Advertisement

Davison upstages Barbagallo favourites

Will Davison of the Erebus Motorsport V8 team is sprayed with champagne by Fabian Coulthard of the Freightliner Racing team and Craig Lowndes of the Red Bull Racing Australia team. Pic: Getty Images

Will Davison crashed the party at Barbagallo Raceway this afternoon after overtaking Craig Lowndes with four laps to go to claim his first race win in Perth.

Lowndes had appeared on track to become the first driver to win 100 races in V8 Supercars history when he overtook rivals Chaz Mostert and Mark Winterbottom on lap 58 to seize the lead in the 200km endurance race.

But Davison’s superior pace won out in the dying stages, with the former Ford Performance Racing driver surging away in the final laps to cross the line almost six seconds faster than Lowndes.

It was a remarkable achievement from Davison, who defied some of the championships strongest teams including Red Bull Racing Australia to post the historic win for privateer outfit Erebus Motorsport.

Davison had started the race from seventh on the grid.

Mark Winterbottom had earlier blown the chance to take a stranglehold in the championship after starting from second on the grid and charging into the lead by beating team-mate Chaz Mostert into the first quarter.

The 33-year-old was passed by Mostert and Lowndes with 30 laps to go after the field had been bunched up by a safety car appearance.

He tumbled down the rankings to finish a lowly 15th as his pace continued to deteriorate in the race’s latter stages.

Lowndes second place still put him into the championship lead despite being denied a record-breaking victory.

His Red Bull Racing Australia team-mate Jamie Whincup had entered the day trailing Winterbottom by just one point in the standings.
But the six-times V8 champion had a day to forget, plummeting from fifth to the back of the field after coming off the circuit three laps in.

Whincup crossed the line in 19th.

Fabian Coulthard staged a remarkable drive to come third after starting from second last on the grid.

The Brad Jones Racing driver had earlier run into one of the tyre walls during the 30-minute qualifying session.

Mostert did enough to bring his Ford home in fourth.

WA’s Garth Tander finished a respectable sixth to remain in the championship hunt after starting from the grid’s second row.