Davison Opens up on Erebus Move
It was the shock driver movement for the 2014 V8 Supercars season: Will Davison departing Bathurst-winning Ford Performance Racing to a new home at second-year outfit Erebus Motorsport V8.
Many questioned Davison’s decision to switch to the up-and-coming Mercedes-Benz AMG team but the 2009 Bathurst winner and 2013 third-placed driver is confident in his decision. He explained to v8supercars.com.au.
“I wasn’t necessarily looking around for a new home,” Davison began, when asked what happens when a driver is out of contract.
“It was something I thought would be relatively straight-forward at FPR, but as time went on last year, obviously they were having a few issues of their own within their sponsorship with Ford and things dragged out a little bit.
“The Erebus thing presented itself in front of me. I wasn’t going out searching – I was competitive at FPR and all that, but obviously when things drag out and string along, it enables other things to be put in front of you. The more the FPR thing strung out, the more I was able to start realistically looking at my other opportunity. And the more I looked at it, the more excited I got about it! That’s naturally the way it went…
“I went with my gut and really think for my long-term future this was by far my best opportunity.
“No negative words to say about FPR, for some reason people naturally think when you don’t renew with a team you had to have fallen out with them, but that was in no way, the way… But I feel Triple Eight have dominated for seven years, and it’s going to take a pretty special team with a special vision and resources to take them on…
“I’m focused on trying to create a team capable of beating Triple Eight and that’s sort of where my goal lies now. I think anything is possible now.”
That’s the kind of challenge the 31-year old was looking for at this stage of his career.
“The thrill to be a part of a team that’s growing and has so much potential I thought was a great way for me to really take on a leadership role within a team and get more out of myself… It’s something I think will be more rewarding than anything else, than succeeding in established teams.
“I think this for me is the right way forward long-term and the opportunity to establish myself and lead a team that’s on the way up.”
Davison has been in V8 Supercars 10 years this season, and knows improvement won’t happen overnight.
A fourth-place finish was the best result for the Merc outfit last year, but Davison believes the team’s hardest times are in the past and things are on the up.
At first he said he wouldn’t make bold statements about results because of the stiff competition in V8 Supercars racing – but couldn’t resist sharing his ambition of a podium finish this season.
“With our sport the way it is now, it’s just impossible to put a firm result down on the table because it’s so easy to be first or 15th… If we can get both cars home in the top 10 in (season opener Clipsal 500) Adelaide, that will be a good starting point and then we are going to want to start ticking off some goals.
“Having the reliability, we’ll start being a bit more consistent in the 10, then top five and for sure we want to achieve our first podium finishes this year. I’m fairly confident we will do that.”
While it will take some time to settle in with a new team and car, Davison has a strong record in that situation. In 2009, when he started with Holden Racing Team, Davison scored a double podium at the Clipsal 500; his first event with FPR he snagged ARMOR ALL Pole Position – so he is confident he can adapt quickly.
Another part of the appeal for Davison was the opportunity to race in other categories Erebus has a presence in, and was able to run in a GT car in the Bathurst 12-Hour over the weekend, to finish third with teammates Jack LeBrocq and Greg Crick.
“At the end of the day it was really a comforting decision for me,” Davison said.
“It’s not a short-sighted decision, it’s not something I think that overnight will necessarily be better than where I was, but I think long-term it’s going to be very good and rewarding.
“I love their (Erebus’) vision and the way they want to go about the sport – they want to be a bit different in the way Betty (Klimenko, team owner) wants to run this team. The culture she’s trying to bring into the Erebus team is very, very unique. And I think it’s really rubbing off on people already...
“I’m in this for the long haul here, it’s a long-term deal for me. I’ve committed myself to this team and we’ve got to make it work. And that’s what we all say, we will make this work and it’s just heads down now and getting into it.”
Davison will be behind the wheel of his new Erebus beast at the free sydney.com V8 Supercars Test Day at Sydney Motorsport Park on February 15.
