Davison, 42, lines up for a fifth consecutive season with DJR and is one of the few constants in a team brimming with changes that have been topped off by a new livery.
Kostecki’s much-publicised arrival has coincided with that of ex-Erebus engineers George Commins and Tom Moore, and an Erebus chassis supply deal.
Davison will have Moore on his car this season, although the pair will begin the campaign with a Pace Innovations chassis after last-minute changes were required to both of its Erebus machines.
There’s also been mass turnover on the workshop floor. The team says a third of its 36-strong staff has changed over the off-season.
DJR raised eyebrows last year when it retained Davison and let erstwhile teammate Anton De Pasquale escape to Team 18.
But the veteran more than held his own over the last four years and hopes the arrival of fresh blood can lift DJR back to its former glory.
“I’m proud that I was chosen to still be a part of this new chapter with the chemistry with Brodie and I, youth versus experience,” Davison told Speedcafe.
“I think we’ve got a good balance between us and some exciting new people, and you feel that energy and change already.
“Obviously, we’ve had changes in ownership and management a few years ago, but it’s only now we’re really feeling that change in mentality and philosophy. It’s exciting to be a part of.
“The pressure cooker is there, the flame torch is well and truly lit, but that’s what this sport is all about.
“I’m just really, really excited to have new ideas, new philosophies, a new teammate to be up against who’s clearly, arguably the best driver in the country.
“I’m just stoked to be paired up next to him, to learn more from, and try and better myself.”
DJR has just one race victory to date in the first two years of the Gen3 era, scored by De Pasquale in Townsville in 2023 when a Saturday failure left him with an extra set of tyres for Sunday.
The famous Ford team’s struggles have been in stark contrast to the fortunes of Erebus, with which Kostecki, 27, won the 2023 championship and last year’s Bathurst 1000.
“Having someone from Gen3 that is currently proven with his engineering group, with a philosophy that’s proven, for me is all you could ask for,” continued Davison.
“We can just get to business without worrying about things that we maybe can’t control, it just simplifies the direction we’re going a bit, it’s all proven.
“Then directly it puts me up against Brodie and I’m excited for that, I want to work with him. I’m proud the team’s got him, that they’ve gone for someone so aggressive.”
Davison ended up ninth in the 2024 championship, two places ahead of De Pasquale.
Their head-to-head battle ended at 2-2, with Davison narrowly outscoring his teammate across the four seasons.
“We’ll miss Anton,” Davison said. “I think Anton’s an absolute star as well, to be honest, an amazing teammate, but I get what the team’s done.
“I think Anton’s got an exciting new future ahead of him, and it’s just a bit of a fresh energy for us.”
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