Davison snaps win drought after Waters penalty

Will Davison has snapped a six-year winless drought in Perth thriller.

Davison secured Ford’s first win since November 2021 and ended Holden’s winning run this season.

The Shell V-Power Racing Team driver scored his 20th career win, and first since Bathurst 2016.

Davison crossed the line second behind Cam Waters, who was penalised for gaining a lasting advantage.

It came after Davison attempted an overtake on leader Waters following the stops.

It helped Anton De Pasquale form a Dick Johnson Racing one-two, its first since Tailem Bend 2021.

Andre Heimgartner secured the final podium position, his first for Brad Jones Racing, along with fastest lap bonus points.

De Pasquale slashed Shane van Gisbergen's championship lead to 139 points; van Gisbergen raced from 11th to fifth.

"Relief's exactly the word," Davison said.

"You wanna earn the wins, so it kinda feels weird not crossing the line first."

The race was suspended after a first-lap accident for Scott Pye.

Pye found the pit wall barrier after contact with Jack Le Brocq.

The race was suspended for over 50 minutes as a gate on the pit straight was repaired.

The race restarted on lap 6, and Waters immediately began to open up a margin.

By lap 19, the margin between the two Fords was two seconds.

All the while, points leader van Gisbergen had made little progress and trailed Todd Hazelwood and Broc Feeney.

The two Red Bull Ampol Commodores inverted on lap 17.

Will Brown was first of the lead group to stop on lap 20.

Jake Kostecki stopped on the following lap from effective fourth; Brodie Kostecki and De Pasquale stopped on the next lap.

Brown and De Pasquale emerged ahead of the TRADIE Mustang.

On lap 24, Davison was brought in; Tickford responded a lap later with Waters.

The two-second margin was whittled away thanks to a fast stop and out-lap for Davison.

Davison swooped at Turn 7, only for Waters sweep across the front of the #17 Ford exiting the corner.

Van Gisbergen stopped on lap 29, and emerged ahead of Mostert; David Reynolds suffered a slow stop on lap 30.

Waters kept Davison at an arm’s length, with the margin hovering at 0.5s.

Later, Waters was slapped with a five-second penalty for gaining a lasting advantage.

Waters pushed the margin out to 1.8s in an effort to make up the time.

However, the race was neutralised for a second time when Brown came to a halt at Turn 2.

The race restarted on lap 40, and Waters sprinted away in the lead.

De Pasquale made it an effective DJR one-two when he cleared Brodie Kostecki on lap 43.

Heimgartner, who took on four tyres, motored past Kostecki later around the lap and chased after De Pasquale.

Van Gisbergen continued his march forward and rose to effective fifth.

Waters crossed the line 1.4s ahead, but dropped to fourth behind Davison, De Pasquale and Heimgartner.

The Bunnings Trade Perth SuperNight will conclude with Race 12 at 3:45pm local time.