Davison sizzles to Darwin Supercars pole double

Will Davison has stormed to pole position for both Sunday races at Supercars’ Merlin Darwin Triple Crown with new practice/qualifying records in each session.

Davison’s first pole since his return to the Shell V-Power Racing Team this year was achieved with a 1:05.0575s in Qualifying for Race 13 at Hidden Valley Raceway.

In the latter 10-minute session of the morning, he got all the way down to a 1:04.9553s in the #17 Ford Mustang.

On each occasion, Red Bull Ampol Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen was best of the rest, and on each occasion he split the two Dick Johnson Racing entries given Anton De Pasquale was third both times.

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Team 18’s Mark Winterbottom (#18 Irwin Tools ZB Commodore) is also on Row 2 for Race 13, and Jamie Whincup in the other Triple Eight Race Engineering entry for Race 14.

The result was a big turnaround for Davison, who was bundled out of knockout qualifying at the first hurdle on the day prior while his team-mate took pole.

“For me, I’ve had a tough couple of days,” he admitted.

“Anton pole yesterday, I didn’t sleep much last night, getting down on myself.

“It’s such an honour to drive the #17 Shell V-Power Mustang. I put big pressure on myself this morning so a big thanks to everyone in the team, to Rich [Harris], my engineer, for methodically working through things last night and giving me an absolute weapon.

“I was really, really thrilled with both my laps. DJ [Dick Johnson] texted me last night and said just stick it to them. We’ve got two long races to go.

“G’day DJ, g’day Ryan [Story, team CEO] back in Queensland.”

Qualifying for Race 13

With the track dirty, used tyres were seeming the pick for many at the start of Qualifying for Race 13, including De Pasquale (#11 Mustang).

The previous day’s pole-sitter nevertheless kicked off proceedings with a 1:05.9389s, which was usurped by DJR team-mate Davison’s 1:05.6715s once the latter completed his first run proper.

The start of the second and final runs resembled a Moto3 qualifying session, with van Gisbergen (#97 ZB Commodore) notably slow off Turn 5 on his out lap as he tried to set himself up for a tow.

James Courtney (#44 Boost Mobile Mustang) pressed on and was briefly second, but only until Scott Pye (#20 DeWalt ZB Commodore) came through a few seconds later to set a 1:05.7099s.

However, Pye had given van Gisbergen his tow and the championship leader went to the top with a 1:05.3460s.

That stood as pole until Davison blazed to a 1:05.0575s after the chequered flag, shifting #97 to the outside of the front row in the process.

De Pasquale ended up third on a 1:05.4606s, from Winterbottom on a 1:05.4799s.

Fifth through eighth were Will Brown (#9 Ozland Group Solutions ZB Commodore), Whincup (#88 Red Bull Ampol ZB Commodore), Cameron Waters (#6 Monster Energy Mustang), and Chaz Mostert (#25 Mobil 1 Appliances Online ZB Commodore), the latter of whom reportedly had a late off at Turn 1.

Pye and Nick Percat (#8 R&J Batteries ZB Commodore) rounded out the top 10.

Qualifying for Race 14

Only around half the field went for the early run in Qualifying for Race 14, with Brown fastest of them on a 1:05.3717s.

For many, however, their fate was decided by one hot lap at the end of the session.

With less than two minutes to go, Winterbottom went top on a 1:05.3060s, before van Gisbergen set a 1:05.0733s.

Whincup then came through with a 1:05.2245s to move to second-fastest, followed by Davison on the 1:04.9553s on his only flyer of the stanza.

De Pasquale, who held the practice/qualifying lap record for less than 24 hours, secured an inside second row berth with a 1:05.0875s.

That time shuffled Whincup to fourth, Courtney to fifth, and Pye to sixth.

Percat ended up seventh, ahead of Winterbottom, Macauley Jones (#96 Coca-Cola ZB Commodore), and Mostert.

Brown’s early effort was good for 11th, one position ahead of Waters.

All told, the practice/qualifying lap record for a Supercar around Hidden Valley in this, the first weekend with the super soft tyre, has been cut by more than half a second in two days.

Race 13 of the 2021 Repco Supercars Championship, another 38-lapper, is due to get underway at 11:55 local time/12:25 AEST.

Results: Qualifying for Race 13, Merlin Darwin Triple Crown

Pos	Num	Team/Sponsor	Driver	Car	Fastest lap	Split
1	17	Shell V-Power Racing Team	Will Davison	Ford Mustang GT	1:05.0575
2	97	Red Bull Ampol Racing Team	Shane van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore ZB	1:05.3460	0:00.2885
3	11	Shell V-Power Racing Team	Anton De Pasquale	Ford Mustang GT	1:05.4606	0:00.4031
4	18	IRWIN Racing	Mark Winterbottom	Holden Commodore ZB	1:05.4799	0:00.4224
5	9	Erebus Motorsport	William Brown	Holden Commodore ZB	1:05.4966	0:00.4391
6	88	Red Bull Ampol Racing Team	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore ZB	1:05.5268	0:00.4693
7	6	Monster Energy Racing	Cameron Waters	Ford Mustang GT	1:05.6101	0:00.5526
8	25	Mobil 1 Appliances Online	Chaz Mostert	Holden Commodore ZB	1:05.6291	0:00.5716
9	20	DEWALT Racing	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore ZB	1:05.6800	0:00.6225
10	8	R&J Batteries	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore ZB	1:05.7063	0:00.6488
11	5	Truck Assist Racing	Jack Le Brocq	Ford Mustang GT	1:05.7309	0:00.6734
12	96	Coca-Cola Racing	Macauley Jones	Holden Commodore ZB	1:05.7576	0:00.7001
13	3	CoolDrive Racing	Tim Slade	Ford Mustang GT	1:05.7806	0:00.7231
14	34	UNIT Racing	Jake Kostecki	Holden Commodore ZB	1:05.7831	0:00.7256
15	2	Mobil 1 Middy’s Racing	Bryce Fullwood	Holden Commodore ZB	1:05.7889	0:00.7314
16	44	Boost Mobile Racing	James Courtney	Ford Mustang GT	1:05.8005	0:00.7430
17	55	Castrol Racing	Thomas Randle	Ford Mustang GT	1:05.8170	0:00.7595
18	7	NED Whisky Racing	Andre Heimgartner	Ford Mustang GT	1:05.8319	0:00.7744
19	14	Pizza Hut	Todd Hazelwood	Holden Commodore ZB	1:05.9012	0:00.8437
20	35	Yellow Cover Racing	Zane Goddard	Holden Commodore ZB	1:05.9797	0:00.9222
21	26	Penrite Racing	David Reynolds	Ford Mustang GT	1:06.0905	0:01.0330
22	19	Local Legends	Fabian Coulthard	Holden Commodore ZB	1:06.1069	0:01.0494
23	99	Erebus Boost Mobile Racing	Brodie Kostecki	Holden Commodore ZB	1:06.1692	0:01.1117
24	22	Team SYDNEY	Garry Jacobson	Holden Commodore ZB	1:06.1919	0:01.1344
25	27	Walkinshaw Andretti United	Kurt Kostecki	Holden Commodore ZB	1:06.5937	0:01.5362
26	4	SCT Logistics	Jack Smith	Holden Commodore ZB	1:07.0271	0:01.9696

Results: Qualifying for Race 14, Merlin Darwin Triple Crown

Pos	Num	Team/Sponsor	Driver	Car	Fastest lap	Split
1	17	Shell V-Power Racing Team	Will Davison	Ford Mustang GT	1:04.9553
2	97	Red Bull Ampol Racing Team	Shane van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore ZB	1:05.0733	0:00.1180
3	11	Shell V-Power Racing Team	Anton De Pasquale	Ford Mustang GT	1:05.0875	0:00.1322
4	88	Red Bull Ampol Racing Team	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore ZB	1:05.2245	0:00.2692
5	44	Boost Mobile Racing	James Courtney	Ford Mustang GT	1:05.2432	0:00.2879
6	20	DEWALT Racing	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore ZB	1:05.2673	0:00.3120
7	8	R&J Batteries	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore ZB	1:05.2751	0:00.3198
8	18	IRWIN Racing	Mark Winterbottom	Holden Commodore ZB	1:05.3060	0:00.3507
9	96	Coca-Cola Racing	Macauley Jones	Holden Commodore ZB	1:05.3144	0:00.3591
10	25	Mobil 1 Appliances Online	Chaz Mostert	Holden Commodore ZB	1:05.3351	0:00.3798
11	9	Erebus Motorsport	William Brown	Holden Commodore ZB	1:05.3717	0:00.4164
12	6	Monster Energy Racing	Cameron Waters	Ford Mustang GT	1:05.3859	0:00.4306
13	7	NED Whisky Racing	Andre Heimgartner	Ford Mustang GT	1:05.4275	0:00.4722
14	3	CoolDrive Racing	Tim Slade	Ford Mustang GT	1:05.4616	0:00.5063
15	26	Penrite Racing	David Reynolds	Ford Mustang GT	1:05.4935	0:00.5382
16	55	Castrol Racing	Thomas Randle	Ford Mustang GT	1:05.4985	0:00.5432
17	19	Local Legends	Fabian Coulthard	Holden Commodore ZB	1:05.5239	0:00.5686
18	35	Yellow Cover Racing	Zane Goddard	Holden Commodore ZB	1:05.5248	0:00.5695
19	5	Truck Assist Racing	Jack Le Brocq	Ford Mustang GT	1:05.5413	0:00.5860
20	14	Pizza Hut	Todd Hazelwood	Holden Commodore ZB	1:05.5434	0:00.5881
21	99	Erebus Boost Mobile Racing	Brodie Kostecki	Holden Commodore ZB	1:05.6168	0:00.6615
22	2	Mobil 1 Middy’s Racing	Bryce Fullwood	Holden Commodore ZB	1:05.7017	0:00.7464
23	4	SCT Logistics	Jack Smith	Holden Commodore ZB	1:05.7958	0:00.8405
24	22	Team SYDNEY	Garry Jacobson	Holden Commodore ZB	1:05.8408	0:00.8855
25	27	Walkinshaw Andretti United	Kurt Kostecki	Holden Commodore ZB	1:06.1529	0:01.1976
26	34	UNIT Racing	Jake Kostecki	Holden Commodore ZB	1:06.1669	0:01.2116