WILL Davison claimed his second Bathurst 1000 crown in dramatic fashion on Sunday as he and co-driver Jonathon Webb capitalised off a crash that will be talked about for years to come.
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With just 11 laps to go second-place runner Scott McLaughlin was shunted off track at The Chase by Jamie Whincup, but when the Volvo driver tried to make his way back on track no-one could have predicted what was to unfold.
When McLaughlin re-entered the track he contacted Garth Tander, putting himself and the Holden Racing Team driver out of the contest.
With Whincup assessed a 15-second penalty for his role in the incident, and leader Fabian Coulthard having to pit for more fuel, it paved the way for Davison to make a winning run to the finish line when the safety car came back into pit lane.
Once the green flag waved he had to hold off a determined challenge from Shane Van Gisbergen over the eight remaining laps.
It was a task Davison was prepared for, even in the face of a dangerously low amount of fuel.
The win was a remarkable achievement for Davison and Webb who started the race from 17th position on the grid.
It’s the second win for Davison in the Bathurst 1000 after his success with Tander back in 2009. For Webb it was a first-time success, and in the process he became the first man to win the Great Race and the Bathurst 12 Hour in the same year.
Van Gisbergen and co-driver Alex Premat had to settle for the runner-up finish while Nick Percat and Cameron McConville completed a Holden clean sweep of the podium.
Davison said he spent a lot of time taking a look at his fuel gauge over the final 10 laps.
“In the whole last stint there was a lot of chat going back and forth. We had two safety cars and we still coughed over the line. Obviously we were no chance without them,” he said.
“The guys out in front were going pretty hard and using a lot of fuel and I knew there was no way I could hit my fuel number and go with them. It was just the story of that whole last stint.
“When we knew we were going to have a crack at it I had Shane behind me, and what do you do? Every time I was asked to save [fuel] I was like ‘If I save, we’re going to lose the lead so let’s just wing it’.
With local yellow flags waving at The Chase on the final lap, due to Todd Kelly beaching his car in the sand trap, Davison said he had just enough left to make it home ahead of Van Gisbergen.
“The yellows were out at The Chase and that afforded me to just roll out of the throttle all the way through at the end of Conrod [Straight] because I knew he couldn’t have a go there but I knew he’d be looking at the last corner,” he said.
Davison and Webb now lead the Endurance Cup.
It was an eerily quiet race over the opening half of the day.
In fact, it took 92 laps for the first safety car of the day to arrive, reserved for a heavy Andrew Jones’ contact with the wall at Sulman Park.
Most of the early dramas were saved for mechanical incidents instead, which put several big contenders down by a lap or more, including Craig Lowndes, Chaz Mostert and Tim Slade.
