Davison makes bold prediction for back half of season

Will Davison is forecasting a strong end to the 2022 Repco Supercars Championship for Shell V-Power Racing Team.

Dick Johnson Racing currently trails Red Bull Ampol Racing by 10 points in the teams’ championship after 20 races this season.

Davison has been one of the most consistent performers across the year, notching up six poles, a race win in Perth, and a further eight podiums.

That’s double the number of poles of DJR team-mate Anton De Pasquale, with both drivers equal on a single race win, De Pasquale’s coming in Darwin.

The only thorn in the side was a lacklustre Pizza Hut Winton SuperSprint where the squad struggled for pace, though came off with a worst result of 14th for Davison in Race 14.

Confident Winton was an anomaly, Davison believes DJR is in particularly good shape for the remainder of the season.

“There could be a few [rounds] come out that lend themselves to us and there could be a few that lend themselves to [Triple Eight],” Davison told Speedcafe.com.

“That’s natural, you’ve got to make sure your bad days are still very good and you’ve got to make sure your good ones you execute and grab the wins.

“We’ve probably let a couple of them slide this year, a couple of them we could have won.

“We’ve had the pace and performance for it, but we’re up against amazing competition and it’s been a great battle.

“We’ve already analysed what we would do if we went back [to Winton], I think that was an anomaly.

“Nowhere else we’ll see that this year, so I think we’re going to be in for a big second half of the year.”

Perhaps the tallest order is beating Shane van Gisbergen, whose flying form has not slowed, with the #97 leading the drivers’ championship by 274 points over De Pasquale.

Davison sits fourth after seven rounds with a 360-point deficit to van Gisbergen.

While silly season questions remain over Davison’s Supercars future and whether he will stay at DJR for 2023, the 39-year-old has kept his focus on the race track.

“I’m loving just working with an exceptional team and of course, we’re in one of the toughest championships in the world,” he added.

“It’s very, very high level and I’m just enjoying the challenge, I’m thriving on trying to better myself all the time.

“At this stage of my career, I’m just enjoying trying to be the best I can be and loving it at the end of the day.

“It’s cut-throat out there, but you wouldn’t want it any other way; it’s a very rewarding sport to be a part of when you’re operating at the top.

“We’re searching for more and I’m loving that.”

Supercars heads to The Bend Motorsport Park next for the OTR SuperSprint this weekend (August 29-31).