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Davison fires back at Courtney jibe

10 Jun 2015
WITH VIDEO: Former Prodrive racer warns "shooting down the team that's leading" could backfire on HRT driver.
3 mins by James Pavey
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Will Davison has shot down James Courtney's claims that Prodrive Racing Australia will implode, warning his HRT antagonist to worry about his own backyard first.

Davison rekindled the fiery confrontation with Courtney that erupted in Tasmania earlier this year with his response to claims by Courtney that Mark Winterbottom and the Prodrive team would'step on their d*@#s' ina matter of time.

The Tasmanian clash - in which Courtney made contact with the Erebus E63 and bundled Davison back through the pack from third - led to Davison at the time to say "the arrogance of the bloke's just pathetic".

As a long-time teammate of Winterbottom, Davison suggested Courtney would be better to look after his own form before blasting others in a veiled reference to the first corner clash between the two HRT teammates at the last event in Winton.

While at first choosing to shy away from a discussion about his rivalry with Courtney on last night's Inside Supercars, Davison warned the Holden star that Winterbottom's record stood for itself in an era dominated by Jamie Whincup.

"I will just say nothing now because sometimes you're just better off to say nothing in this sport," the Erebus driver said. "Shooting the team down that's leading ... can only backfire on you," he warned.

"Considering they [HRT] are the ones who stood on their own - whatever you want to call it - at the moment, you're probably better off saying nothing.

"But that's the sport we're in. If you say something you ... can have a shocker at the next race and are better off to say nothing.

"PRA, we'll see what they do, but they've been third in the Championship the last how many years."

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Davison said he believed PRA could "absolutely" hold up throughout the season. Last year eventual winner Whincup took the Championship lead at Queensland Raceway in August and ultimately developed a big enough margin that he clinched the title before the final event of the season.

Winterbottom finished third behind Shane van Gisbergen after the Sydney 500 finale.

"There's no doubt their [Prodrive's] pace is a step up on what it's been the last few years, so there's no reason they can't go that little bit better, in my opinion," Davison said.

V8 Supercars Hall of Famer Mark Skaife seemed amused by the discussion on the Inside Supercars panel and thought Courtney was simply playing mind games.

"This is just gamesmanship," said Skaife, a known protagonist in his days as the sport's best driver. "We like the stuff, we like the jibes ... and at the end of the day James is just playing the game."

Davison earned his first win with Erebus at Perth last month and is looking forward to heading to Darwin - where he feels they could only improve on last year - and Townsville, where he claimed a podium finish last season.

Courtney will be looking for his first win at the Top End, but has performed well at following event Townsville in recent years.

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