Davison opens up ahead of full-time Supercars swansong
Will Davison opens up ahead of full-time Supercars swansong
Davison will make final full-time Supercars starts this weekend
DJR driver has raced full-time in Supercars since 2006
Will Davison has opened up in an emotional reflection ahead of his final full-time Supercars starts.
The outgoing Shell V-Power Racing Team driver will depart the full-time arena after this weekend’s bp Adelaide Grand Final.
The two-time Bathurst winner will be replaced at Dick Johnson Racing by Rylan Gray, with Brodie Kostecki also signing a mega extension through to 2030.
Davison has won races for five different teams, and won the Great Race for the Holden Racing Team and Tekno Autosports.
In 601 starts, Davison has claimed 22 wins, claimed 81 podiums and 29 pole positions.
While not a formal retirement announcement, Davison narrated a long, emotional video posted to his social media accounts, thanking family and friends ahead of his emotional final starts.
"As I make my way toward Adelaide, the enormity is starting to hit me. This will be my final full-time Supercar start,” Davison said.
"Was I a champion? No. Did I fight for it and get close many times? Yes. Reflection is natural. Hindsight is easy, but I refuse to live with regrets or second guess the sliding doors moments.
"My journey has been incredible. I've tried time and time again to stop and smell the roses, but the intensity of this sport makes that hard.
"From the moment I arrive at a circuit until the moment I leave, I'm tense. I'm nervous. Nervous that I won't perform at the level I expect of myself. And yet the moment I walk out, I'm already counting down to the next race.”
After a swing at the European racing scene, Davison returned to Australia in debt. Within a decade, he was a Bathurst winner, Adelaide 500 winner, and championship runner-up.
Through the highs, Davison has also been hit by tough lows; notably, he lost his 23Red Racing drive early in 2020 due to COVID-19, injured his back in a Tasmania crash in 2017, and recently stepped aside for Gray for 2026.
However, the 43-year-old insisted the heartbreaking moments have shaped his resilience, delivering comeback results, time and again.
After being left on the scrapheap in 2020, he was picked up by Tickford Racing and finished second at Bathurst. It led to the DJR drive, with Davison one of the drivers of the season in a brilliant 2022 campaign that netted three wins and nine poles.
"We get fixated on results, but I need to stop and be proud,” Davison continued.
"This sport is tough. People will criticise you no matter what you say or do, but there is also so much support and deep down, I know how hard I've tried. How much I've given, how much I've pushed myself.
“More than half my life has been spent inside a Supercars paddock. I came back from Europe over a million dollars in debt, and I've been a paid professional from my first lap.
"Since then, I've been written off multiple times. Sometimes by others, sometimes by myself. But every time I found a way to rise again, and I'm proud of that. I've loved every minute, the highs and the lows.
"The lows made me who am. I've been incredibly self-critical, my own hardest task master. My mind is my strength and also my weakness. But I'm proud I lasted as long as I did.
"I'm proud of the level I returned to in 2022. Nine poles, 16 podiums, some of the best laps of my life at 40 years of age. That meant the world to me.
"Thank you for the ride. Thank you for the love and support, and yes, even thank you to the haters. You fuelled my fire and taught me what not to be."
