The Darwin search for title heavyweights

Through four rounds in 2021, just two drivers in the top eight in the standings haven’t won a race this season.

The next stop on the calendar, Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway, holds contrasting fortunes for the two.

Will Davison is fourth overall and has claimed five podiums through 11 races; only series leader Shane van Gisbergen has more podiums in 2021.

However, through all his successes, Davison has never won in Darwin.

WATCH: DARWIN JUST GOT SUPERFAST!

Darwin and The Bend Motorsport Park, where he claimed two podiums earlier this month, are the only two circuits on the 2021 calendar where Davison has yet to claim victory.

Shell V-Power Racing Team recruit Davison has won at 14 circuits overall, and has won multiple races in Perth (three), Bathurst, Tasmania and Phillip Island (two).

He has also won sole races at Sandown, Townsville, Winton, Sydney Motorsport Park, Pukekohe, Gold Coast, Adelaide, Queensland Raceway, Hamilton and Sydney Olympic Park.

Davison scored both Darwin poles in 2012 while with Ford Performance Racing, yet both race wins were shared by Triple Eight’s two drivers in Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes.

He finished second in the first race, adding to his 2009 podium for the Holden Racing Team.

Davison and Winterbottom on the 2012 podium

What’s in Davison’s corner is his team’s form in Darwin; Shell Fords have won nine of the last 12 races at the venue dating back to 2017.

Another FPR alumnus in Mark Winterbottom is the only other top eight-ranked driver to have fallen short of victory so far in 2021.

However, Winterbottom has won four races in Darwin; only five drivers have won more races in the Top End than the 2015 series champion.

Winterbottom, who hasn’t won a race since Pukekohe 2016, won the 2008 and 2010 openers, before adding a third in 2013.

WATCH: WINTERBOTTOM'S 2014 THRILLER

However, his win from 10th in the 2014 finale is one of the best of his 38 career wins.

He has also scored 11 podiums in Darwin, his last coming in 2015, the season of his maiden drivers' title.

The 40-year-old has finished in the top 10 seven times in 11 starts through four rounds, and finished in the top four in two of his first three starts across the Bathurst and Tasmania rounds.

Can Davison and Winterbottom add their names to the 2021 winners’ list at Hidden Valley Raceway?

The Repco Supercars Championship field will return to the Northern Territory for the Merlin Darwin Triple Crown across June 18-20. Tickets are available here.

The event will be broadcast live on Foxtel and will be streamed on Kayo, and will be broadcast live and free on Seven.