Davison pumped by pace after being 'kicked when you're down'
Will Davison hails positive early Taupō speed for DJR
Davison third, Anton De Pasquale seventh in practice
Davison 10th, De Pasquale 21st, DJR 10th in points
After a tough start to the season, Will Davison hailed a positive result for the Shell V-Power Racing Team after "our best probably rollout session of the year.”
Davison ended up third in practice at the ITM Taupō Super400, with teammate Anton De Pasquale seventh.
It was a far cry to the first two rounds of the year, with Davison 10th and De Pasquale 21st in the championship following the Melbourne SuperSprint.
Dick Johnson Racing sits 10th of 12 teams in the points standings, and is winless in 17 starts dating back to last July’s NTI Townsville 500.
However, ending up third-quickest on Friday, just 0.0508s off the pace, has proven a moment to enjoy for Davison and DJR.
“It's been our best probably rollout session of the year, which is good,” said Davison, who said pre-event that Taupō was an opportunity for redemption.
“We need every little bit of positivity at the moment, just to keep the spirits up.
“It's been a tough time for the team, but we know what we're all capable of so it's just [a matter of] keeping together, sticking together.
“You get asked the same question every day, it's like getting kicked when you're down at a team like ours, but that's normal.
“So, we just keep knuckling down, keep trying to unlock the magic in this car.”
Davison and De Pasquale were two of several drivers to get early laps at the circuit ahead of the weekend, with the DJR duo sampling a Toyota 86 at Taupō in the days after the Grand Prix.
While Friday's results don't have Davison feeling fully settled, the two-time Bathurst winner believes his team has enough data to pore over to be confident heading into Saturday.
"Obviously, we're at a very, very different style of circuit to really anywhere," the 552-race veteran said.
"We had a feeling we have a pretty good car on a circuit like this, and it seems like we're okay today.
“I'm not too confident where we're at but, obviously, it's been a good session for both of us, and now we've got a heap of stuff to look through because it was a spinout.
“Ninety minutes, you're just trying to adjust your driving, you're throwing changes at the car, and you're not really getting a true read because the grip changes so much, run-to-run. So, it's quite confusing.
“But, yeah, I enjoyed the sessions. It was cool, really cool to learn a new circuit, try and get your head round it. I love that challenge.”
Supercars will return to the track on Saturday with Boost Mobile Qualifying at 8:20am AEST/10:20am NZST, followed by the Top Ten Shootout at 10:00am AEST/12:00pm NZST.
The first race of the weekend, the 60-lap Race 7, will start at 1:05pm AEST/3:05pm NZST.
