DJR's quiet rise up the standings
DJR now fourth in teams' standings after being 10th in Newcastle
Davison/Davison seventh, De Pasquale/D'Alberto eighth at Sandown
Ford team will run three Mustangs at Repco Bathurst 1000
The Shell V-Power Racing Team’s mission to salvage its 2023 season continued at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500, with both drivers and the team moving up the leaderboard.
Will Davison and Anton De Pasquale were 10th and 12th after the OTR SuperSprint, with DJR sixth in the teams’ championship.
Davison brothers Will and Alex raced the #17 Dick Johnson Racing Ford to seventh at Sandown, with the #11 of De Pasquale and Tony D’Alberto just behind in eighth, having started 20th.
In one fell swoop, Davison and De Pasquale moved to ninth and equal 10th in the standings, with DJR jumping Tickford Racing and Walkinshaw Andretti United into fourth.
It's a far cry to Newcastle, where the team languished in 10th with Davison and De Pasquale 16th and 17th. There was little improvement at Albert Park, with the team ninth as Davison rose to 11th, De Pasquale crashing and dropping to 18th.
"Certainly a really long race, a little bit disappointed but all in all pretty happy with the way we drove and the way we persevered,” said Davison, who put his #17 Mustang in fourth in the Top Ten Shootout.
"We had trouble with the balance in the car, we've been chasing it all weekend. It was great to be on the second row but we always knew it was going to be hard to stay there.
"We dropped some spots early but I'm proud of the efforts from everyone, I'm proud of the team and proud of the way I drove — gave it absolutely everything.
"I think to get both cars home in seventh and eighth was a reasonable run.
"There's still lots to improve on but now we look ahead to Bathurst.”
A pre-Darwin test has turned the teams's fortunes around, both drivers scoring podiums, including a De Pasquale win in Townsville, and six top 10s from 11 starts.
Prior to Darwin, Davison had five top 10s in 12 starts, and De Pasquale only three.
Three is the number for the Repco Bathurst 1000, with DJR running a wildcard entry for the returning Simona De Silvestro and Super2 rookie Kai Allen. De Silvestro arrived in Australia last week, with Allen second in the Super2 standings.
“It was a solid day for us. We did the best with what we had,” DJR Team Principal Ben Croke added.
"We had good pace on the long stints, probably the best for the Mustangs. We executed pretty well today as a team. Both cars were in the top 10 and we’ve moved up the team standings."
