The key learning at the heart of Davison's fightback

Strong race-long tyre life in Tasmania has Will Davison determined to continue his team’s 2022 push.

Davison scored two podiums and a pole at the NED Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint.

Teammate Anton De Pasquale ended the weekend with a podium to consolidate second in the points.

Shane van Gisbergen is again the championship leader, but his Dick Johnson Racing rivals are both within striking distance.

After two rounds in 2021, Davison was 228 points behind van Gisbergen, and De Pasquale 365 points.

After two rounds in 2022, De Pasquale is just 67 points behind, and Davison 122 points.

The Shell V-Power Racing Team is just nine points behind Red Bull Ampol Racing.

For van Gisbergen, it will make for an uncomfortable weekend at Albert Park, where Shell Fords have had the edge.

The season will then move to Perth, where Shell Fords won every race between 2017 and 2019.

For Davison, coming home with a wet sail at his team’s bogey track in Tasmania could prove crucial in DJR’s title hopes.

“We know our cars better at the end of the race than early,” Davison said after Sunday's race.

“It worked really well, I pushed really hard. We jumped [Todd] Hazelwood and [David] Reynolds.

“We still had pretty good tyre [life] at the end.

"We have some strengths, some positive things at a circuit which traditionally T8 cars are very strong.

“A lot of positives to take out of here. We’ll press on.”

Davison’s weekend could have been even better had he not slumped to 15th in Race 4 following a poor stop.

He dropped a net 28 points to van Gisbergen in that race, meaning he could be at least 94 points adrift.

Regardless, the two-time Bathurst winner took solace out of his Race 5 fightback after he was dumped from first to fifth after contact with Hazelwood.

The Race 5 podium saw Davison go one clear of iconic team boss Johnson’s podium tally of 65, having matched the marker on Saturday.

“It was great to have a good weekend,” Davison said.

“Obviously the first [Sunday] race was a little disappointing, but it was otherwise a strong couple of days.

“The [second Sunday] race didn’t go to plan at the start, but we fought back.

“Both of us here on the podium. Shane’s done an amazing job, he was faultless.

“We’ll no doubt look into it and see what we can do to fight back.”

The 2022 season will resume at Albert Park on April 7-10.