Ahead of the FIA World Endurance Championship season finale, Anthony Davidson has announced he will be retiring from professional racing after this weekend’s eight-hour event.
The news came as a surprise to the racing community, with the British driver making the announcement on Twitter just after the 6 Hours of Bahrain.
“One more to go… Which I have decided will also be my final race as a professional racing driver. It’s been an incredible and unforgettable journey and I thanks all those involved along the way.” Davidson wrote to his Twitter followers.
Talking to Autosport in 2020, Davidson revealed that, after signing his final contract with Toyota Gazoo Racing in 2017, he had considered retiring from professional competition in 2019 when he turned 40: “When I signed that contract I saw it as three more years of trying to win Le Mans with Toyota. I definitely toyed with the idea of just stopping at that point.” But racing in the less pressured LMP2 class had rekindled his joy for racing, seeing him remain with the JOTA team for a further two years.
Davidson has had a long career in motorsports, starting out when he was 18 in the British Formula Ford Winter Series (1999). From there, he went on to race across multiple different disciplines, climbing the ranks to compete in 24 Formula One races and take on the 24 Hours of Le Mans in both GTE and LM cars. With a vast experience in different machinery, it was no surprise in 2012 when Davidson was given the Simulator Driver role at Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team, a position he still holds to this day.
Whether Davidson is stepping away from racing to focus on his Sky Sports F1 commentating role, keeping his Mercedes simulator role or if the Brit is walking away from motorsports all together remains to be seen, but he will be sorely missed in the endurance paddock, a race series he has been a part of since its reinvigoration in 2012 (racing in the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans before joining the series full time with Toyota in 2013).
We here at TheCheckeredFlag wish Anthony Davidson the best of luck in his final race next weekend: the 8 Hours of Bahrain.
