After earning a spot in the Suzuka 8 Hours, Davey Todd has admitted that he is feeling 'a lot of pressure' ahead of the event.
Davey Todd has admitted that the audition process to earn a ride with AutoRace Ube Racing for the Suzuka 8 Hours was 'brutal'.
The Japanese team was left a rider short ahead of the 2025 Suzuka 8 Hours after Hannes Soomer was injured in an IDM Superbike race.
On Wednesday, Todd and Spanish Superbike Championship rider Ivo Lopes were put against each other at Suzuka to battle it out for the third seat in the team.
Todd went on to earn the seat in the AutoRace Ube Racing squad alongside Naomichi Uramoto and Loris Baz.
"So it was a BMW connection," Todd said in an interview with the FIM EWC about his Suzuka debut.
"Obviously, the team is running BMWs out here. So, when Hannes got injured the team spoke to BMW and BMW put my name forward for the seat.
"So, fortunately, I got the call-up. But there was me and Ivo Lopez from the Spanish Championship.
"He got the call up as well directly from the team. It’s less than ideal, let’s say, but they wanted to bring us both out here to make sure they got the best rider for the job.
"It was a bit brutal to be turning up together, hanging out together, and then basically going whoever is better gets the seat.
"Fortunately for me anyway, I got the call up, I got the seat after the test day on Wednesday.
"So, I’m just really stoked to get out there and experience my first endurance race, my first Suzuka."
Despite being told by the team to enjoy his Suzuka debut, Todd has admitted that he is feeling 'a lot of pressure'.
"I am really looking forward to it,” he said.
"I guess there is a lot of pressure on my shoulders, because as much as everyone says to come here and try and enjoy it for your first time, I’ve got like the fastest guy [Uramoto] here on my team, who’s currently just off the lap record.
"And Loris is going really well too. The team are looking to be on the podium, if not the top step of the podium. So, I don’t want to let them down. I want to do a good job.
"So, I’m just trying to stay focused. To be honest, usually I perform better under pressure, so I like it really."