Davison can see big things ahead in 2017
WILL Davison believes he will be in a far stronger position next year to mount a challenge for his maiden Supercars crown.
The 18-time race winner’s fortunes have turned around since exiting his rich deal with perennial strugglers Erebus Motorsport to take up a 2016 drive at leading small squad Tekno Autosports.
Having frequently featured in the top 10 this season, including one victory and a further podium, Davison sits sixth in the standings.
But even with the three crucial endurance events to come, Tekno’s title hopes took a significant hit during a “very difficult” Ipswich SuperSprint round last month, where Davison departed 336 points behind Red Bull’s Jamie Whincup.
The Gold Coaster says it’s natural to have ups and downs while a team and driver settle in together.
“We’re not at our peak yet – I don’t think anyone is in their first year with a race team,” he said.
“I would (rate) it a pretty good first six months with the team and hope at the end of the year we can say that we’ve improved in a couple of little areas that we need to tidy up.
“Then we’ll go into next year hopefully in a really good position to be a championship contender.”
Davison’s deal with the single-car Holden team expires at the end of next year.
While he makes no secret of his desire to be in the best seat to win a championship, he says things are boding well for a “long and happy relationship” with Tekno.
The cancellation of the Kuala Lumpur event that had been pencilled in for this weekend has opened up a rare five-week break in the Supercars calendar.
Davison, 33, has endeavoured to make the most of it.
He has already completed a 360km Townsville-toCairns charity bike ride, appeared at the Northern Territory’s Katherine Cup, watched his father Richard race at the Winton Festival of Speed in Victoria and visited the snow of Falls Creek.
Adding to the “whirlwind”, he will meet fans tomorrow at Tekno’s open day at their Stapylton base before competing in next weekend’s Townsville Triathlon Festival as an ambassador.
Such events will keep him in good shape as he plots a return to the podium battle at Sydney Motorsport Park in a fortnight.
“The last race was probably our worst event of the year,” he said. “We know we did do some things quite different in trying to move forwards, and often you go backwards when you’re trying to move forwards in this game because we can’t test.”
TEKNO OPEN DAY Tomorrow, 7-10am, 7/22 Eastern Service Rd, Stapylton