» V8s: Davison wins Race 1 at Symmons Plains

Will Davison and Mark Winterbottom have helped Ford Performance Racing claim its second race 1-2 in as many races after the works drivers raced nose-to-tail in today’s first race at the Falken Tasmania Challenge at Symmons Plains Raceway.

Starting on the front row, Davison managed to get the jump on pole-sitting team-mate Winterbottom as the race got underway, and quickly built himself a small lead while Winterbottom was engaged in an early race battle with Jamie Whincup.

Whincup managed to squeeze by Winterbottom on the opening lap after a bit of panel-rubbing action between the two, but the compulsory pit-stop saw the positions between the pair reversed when ‘Frosty’ pitted on Lap 23.

Davison pitted a lap later, and despite a slower pit stop, he managed to rejoin in an effective lead, just ahead of Winterbottom, who proceeded to harry his team-mate for the lead over the remaining 25 laps.

Davison’s cause was not helped when he started to lose feeling in his right foot – a medical issue he has been suffering intermittently for some time – but he managed to hold on for his second win in as many championship races.

Whincup and van Gisbergen disputed the final podium position, with the TeamVodafone driver eventually easing out a four-second margin over the New Zealander.

Fifth place went to Whincup’s team-mate Craig Lowndes, who had to twice overtake David Reynolds during the race – once before the pit stops, and then again when Reynolds emerged ahead as they exited the pits.

The top-ten places were completed by Garth Tander (Holden Racing Team), Tim Slade (Stone Brothers Racing), Lee Holdsworth (Stone Brothers Racing) and Todd Kelly (Kelly Racing).

Taz Douglas (Lucas Dumbrell Holden) managed to run inside the top-ten for much of the race, but lost three positions in the closing laps, fading to twelfth.

The luckless Jonathon Webb had another potential top-ten result go begging, this time being forced to retire his Tekno Holden with brake problems after he overshot the Turn 4 hairpin on several occasions during the race.

Davison’s win means he extends his championship lead to 39 points over Whincup, with Winterbottom a further 39 points behind in third.

Tomorrow’s action will see the drivers tackle a longer 84-lap race, preceded by another twenty-minute qualifying session.

2012 V8 Supercars Falken Tasmania Challenge – Race 1 Result (59 laps):

	Driver	Entry / Team	Laps	Result
1.	Will Davison	Trading Post / Ford Performance Racing	59	52:30.5845
2.	Mark Winterbottom	Orrcon Steel / Ford Performance Racing	59	+ 0.6395
3.	Jamie Whincup	Team Vodafone / Triple 8 Racing	59	+ 9.1028
4.	Shane van Gisbergen	SP Tools / Stone Brothers Racing	59	+ 13.3803
5.	Craig Lowndes	Team Vodafone / Triple 8 Racing	59	+ 13.7788
6.	David Reynolds	The Bottle-O Racing Team / Rod Nash	59	+ 18.8631
7.	Garth Tander	TOLL / Holden Racing Team	59	+ 20.2176
8.	Tim Slade	Lucky 7 Racing / Stone Brothers Racing	59	+ 20.4327
9.	Lee Holdsworth	Irwin Racing / Stone Brothers Racing	59	+ 27.3373
10.	Todd Kelly	Jack Daniel’s / Kelly Racing	59	+ 31.1626
11.	Steven Johnson	Jim Beam Racing / Dick Johnson Racing	59	+ 36.5306
12.	Taz Douglas	Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport	59	+ 37.1313
13.	Steve Owen	VIP Petfoods / Dick Johnson Racing	59	+ 39.0861
14.	James Moffat	Team Norton / Dick Johnson Racing	59	+ 39.5981
15.	Michael Caruso	Fujitsu Racing / Garry Rogers Motorsport	59	+ 40.3658
16.	Fabian Coulthard	Lockwood Racing / Brad Jones Racing	59	+ 48.8080
17.	Alexandre Prémat	Fujitsu Racing / Garry Rogers Motorsport	59	+ 51.8426
18.	James Courtney	TOLL / Holden Racing Team	58	+ 1 lap
19.	Rick Kelly	Jack Daniel’s / Kelly Racing	58	+ 1 lap
20.	Michael Patrizi	Tekno Autosports	58	+ 1 lap
21.	David Russell	Pepsi Max Crew / Kelly Racing	58	+ 1 lap
22.	Dean Fiore	Jim Beam Racing / Dick Johnson Racing	58	+ 1 lap
23.	Karl Reindler	Fair Dinkum Sheds / Kelly Racing	58	+ 1 lap
24.	Russell Ingall	Supercheap Auto / Walkinshaw Racing	57	+ 2 laps
25.	Jason Bright	Team BOC / Brad Jones Racing	51	+ 8 laps
26.	Tony D’Alberto	Tony D’Alberto Racing	49	+ 10 laps
	NOT CLASSIFIED
DNF.	Jonathon Webb	Tekno Autosports	26	Brakes
DNF.	David Wall	Wilson Security / Brad Jones Racing	20	Mechanical