Erebus confident of Townsville turnaround

Erebus Motorsport team manager Ben Croke is expecting the team to bounce back at the upcoming Castrol EDGE Townsville 400 after a drop in performance in Darwin.

The Erebus squad has been kicking goals this season with a win in Perth and consistent top 10 qualifying results with Will Davison behind the wheel, but Darwin saw a downturn in results as the team grappled with the new surface at Hidden Valley.

However, with Davison having earned his first podium with Erebus at the Townsville street circuit last year, Croke was confident that with the more developed AMG E63s this time around, the next stop on the calendar was a place they could be confident about.

"I think we've got a pretty good base with what we had last year at Townsville and circuits like that that have worked quite well for us, so I think we'll bounce back and be reasonably strong there like last year," Croke told v8supercars.com.au.

Last year then-Erebus driver Lee Holdsworth and Davison topped Friday practice after locally developed engine upgrades first came onto the cars. Since then, engine development has progressed with upgrades earlier this season showing promise, improving drivability and straight-line speed.

Davison came home third in Saturday's first race last year at the Townsville street circuit, but his progress was hampered after a penalty for contact with Michael Caruso in pit lane in the day's second run. He qualified ninth from the Top 10 Shootout on Sunday, and finished 10th in the 88-lap race.

"We just need to go there and do a better job than we did [in Darwin] get on top of the circuit early - just go back, do some homework, and go back to what we did at Townsville last year," Croke said.

"We've upgraded our car since Townsville last year in terms of motor, so [there's] no reason why we can't go there and be competitive and be strong like last year.

"Pretty different type of circuit again in terms of the surface... [but the] street circuit is well suited to our car."

Croke said the team never stopped developing and looking for ways to go faster on the race track, but there weren't any specific upgrades on the horizon for the AMG E63s.

"Nothing specific at the moment - the guys back at the engine shop have sharpened their pencils, they're working hard and trying to come up with the next horsepower gain," he said.

"There's a few things, they're always chipping away and looking at different suspension upgrades. Our engine shop definitely hasn't rested on their laurels - they're working hard."

Davison currently sits 16th in the points standings after dropping three places across the SKYCITY Triple Crown Darwin. The points are tight in the mid-part of the Championship, with 34 points between Davison and 12th placed Supercheap Auto racer Tim Slade.

On the other side of the garage, rookie Ash Walsh has had a reasonably tough start to the season, though an eighth place finish in Saturday's second race at the Clipsal 500 was a highlight.

Since Winton, Walsh has been working with experienced engineer and new Erebus addition Campbell Little, with usual engineer Wes McDougall absent for personal reasons.

Croke believes it's important for Walsh to work with different people and is pleased with the temporary combination, which is expected to continue for Townsville next month.

"They've been strong," Croke said.

"[It's good to have an] experienced race engineer to step in while Wes is away... they are gelling pretty good."