Repeat to ignite season
Perth win on Will’s radar
Will Davison hopes a return to Barbagallo Raceway this weekend can kickstart his Supercars campaign just as it did last season.
The Dick Johnson Racing star earned a pole and race win at Wanneroo 12 months ago and a similar showing would be a welcome reward for the team after a middling start to the Gen3 era.
The Shell V-power duo of Davison and Anton de Pasquale is yet to feature on the podium in 2023 and the team languishes at ninth in the championship standings after two rounds.
Following a horror Gen3 debut at Newcastle, DJR showed improved pace at Albert Park and Davison would have had a podium if not for a late penalty for a pit infringement that knocked him down the order.
With the form arrow trending upwards, the 40-year-old has set his sights on a breakthrough performance at Barbagallo.
“(It was) my first win of the year last year and it’s always a fun place to race, it always throws up some curveballs,” Davison said.
“Since Albert Park we’ve had our heads down and we’re all very focused on trying to make sure we can take another step and improve some of our little weaknesses and some of the mistakes we made. We had lots of good information out of Melbourne, we learnt a lot about the car.
“We’re very keen to make
sure we can get some trophies back here very soon.”
Barbagallo was a happy hunting ground for both drivers last season.
Davison left Perth with a win and podium, while de Pasquale notched two second places. A similar return this weekend would catapult the Ford flagship team straight back into contention.
Perth will feature a knockout qualifying format for the first time this season, akin to that in Formula One.
Given the abrasive track surface at Barbagallo, coupled with the sub-one minute lap times, it leaves little room for error in qualifying.
“It’s a short lap … with 25 cars on track trying to get clear space, (that) always provides its challenges,” Davison said.
“These Gen3 cars are already showing that the field is close. You seem to be able to run very close to one another, the passing opportunities have been more frequent, so I think Perth is one of the first circuits we will see the true colours of Gen3.
“I think we could be on for three pretty crazy races.”
The Perth Supersprint action begins on Friday with a 90-minute Supercars practice session from 2.25pm local time.
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