Toyota factory LMP1 driver Anthony Davidson will not contest this weekend's Austin round of the World Endurance Championship.
The 2014 world champion is unable to join team-mates Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima at the Circuit of the Americas for "personal reasons".
Davidson's seat will be filled by Toyota reserve Stephane Sarrazin, who raced at Spa and Le Mans this year in the manufacturer's third car.
The sister lineup of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez remains unchanged.
“It’s a surprise to be racing the TS050 Hybrid again this season but I am excited to be back and I’m looking forward to racing with Sébastien, Kazuki and the whole team," said Sarrazin, who won three WEC races as a full-season Toyota driver between 2013 and 2016.
"I know the Circuit of the Americas well and it’s an impressive circuit, with some great corners. I will give my all to score as many points for the team as possible.”
Davidson, Buemi and Nakajima are Toyota's leading crew in the world drivers' championship, although the trio face a 41-point gap to Porsche's Timo Bernhard, Earl Bamber and Brendon Hartley.
Toyota struggled for pace at last weekend's event in Mexico, which saw Porsche claim a dominant one-two for the first time this season.
“Anthony will not be with us this weekend but he has our full support and we look forward to seeing him behind the wheel again," said Toyota team president Histake Murata.
"We are happy that Austin comes so soon after Mexico, which was not a positive race for us."
"Everyone is pushing to get a better result this week. The drivers are very motivated to get both cars on the podium and win races again; they fought hard in Mexico and never gave up."
"The whole team has this fighting spirit so we go to Austin with big hopes.”
The 6 Hours of COTA takes place on Saturday, September 16th.






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