Davison 'beyond devastated' after bungled stop

Will Davison was “beyond devastated” to miss out on Pukekohe glory following a bungled stop.

Davison was a comfortable leader in the ITM Auckland SuperSprint finale.

However, it fell to pieces as a routine pit stop went wrong.

The pole-sitter’s car was dropped without the left-rear fully fastened.

He rejoined in the effective lead, but ceded position to Waters due to the loose wheel.

As was the case at Sandown, Davison was slapped with a drive-through penalty and was classified 22nd.

Waters was later overhauled by Shane van Gisbergen, who won and took home the Richards Trophy.

Davison, who was in the box seat to deliver the trophy to his team, was gutted.

“Beyond devastated to be honest,” said Davison, who won Saturday's race.

“That JR trophy meant more to me probably any other race I’ve ever won.

“We’re all gutted and devastated.

"We had a pretty comfortable lead there after the stop.”

Shell V-Power Racing Team Principal Ben Croke echoed his driver’s sentiment.

“We’re heartbroken and we probably murdered Will then,” Croke said.

“Our guys are in the Pit Stop comp [PIRTEK Pit Stop Challenge] all year, we’re in the top couple, if not leading, coming out of this round.

“We’ve done the job in pit lane all year… we just fumbled one there.

“[Davison’s] heartbroken, like the rest of us.

“We win and we lose as one, we’re such a really tight team here.

“We’ll pick him up and we’re heading to the one that really matters now next.

“The cars are fast, Will’s doing an amazing job all year, so we’ll carry that into Bathurst.”

The team was earlier forced into hurried repairs between races after a crash for Anton De Pasquale.

De Pasquale was turned into the concrete barriers by Brodie Kostecki in Race 28.

The dual disasters means Red Bull Ampol Racing’s teams’ championship lead blew out from 196 to 341 points.