JBR drivers recover from poor qualifying

Jim Beam Racing’s Will Davison and Steve Johnson fought back brilliantly during today’s opening V8 Supercar race of the Bigpond 400 at Barbagallo Raceway, Davison finishing inside the top ten with Johnson crossing in 13th position after the 50 lap opener.

Battling with set up issues during both practice and qualifying, Davison started from 17th on the grid and showed why he is considered a challenger this year picking up nine positions for a top ten finish.

“Anytime you start that far back in make it inside the top ten you have got to be relatively pleased,” said Davison.

“It gives us a real chance to push hard for the top five tomorrow, and while we still have some work to do to find some more speed it was a terrific fight back.

Johnson also improved his qualifying effort considerably, starting 24th on the grid he staged a remarkable recovery to finish 13th and give the number 17 Jim Beam Falcon a shot at the top ten with two races remaining tomorrow.

“We struggled a bit during qualifying which was strange because we normally perform well here at Barbagallo,” explained Johnson.

“Having said that it was a great effort to finish where we did, it’s not easy starting that far back but we have a realistic shot at the top ten tomorrow, we need a touch more speed but it was a good improvement.”