What DJR is chasing after putting drivers in 'better spot'

Dick Johnson Racing CEO David Noble says his team has put its drivers in a “better spot,” but still needs to make a final step with race performance.

Will Davison and Anton De Pasquale finished both Sydney races in the top six, bringing home 444 points for the team — a big step from Townsville (225), Darwin (342) and Perth (342).

Sydney marked the team’s best weekend since its scored 444 points in Taupō, where both cars reached the podium, and De Pasquale topped the round.

However, DJR remained fourth of the Ford squads behind Tickford Racing, Walkinshaw Andretti United and Penrite Racing, something Noble wants to change.

“We’re getting there. We've found some consistency and it was great to get Will on pole position on Sunday,” Noble said in official Ford Performance communications.

“We feel we’ve improved our race pace, but there are still a couple of Ford teams in front of us. We’re constantly learning. It’s taken time, but it’s about being open-minded about change.

“Both drivers are in a better spot, with both in the Top Ten Shootout and the top six over the weekend. But they’re frustrated, because they can almost touch the guys in front.”

Davison’s stunning pole on Sunday put the team in the box seat for a drought-breaking win, but instead, Davison missed out on strategy and finished behind De Pasquale.

"The pole position was amazing, a real thrill and my first in this Gen3 car. We're making really good inroads, really finding some great consistency in qualifying for the cars so then we're pretty focused in the race,” said Davison, who was passed for the lead by Chaz Mostert on the first lap.

"We made a few changes to try and fix it from the Saturday night race. Ultimately I think we went the wrong direction so as much as that hurts, as frustrated as I feel now, we'll still learn from that for next time, what not to do.

"And very tricky race strategically, you know both strategies can work, the one-stop and the two-stopper both have merit, we're disappointed we didn't go with the one-stopper, it was probably the best strategy for us.

“It got [Cam] Waters and [Will] Brown on the podium who were behind me in the first stint, so disappointed not to have a trophy but we committed to our strategy and we just couldn't quite make enough inroads with the speed and tyre life we lacked today, but ultimately a great team effort both races.

"Pretty faultless by the team to have us both there consistently so we'll take the positives and move on.”

De Pasquale added: "Still sort of competitive in qualy but not quite as fast as the first two or three in the race, just lacking that bit of race pace, so we know what we need to work on so eyes forward.”

Davison and De Pasquale are sixth and 10th in the drivers’ standings heading to the NED Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint on August 16-18. Tickets for the event are on sale now.