Davison vows to atone for missed chances

For a driver who hadn’t won for nearly six years, Will Davison was still left unsatisfied by a three-win 2022 season — and he wants even more in 2023.

Davison returned to the winners’ circle last season with victories in Perth, Sandown and New Zealand.

It snapped a long run of outs dating back to Bathurst 2016, and Davison reemerged as one of the leading drivers on the grid.

The Shell V-Power Racing Team driver also scored nine ARMOR ALL Pole Positions, second only to Cam Waters.

Wins went begging at a number of turns, notably in New Zealand when a wheel nut issue cost Davison a likely victory.

The three wins also came with nine second-place finishes, six times behind eventual champion Shane van Gisbergen.

By season’s end, Davison was fifth overall, and 26 points behind teammate Anton De Pasquale — but he is determined not to let chances slip this year.

“It’s nice competing at the front, and the pressures that come with that,” Davison told Supercars.com.

“Certainly a few missed opportunities last year — but that’s a good thing in a way.

“You don’t want missed opportunities, but we were in a position to win so many more races. You can look at it either way.

It’s bloody hard to get into a position to win, but it was a genuine case of, ‘Only three?’

“We were probably leading 14 [races]… a couple let slide. New Zealand in particular really hurt. I threw away points in Bathurst.

“We were way better than where we finished.”

Davison will share the track with the rest of the 2023 Repco Supercars Championship grid in Sydney on Wednesday.

It comes after he had the honour of shaking down Dick Johnson Racing’s first Gen3 Mustang earlier this month.

The prospect of the new Gen3 cars and increased presence from Ford has Davison excited — but he remained adamant it’s a level playing field for the Ford teams.

“It doesn’t make any difference at all,” Davison said of DJR’s homologation team status.

“People like to say that, but I hadn’t driven the car since after the Grand Prix.

“Many other Ford drivers had driven it more than me — engineers from all Ford teams have been at the tests.

“We don’t have any advantage. All the Ford teams have been working together very well together.

“There’s a united front from a Ford point of view — the brand battle is truly alive. It’s the biggest change this category has ever seen."

The 2023 Repco Supercars Championship will commence at the Thrifty Newcastle 500 on March 10-12.

Tickets are on sale on Supercars.com and Ticketek.com.