As confirmed last week, DJR has snared the major silly season prize in reigning champion Kostecki, who will depart Erebus for the Ford squad at the end of the current campaign.
There he will join Davison, who has been given the nod for a fresh deal after both he and current teammate De Pasquale were out of contract as of this season.
It has long been a question as to who would stay if DJR could nab Kostecki, given how close Davison and De Pasquale have been on pace and results during their four-year stint as teammates.
If based on ultimate longevity it would have been De Pasquale with the advantage given he is 28 years old compared to Davison who is 42.
So how did the team arrive at its decision? Story explained as much on SEN’s The Drivers Seat radio show.
“These decisions are never easy. Both guys have done a phenomenal job for us over the last few years and we’ve still go unfinished business between now and the end of the year,” he said.
Take the short survey.
“But for us, it was a decision based on what was going to be best for the overall team, for the overall team structure.
“For someone like Anton, I think for him to get the best out of his racing, he needs to take the opportunity to drive somewhere else, where there is a bit less pressure and he can show everyone what he’s got.
“And he’ll be able to do that at Team 18. I think it’s an exciting opportunity for him.
“One of the things with Will which still impresses me, out of all of the drivers I’ve ever worked with, you are in no doubt that when he gets out of the car, he’s given it everything he’s got. And he’s got the maximum out of the car.
“He’s consistent, he basically hoovers up points, he’s able to prosecute strong campaigns even when the car isn’t underneath him. And that’s a massive point of difference.
“And one of the things when we were seeking to out together out team for 2025, was to underscore what the strengths and weaknesses, potentially, will be of our outfit.
“Someone like Will, with his experience not just in the car, but also out of the car, is something that is going to strengthen Brodie Kostecki.
“And Brodie Kostecki, with his engineering talent, what he knows about putting cars together, his raw talent and his tenacity to drive the team forward, is going to make Will Davison better.
“So they are going to push each other both in the car and out of it, and that’s how you build championship-winning teams.”
DJR’s last Supercars title came in 2020, which was the third and final triumph for Scott McLaughlin before he departed for IndyCar.
The De Pasquale/Davsion partnership then started the following year, coinciding with the end of the DJR Team Penske era.
Discussion about this post