Double-stacking 'killed' Davison brothers' Bathurst hopes

Davison brothers Will and Alex have lamented a “gut-wrenching” run to 10th in the Repco Bathurst 1000.

The Davisons crossed the line 10th behind the Chaz Mostert/Lee Holdsworth winning car after 161 laps.

It came on a day the sister Anton De Pasquale/Tony D’Alberto car failed to finish due to engine problems late on.

The #17 Shell V-Power Racing Team Ford was behind the eight-ball all day after Alex was forced to double-stack under yellow on lap 17.

The car dropped from fifth to 17th, before Will took over and muscled the #17 back into contention.

However, the #17 was forced to double-stack for a second time on lap 113, dropping it from ninth to 14th.

It got worse; the #17 copped a penalty for an unsafe release after Will was released into the path of Jamie Whincup.

The #17 was 11th in the closing laps, which became 10th when Shane van Gisbergen suffered a puncture.

“It’s a little bit deflating after a day like that,” Alex Davison said.

“We were chasing balance; Rich [Harris, race engineer] was doing everything he could with the limited tools he has to help us during the race.

“There were stages when we had great pace, but it was just inconsistent, even in one stint let alone stint to stint.

“The double-stacking killed us; we double-stacked twice, then the unsafe release was the final nail in the coffin.”

The result dropped Will Davison to fourth in the points, with Mostert scoring 300 points for victory.

Davison, who went winless in 2021, paid tribute to his team for their efforts, but couldn’t hide his disappointment in the result.

“I was hoping for a few good rolls of the dice today,” the two-time Bathurst winner added.

“We could not take a trick. Literally gave my heart and soul and you wouldn’t know.

“I was quite aggressive on restarts and kept moving forwards, queue, forwards, queue.

“We got ourselves in the [top] five and then was tight on release with Jamie.

“Gut-wrenching… we’ve all tried out hardest, it was a huge effort from the team."

The 13-event 2022 Repco Supercars Championship will commence in Newcastle next year. Tickets for the event are on sale now.

The 13-round draft calendar was released on Sunday.