Will Davison sails to victory in Adelaide Race 2

Will Davison leaves Adelaide with the lead of the V8 Supercars Championship, after leading a 1-2 finish for Ford Performance Racing.

Davison secured a comfortable victory for the team, leading home team-mate Mark Winterbottom in a generally incident free race, with no safety car periods and no fuel strategy concerns unlike yesterday.

Triple Eight’s Jamie Whincup had started from pole position after setting the fastest time in qualifying, but again it was Holden Racing Team’s Garth Tander that got the jump from the front row and took the lead, holding the lead for seven laps before Whincup retook the position with a pass at Turn 9.

The two FPR cars sat behind the leading duo in the early stage of the race, with Winterbottom leading Davison until the first round of pit stops when Davison moved ahead of his team-mate.

What was reported to be a misfire for Jamie Whincup saw the Triple Eight Commodore drop three spots and hand the lead to Garth Tander on lap 37, from which yesterday’s race winner never recovered, complaining of handling issues with the car.

Ten laps later, Davison attacked Tander at Turn 8 and took the lead with Mark Winterbottom following him through into second. The FPR duo held place for the remainder of the race despite a scare in the final pit stop for Davison who nearly clipped the back of Shane van Gisbergen pitting ahead of him as he was released from his bay.

Davison secured the first 1-2 for Ford Performance Racing since Darwin 2008, when Steven Richards lead Mark Winterbottom in the third race of the weekend.

It’s also Davison’s first victory since the 2009 Bathurst 1000km when he was racing for the Holden Racing Team. Today was his first win for FPR and he takes the Championship lead with 288 points, with Jamie Whincup 18 points adrift in second and Garth Tander 30 points back in third.