Davison wins Eastern Creek -
DJ Smiles
Will Davison gave the Jim Beam Team of Dick Johnson Racing a much needed boost with a some what surprising round win
at the second round of the V8 Supercar championship.
For Davison, the grandson of racing legend Lex Davison, it was
his first win since gaining the drive with the DJR team. It was also a welcome change of fortune for the team that
has returned from the brink of extinction after being left high and dry financially when their major sponsor, Westpoint, failed.
It was Dick Johnson Racing’s first win since 2001 and bought a smile to Dick’s face after 2 years of hard times. Davison
admitted to being stunned by the victory.
Although Davison only won 1 of the three heats, his mature and consistent performance saw him also achieve
a second and sixth placing giving him the overall round win. Ford Performance Racing’s Mark Winterbottom
suffered all weekend from a poor qualifying result and was fortunate to achieve second place overall.
The defending series champion Garth Tander scored his first pole position of the year and his first race
win in race one, however errors in car set up left him with an uncompetitive car in race two, ending his
chance of winning.
Davison’s drive was relatively trouble free with plenty of close but clean racing, including a dice
with Mark Winterbottom and another with his house mate, Jamie Whincup. James Courtney made contact with
Paul Morris, with Morris unleashing a stern warning that he has picked on the wrong person this time
and that the incident would be filed away and repaid later. It remains to be seen if V8 Supercar Australia
take any action over Morris’s comments.
| 1 | | Jamie Whincup | 540 |
| 2 |  Rick Kelly | 432 |
| 3 | | Lee Holdsworth | 426 |
| 4 | | Mark Winterbottom | 382 |
| 5 | | Will Davison | 356 |
| 6 | | Craig Lowndes | 339 |
| 7 | | Greg Murphy | 330 |
| 8 | | Garth Tander | 326 |
| 9 | | Mark Skaife | 322 |
| 10 | | Todd Kelly | 308 |
| 11 | | Steven Johnson | 280 |
| 12 | | Jason Richards | 272 |
| 13 | | Shane Van Gisbergen | 268 |
| 14 | | Russell Ingall | 255 |
| 15 | | Steven Richards | 251 |
| 16 | | Cameron McConville | 249 |
| 17 | | Fabian Coulthard | 239 |
| 18 | | James Courtney | 171 |
| 19 | | Andrew Jones | 170 |
| 20 | | Jason Bright | 164 |
| 21 | | Marcus Marshall | 158 |
| 22 | | Michael Caruso | 152 |
| 23 | | Paul Morris | 143 |
| 24 | | Paul Dumbrell | 140 |
| 25 | | Andrew Thompson | 133 |
| 26 | | Shane Price | 130 |
| 27 | | Tony D'Alberto | 108 |
| 28 | | Kayne Scott | 102 |
| 29 | | Chris Pither | 58 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Clipsal 500 - A Ford Crash & Bash
The Clipsal 500 turned into a Ford crash and bash affair as some of the leading Ford drivers took each other out of the race. The Ford
motor sport executives must be at breaking point after the scuffle between Craig Lowndes and James Courtney not only badly damaged both
of their cars, but also put an end to Mark Winterbottom's race.
Jamie Whincup has every reason to smile after taking out the top position on the podium in the final race with the Holdens of
young up and coming star Lee Holdsworth and long time campaigner Cameron McConville making up the top three positions. Lee Holdsworth
made a name for himself at the Oran Park championship round in 2007 with a stunning drive in the rain and has now proved that it was sheer
driving talent that is propelling him to bigger and better results in the big league. Cameron McConville was visibly emotional with the
success in his first race with a new team and new team sponsor, after some difficult years in the sport.
First of the non podium finishers was Todd Kelly in his first race in the Jack Daniels Racing Commodore, in what could only be
an encouraging start to his task of returning the Perkins Motor Sport team to their former glory as a front running team. The rest of
the top ten were, Shane VanGisbergin, Rick Kelly, Tasman Motor Sport team mates Greg Murphy and Jason Richards, Steven Johnson and Jason Bright.
Both Holden Racing Team Commodores of Garth Tander and Mark Skaife suffered uncharacteristic mechanical failures which left
them floundering at the rear of the field.
The successes of the day were overshadowed by a massive accident in the Fujitsu development series, that saw Ashley Cooper
suffer massive head and abdominal injuries at the notorious turn 8. Most of the current drivers have hit the high speed sweeping turn
8 wall, which is taken at around 220kmh, at some stage in their careers. Until now all have escaped major injury. Sadly, Ashley Cooper
succumbed to his injuries and our thoughts are with his family and team at this time.
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seemingly doing more laps than any other car. The Paul Morris Motorsport cars only arrived at the track in the early afternoon, having only been finished that morning, with their times reflecting the lack of preparation.
