Davison denies Lowndes in Barbagallo finale

Will Davison mounted a late charge to score a surprise win for Erebus Motorsport in a Barbagallo finale dominated by tyre strategy.

Craig Lowndes led for much of the final stint and appeared in the box seat for his 100th victory before being chased down by Davison in the closing laps.

“I don’t know what to say, a podium would have been incredible,” said Davison.

“It has been a dry spell and we have had a good car and after the disappointment of Tassie I would have been thrilled with a top 5, I just wanted a clean weekend.”

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“I knew CL was on number 99 and I knew how much he would have wanted it. But I was thinking about it being a long while for me.”

Fabian Coulthard made the most of his tyres to carve his way through from the back of the grid to score third.

Prodrive duo Chaz Mostert and Mark Winterbottom dominated for much of the day before a Safety Car with just over 30 of the 83 laps remaining ruined their strategy.

All four Prodrive Fords had been among a small group that executed a soft-hard-soft tyre strategy.

The timing of the Safety Car, which was ironically triggered by a spin for the second Erebus entry of Ash Walsh, triggered the final stops to take place earlier than planned.

While the likes of Davison, Lowndes and Coulthard charged through on new softs, the two Fords eventually struggled home fourth and 15th respectively on their worn out rubber.

James Courtney took fifth after also saving his softs until the end, while team-mate Garth Tander’s sixth place came after running hard-soft-hard.

Shane van Gisbergen ran near the front early but elected for three stops and eventually finished 14th.

Andre Heimgartner and Scott Pye both failed to see the chequered flag after clashing at Turn 1 in the closing stages.

Race control left the two cars under local yellows, avoiding a Safety Car finish.

It was also a rough afternoon for Jamie Whincup, who spent the race at the back of the field after an early mistake saw him skip through the sand trap at Turn 6.

The six-time champion has now fallen back to fifth in the standings behind Lowndes, Courtney, Winterbottom and Coulthard.

Result: V8 Supercars Race 9, Barbagallo 

1	Erebus Motorsport V8	Will Davison	Mercedes E63 AMG	83	01:25:26.7265
2	Red Bull Racing Australia	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore VF	83	01:25:32.3340
3	Freightliner Racing	Fabian Coulthard	Holden Commodore VF	83	01:25:34.1004
4	Pepsi Max Crew	Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG/X	83	01:25:38.8487
5	Holden Racing Team	James Courtney	Holden Commodore VF	83	01:25:41.5978
6	Holden Racing Team	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore VF	83	01:25:43.4909
7	Nissan Motorsport	James Moffat	Nissan Altima	83	01:25:46.9039
8	Repair Management Aust Racing	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore VF	83	01:25:51.2885
9	The Bottle-O Racing Team	David Reynolds	Ford Falcon FG/X	83	01:25:51.5624
10	Nissan Motorsport	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima	83	01:25:51.8276
11	GB Galvanizing Racing	Dale Wood	Holden Commodore VF	83	01:25:55.3320
12	Team Cooldrive	Tim Blanchard	Holden Commodore VF	83	01:25:57.0039
13	Nissan Motorsport	Todd Kelly	Nissan Altima	83	01:25:57.8053
14	Team Darrell Lea STIX	Shane Van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore VF	83	01:26:01.6450
15	Pepsi Max Crew	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG/X	83	01:26:02.2944
16	Team BOC	Jason Bright	Holden Commodore VF	83	01:26:02.6148
17	Walkinshaw Racing	Lee Holdsworth	Holden Commodore VF	83	01:26:03.0823
18	Wilson Security Racing GRM	Scott McLaughlin	Volvo S60	83	01:26:07.6341
19	Red Bull Racing Australia	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore VF	82	01:25:32.5140
20	Nissan Motorsport	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	82	01:25:32.6822
21	Wilson Security Racing GRM	David Wall	Volvo S60	82	01:26:04.7346
22	Erebus Motorsport V8	Ashley Walsh	Mercedes E63 AMG	77	01:25:44.5818
23	Supercheap Auto Racing	Tim Slade	Holden Commodore VF	69	01:26:23.2185
DNF	Super Black Racing	Andre Heimgartner	Ford Falcon FG/X	78	01:21:12.3104
DNF	DJR Team Penske	Scott Pye	Ford Falcon FG/X	78	01:21:12.6623

Championship Standings

1	Craig Lowndes	717
2	James Courtney	665
3	Mark Winterbottom	643
4	Fabian Coulthard	641
5	Jamie Whincup	630
6	Shane Van Gisbergen	595
7	Garth Tander	595
8	Chaz Mostert	545
9	David Reynolds	486
10	Rick Kelly	431
11	Jason Bright	429
12	Will Davison	399
13	Todd Kelly	394
14	Nick Percat	349
15	James Moffat	332
16	Dale Wood	331
17	Scott McLaughlin	318
18	Tim Slade	311
19	Lee Holdsworth	309
20	Tim Blanchard	298
21	Michael Caruso	288
22	Andre Heimgartner	272
23	David Wall	237
24	Ashley Walsh	194
25	Scott Pye	143
26	Marcos Ambrose	125