Davison set for Albert Park F1 running

Will Davison will pair his second Supercars round with 23Red Racing with duties aboard Formula 1’s two-seater at the Australian Grand Prix later this month.

Davison reprises a role behind the wheel of the Minardi-operated F1 ride program, having completed passenger sessions at Albert Park last year and a brief outing at Bathurst in 2014. 

Overseen by former Minardi team boss Paul Stoddart, who gave Davison a test with the now-defunct team in 2004, the V10s have been an AGP staple since ’09.

While Davison’s exact schedule is yet to be finalised, and Supercars will be racing for points for the first time, he will be “doing some” of the driving around the March 22-25 event.

“I’ve been in touch with them to do a little bit at this stage, a couple of things that they want me to do,” Davison told Supercars.com.

“There are a couple of demos and things and probably some rides, but definitely I’ll be in it doing some form of demonstrations over the weekend.

“How many of the rides I do, I’m not sure at this stage, but I’ll definitely have some involvement with it.

“Obviously the schedule for us is a bit different, it’s probably more important with a Supercars championship event, but it doesn’t really clash.

“[The two-seater running is] generally pretty early each morning. I’m certainly keen as to do it again, it’s a heap of fun.”

Seeing the two-seater program at Albert Park spurred F1’s new management to push the concept further and take it to other grands prix including at Barcelona, Silverstone, Monza and Austin in 2017.

Stoddart duly purchased much of the infrastructure used by the former Manor team, and Mike Gascoyne – the original designer of the chassis at Tyrrell for 1998 – has overseen a modernisation of the car.

“It looked like a really cool program [beyond the AGP] last year,” Davison said.

“I’ve made it clear that I love being part of the program, it’s fun to be a part of.

“It’s cool to give that experience to people and I think they’ve updated the cars quite a bit over the off-season as well.”

Davison will start the four-race Coates Hire Supercars Melbourne 400 sitting 11th in the points, after finishes of eighth and 12th in the maiden event for 23Red Racing in Adelaide.