Davison buoyed by Kiwi reception

Will Davison is buoyed by overwhelming local support for the Shell V-Power Racing Team.

Shane van Gisbergen is the raging home favourite, and is chief rival for the red Fords.

Davison trailed teammate Anton De Pasquale in Friday practice, with van Gisbergen fourth.

The Ford squad’s last visit to Pukekohe came with Kiwi duo Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard at the wheel.

McLaughlin won for the team in 2018 and 2019.

Come 2022, and the team has two Aussie drivers leading the charge.

The three locals - van Gisbergen, Andre Heimgartner and Chris Pither - are all driving Holdens.

However, Davison has noticed clear and significant support for his team.

“I love the way New Zealand goes about motorsport,” he said.

“The reception you get is huge.

“I was a bit surprised, there’s a lot of support for our team.

“Obviously a lot of Ford fans still want us to get up on SVG, which is pretty cool.

“I thought it was only going to be hate here, but we have got a lot of support. It’s awesome.”

De Pasquale and Davison’s practice lockout has the team in the box seat ahead of Saturday.

Race 27 on Saturday afternoon will be the first Pukekohe race for three years.

Davison, who was the pace-setter last time out at Sandown, believes the circuit will continue to evolve.

“It was a good start for us after three years of unknowns,” said Davison, who has scored eight poles this season.

“We were sitting at the top there out of the gate in the first few runs. It was a good day's work.

“We had a big plan and trying a lot of different stuff between our cars with heaps of really good information to look at tonight.

“You definitely still are very unsure as to what the grip will be like or the changes to the car since when the boys were here three years ago in these cars.

"It’s nice to know we are in the game but certainly as far as it goes, there are a lot of unknowns for tomorrow."

Practice 2 will commence at 11:35am local time/9:35am AEST.