Davison explains dramatic double spin
Will Davison admits it was more luck than skill that saved his WRT Audi from a massive accident in Friday practice at the Bathurst 12 Hour.
The two-time Great Race winner escaped from a 720-degree spin between McPhillamy Park and Skyline in the final Friday session without making contact with the concrete wall.
Although contesting his fifth Bathurst 12 Hour aboard GT3 machinery, Davison says a lack of familiarity with the Audi R8 was the root cause of the mistake.
“It happens pretty quick,” Davison told Supercars.com.
“It was my first clear lap for the day, the fourth or fifth in total, and I just don’t know the car that well and it caught me by surprise.
“The GT cars are normally pretty stable across the top, but it was quite nervous the way it was set up and it snapped on me pretty quick.
“My initial thoughts were ‘this is not good, there’s not many good outcomes when you’re going backwards here’.
“By the second pirouette, I’ll claim 50 percent of control in that one, but the first one, nothing.
“I was on and off the brakes, steering it how I could and I thought halfway around the second one ‘oh my gosh, I’m not even going to hit the grass, this is going to go well’.”
Davison explained that his team was unaware of the incident until viewing the onboard camera footage.
“I got straight on the radio, thinking they’d seen it on the TV screens, and said ‘I’ve had a pretty big spin, I’m going to bring it in because the tyres will be flat-spotted’,” he said.
“They’d not seen it and were asking if I’d hit anything or been in the grass. I said no, and they said 'the tyres are fine, there’s not a mark on them'.
“Then one of the boys downloaded the vision out of the car and everyone realised it was a pretty big moment.”
Davison finished the Practice 4 session following the spin and, while sitting out Saturday morning’s running to give his co-drivers more laps, will again suit up in qualifying.
The Australian is driving the Pro-Am WRT entry alongside long-time friend Matthias Lauda, former Formula 1 driver Pedro Lamy and amateur Paul Dalla Lana.
"I was a little bit more timid across the top just until we understand the car,” he said of his next run following the double spin.
“We made some pretty significant changes based on making it more comfortable, especially for the other guys who haven’t driven it much.
“We’re not too bad but I’m not at one with the car yet. Hopefully we’ll do a reasonable number [in qualifying] but for us, it’s just about not making mistakes and getting a result that way.”
Davison is expected to line-up for the race’s start at 5:45am tomorrow, which will be his first time racing at Mount Panorama in the dark.
“I’ve always wanted to do it just for the experience of it, but it’ll be a bit nerve-racking to be honest,” he said.
“I’m still finding my way in the car, I can’t find most of the switches in the daylight when I’m taking off at the moment. It took me half a lap to find the radio the first time.”
