been dry I think we'd be closer. Fuji is traditionally a circuit where we're fastest in the dry and in always with a shout to win.

"If we leave this place having finished second best to Porsche, we will always wonder what could have been."

Because of the bad weather, there is real chance that the race could be red flagged early as the visibility levels can get very low very quickly in the region around Mount Fuji. Starting behind Porsche, therefore, leaves Toyota on the back foot more so than usual, as starting up front may well be all that's needed to win.

"The key might have been qualifying, too, as if you look back at 2013 when the race was stopped due to heavy rain, there's similarities to this year. It could happen again, but we'll see. I'm sure we'll try and run the cars in the extreme wet conditions.

"Either way, if the weather is poor then it's a real shame for the fans – the local Japanese fans who are so passionate deserve a good race between Porsche and Toyota."