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From podium to test day

22 Jul 2014
Davison desperate for test miles after setbacks at last test days kept him sidelined, with Townsville result spurring him on.
3 mins by James Pavey
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At the last V8 Supercars event, Will Davison scored his first podium result for Erebus Motorsport, pouncing from eighth on the grid to finish third in Saturday's first 125km race.

Keen to keep up the progress, Davison and the team hit Queensland Raceway today, hoping to further improve the Mercedes Benz E63s before the Coates Hire Ipswich 400, the next stop on the calendar at 'QR'.

Erebus last tested in June, but Davison's co-driver and brother Alex ended up buried in the tyres after a brake failure, cutting track time short.

Having also been sidelined during much of the wet Sydney.com Test Day due to clutch issues, Davison is desperate to get back out there and ultimately continue the roll he started in Townsville.

"I'm looking forward to it - just as I was the last test day, and we didn't get through a quarter of our program," Davison told v8supercars.com.au.

"It's an important day - hopefully it's just a day where we have no problems and can spend time going over a lot of the things we've tried this year.

"We certainly went in a bit of a different direction in Townsville, so we really need to keep trying to understand the direction we've been going.

"We've got some new ideas again, which is really exciting."

The team celebrated its first race win in V8 Supercars earlier this year at Winton with Lee Holdsworth behind the wheel, and Davison admitted the team had progressed a lot quicker than his expectation had been at the start of the season.

He complimented the work the engineering group had done and said they were continually improving and getting a handle on the cars.

"Today is just another opportunity to keep doing what we're doing - but without the stresses of 20 minute practice sessions (like at a race meeting).

"Particularly with 'QR' (Coates Hire Ipswich 400) being the week after, if we have a good day, it should really translate into a strong race meeting.

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"I'm excited about the test and some evolutions we've got coming onto the car for QR.

"I think things are only looking up - I'm feeling really good about it.

"We've got a heap of stuff to try," Davison said. While he wouldn't get into specifics, he confirmed there would be "new bits" across the cars, which are understood to include engine upgrades.

Davison said understanding the car sounded so much simpler than it really was - going from circuit to circuit, so much changed for the team.

"What people need to understand is, in this sport, we go testing and what we try and find - that just doesn't work at every circuit.

"It's a never-ending cycle of trying to understand a numerous amount of combinations so you know what sort of setup and what setup combination works at this circuit, and at this circuit - whether it's high grip, low grip, 90 degree corners, sweeping corners. What works at one track will not work at the other, so just understanding your car sounds much easier than done.

"So that's really what we're trying to do - understand our car better and better, and evolve it as well."

Both Davison and Holdsworth's co-drivers, Alex Davison and Craig Baird, will be present today, and the team will share Queensland Raceway with Dick Johnson Raceway.

DJR will also have co-drivers Steven Johnson and Ash Walsh at the circuit, to squeeze in some much needed miles as the Pirtek Enduro Cup creeps closer.

A number of teams also tested on Monday, with Triple Eight and TEKNO Autosports having run at Queensland Raceway.

V8supercars.com.au will keep you updated on all of today's testing news.

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