Davison, De Pasquale hail 'important' DJR rebound
Will Davison second, Anton De Pasquale third in Taupō opener
Shell V-Power Racing Team scores first double podium of Gen3 era
Davison moves from 10th to sixth, De Pasquale 21st to 15th in points
Will Davison and Anton De Pasquale have hailed the Shell V-Power Racing Team’s continued rebound in Taupō, with the Ford squad scoring its first double podium of the Gen3 era.
Dick Johnson Racing entered New Zealand on the back foot, with Davison 10th and De Pasquale 21st in the points after two lacklustre rounds.
Come Taupō, and the Shell V-Power Mustangs have been firmly in contention, with Davison and De Pasquale racing to second and third behind winner Andre Heimgartner on Saturday.
It marked the first podiums of the year for both drivers, with the team taking its first podium since last year’s Bathurst 1000.
Critically, Davison moved from 10th to sixth in the championship, De Pasquale from 21st to 15th, and DJR 10th to sixth in the teams’ standings.
For Davison, it was an “important” result amid weeks of criticism of the team over its form.
"Wow, what a day,” the two-time Bathurst winner said.
“An important race and important result for us now. Good timing, crazy day, what can I say, the race was just nuts.
"I was having a bit of a crack early on and made some good moves and then it was just a real seesaw, probably in some of the toughest conditions I’ve ever raced in.
"But it's an amazing result for the team and I'm looking forward to what tomorrow will bring.”
De Pasquale was particularly excited to score silverware after a nightmare start to the season, which was headlined by a DNF (first-lap clash) and DNS (suspension failure) in Melbourne.
"Our first double podium in Gen3 which is awesome, especially in such an intense race,” De Pasquale said.
"You never know when you walk into the track and it’s belting down with rain what’s going to come out the other side, there’s so many things and so many unknowns.
“So, to walk away with a couple of trophies, we’re pretty happy. It was sort of a faultless race for us, we chipped away and chipped away and got there.
"We worked hard to get good points, we had a couple of DNFs at AGP so to get some points in a 150 race is awesome."
