Toyota LMP1 driver Anthony Davidson reckons Le Mans remains the team's 'Mount Everest' despite being more prepared than ever to claim a maiden victory at the 24-hour classic.
Davidson shares the #8 TS050 Hybrid with Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima, one year on from the last-gasp air-line failure that allowed Porsche to steal victory on the final lap.
The trio started the year by winning the opening two World Endurance Championship rounds at Silverstone and Spa, although Davidson claimed the latter was 'lucky' considering they didn't have the quicker car.
Following that early-season experience, and having come so close to winning Le Mans in the past, the 2014 World Endurance champion believes good fortune will be a factor in deciding a winner for the 85th edition of the race this weekend.
"Well you saw how much bad luck can come into effect last year," Davidson told Motorsport Week.com.
"If you don't have any bad luck, you need a faultless race in terms of driving, in terms of reliability of your car."
"I watched a documentary recently on climbing Mount Everest, and the locals said that you need luck to get to the top, and I think it's the same as that."
"I could really empathise with what they're saying, because it's true. You can plan this race as good as you can, and at the end of the day you do need luck to win it."
The #8 Toyota will start second on the grid, as part of a front-row lockout with the sister #7 car which broke the Circuit de la Sarthe lap record in qualifying.
Porsche occupy the row behind, and although the 919 Hybrids have been short on pace to the Toyotas so far this week, Davidson doesn't feel we have seen the best of the German manufacturer's two cars.
"Nope. No. I can't tell myself that we have," he said.
"You've always got to expect them to improve like we saw in Silverstone. We had the upper hand all week, and I when it came to the race I think they had the speed to win."
"The outright pace of the #2 car was a big surprise, so I'm expecting them to raise their game for the race day."
"They [Porsche] knew they had a good car in the Silverstone race. So based on that, I'm fully expecting them to be right there this weekend."
"I feel we are prepared with three cars here," he said.
"We’ve done the best we can. I’ve never seen the team so prepared to win this race so hopefully it pays off this year. You can never expect anything from this one."
Davidson's best result at Le Mans was second in 2013, with the Toyota TS030 Hybrid.
The following year he finished third, but those have been his only trips to the podium from nine visits.
Although Le Mans is his Mount Everest, Davidson doesn't feel the pressure to add his name to the Le Mans honour roll on his tenth appearance – rather he feels the opposite, because he knows he has done enough in the past to prove his ability.
"I don’t think that if I won this race, other people’s perception of me as a sportscar driver will change," he explained.
"At the end of the day I don’t really care about what other people think about my driving, but I’m hard on myself."
"Last year we did enough to win this race and I know I’ve done the job multiple times. I said a couple of years ago that I know how to win this race as a driver, and I proved that last year. I don’t actually need a trophy or for it to be on my CV to prove it."
"And that’s how I get the best out of myself for this race: I find people get too hit up about it because they put too much weight on this one race when you can’t control how well you do because it either comes your way or doesn’t."
"It's our Everest, basically. I may never get to the top in my career…but as long as I do the job I know I can do, I'll be happy."
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is set to get underway on Saturday afternoon (June 17th) at 15:00 local time (CEST).
