Davison Surprised to be Quickest

Despite leading theChampionship standings, Will Davison was pleasantly surprised by his speedtoday at Barbagallo Raceway – a circuit notorious for an abrasive, slippery surface.

“We know Perth isn’t getting grippier every year,it’s a slippery surface,” the Pepsi Max FPR driver said.

“Today wasno different from what we expected, but we’ve obviously never driven these carshere before. I won’t draw any conclusions on lap times.

“I was surprisedpleasantly to be quickest – I’m not sure what everyone was doing for tyres – wedidn’t have the best tyres going around, so (I believe) there was no advantage there – andit didn’t feel that grippy. But we’ve ended up somewhere on top and it’s good.”

Davison expects the unpredictable nature of thecurrent Championship to continue all season, not knowing if it’s wins orconsistency that are the key.

Davison started theChill Perth 360 in Western Australia today in the best possible fashion bytopping Practice but said there were no guarantees in the most openChampionship in history.

The domination of hisPepsi Max Crew FPR team and Red Bull Racing Australia of last year is longgone in a season where multiple race winners are the norm. Davison was quickesttoday ahead of RBAs Jamie Whincup and Lockwood Racing's Fabian Coulthard.

"It was a prettyunique year last year. It was the level of the two teams. I don't think thatshould be overlooked. There's a massive team element, confidence and momentumof the car. It was just a magnificent effort from both teams to step up alevel," Davison said.

"It was a crazyyear but I don't think we will see that again."

Davison was pressedon his 'consistency' this year as opposed to race victories and indicated a mixof both may well be the key to winning in 2013.

"I have provedover time I can string a few wins together. Last year I won eight races and wason the podium eight times and finished fourth in the Championship," hesaid.

"In the old days(Russell) Ingall and (Rick) Kelly won Championships with very few race wins.There's a lot more players in the game so you have to finish those races thataren't going to plan when you are sixth rather than get the red mist and crackit.

"It's also afine line. We are racing for wins. We are representing Ford as a factory teamand there are very few of us out there so you can't just dawdle around infourth and fifth. We are going out every race to win and to do that you have torace damn hard.

"I've alreadywon a race this season and had four podiums. I can keep this up and only getstronger."

Davison nailed a56.2211sec at the 2.42km Barbagallo Raceway. Another practice session will followtomorrow morning, prior to Qualifying and the 60/60 Super Sprint race.

The format, which was last seen in Tasmania, runs with two halves and arolling double file restart to kick of the second half. Two 100km races will beheld on Sunday.