Will Davison takes back-to-back wins in the Tradingpost Perth Challenge Photo credit: Ford Performance Racing
Will Davison claimed his second victory of the day in the final race of the Trading Post Perth Challenge after a thrilling final lap saw him race wheel-to-wheel with Jamie Whincup and teammate Mark Winterbottom.
Whincup and Winterbottom started on the soft tyres and led the way until a Safety Car on lap 15 of 50 turned the race on its head. Opting for the alternate hard-soft strategy, Davison on the faster compound, quickly made his way to the front after the restart. But after 35 laps, with well-worn soft tyres, he had to endure a last-lap charge from his hard tyre-shod rivals. As the pair closed in, Winterbottom then made a bold move on Whincup at the final turn to snatch second and seal a one-two for the Ford Performance Racing team.
“To have scored two wins today after yesterday's disappointment was a great feeling. Frosty proved yesterday the car is very quick around here and after qualifying this morning I knew we had the right package here in Perth,” said Davison.
“This track was absolutely perfect for the mixed tyre format and that was proven in today's final race, which was an awesome for the fans here in Perth and across the world on TV.”
Jason Bright (Team BOC) finished fourth, ahead of Michael Patrizi ( Tekno Autosports), Craig Lowndes (TeamVodafone), Fabian Coulthard (Lockwood Racing), Tim Slade (Lucky 7 Racing), Michael Caruso (Fujitsu Racing GRM) and Steven Johnson (Jim Beam Racing) rounded out the top ten.
But the dramatic race was marred by a mix-up during the race’s only safety car period. A collision between Team iSelect's Taz Douglas and Tony D’Alberto prompted the full-course yellow and saw most of the whole field head to the pits led by Lowndes and SP Tools Racing's Shane van Gisbergen. The duo should have been first in queue behind the Safety car but confusion over the leader of the race saw the wrong TeamVodafone car picked up, relegating the effective race leaders to 14th and 15th and others down the order when the call was made to restart. Despite this Lowndes recovered well to make up six places in the final 17 laps.
Patrizi, who had blasted through to second at the restart behind Davison held his ground for much of the second stint, but fell behind Whincup, Winterbottom and Bright over the final six laps as his soft tyres faded.
Whincup now leads the standings by just 29 points from Davison with Winterbottom 131 points further adrift in third.
Race 9 result:
| 1 | Will Davison | Trading Post FPR Ford | Ford Falcon FG | 50 | 50:38.3093 |
| 2 | Mark Winterbottom | Orrcon Steel FPR Ford | Ford Falcon FG | 50 | 50:38.8040 |
| 3 | Jamie Whincup | TeamVodafone | Holden Commodore VE2 | 50 | 50:38.8627 |
| 4 | Jason Bright | Team BOC | Holden Commodore VE2 | 50 | 50:40.2557 |
| 5 | Michael Patrizi | Tekno Autosports | Holden Commodore VE2 | 50 | 50:43.8013 |
| 6 | Craig Lowndes | TeamVodafone | Holden Commodore VE2 | 50 | 50:52.7364 |
| 7 | Fabian Coulthard | Lockwood Racing | Holden Commodore VE2 | 50 | 50:55.6089 |
| 8 | Tim Slade | Lucky 7 Racing | Ford Falcon FG | 50 | 50:55.7468 |
| 9 | Michael Caruso | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Holden Commodore VE2 | 50 | 50:59.3298 |
| 10 | Steven Johnson | Jim Beam Racing | Ford Falcon FG | 50 | 50:59.7576 |
| 11 | Greg Murphy | Pepsi Max Crew | Holden Commodore VE2 | 50 | 51:01.0063 |
| 12 | James Courtney | Holden Racing Team | Holden Commodore VE2 | 50 | 51:04.2329 |
| 13 | Russell Ingall | Supercheap Auto Racing | Holden Commodore VE2 | 50 | 51:05.0462 |
| 14 | Garth Tander | Holden Racing Team | Holden Commodore VE2 | 50 | 51:09.5901 |
| 15 | Dean Fiore | Jim Beam Racing | Ford Falcon FG | 50 | 51:09.9880 |
| 16 | Steve Owen | VIP Petfoods | Ford Falcon FG | 50 | 51:14.2754 |
| 17 | Karl Reindler | Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing | Holden Commodore VE2 | 50 | 51:14.5239 |
| 18 | Shane Van Gisbergen | SP Tools Racing | Ford Falcon FG | 50 | 51:19.3497 |
| 19 | Rick Kelly | Jack Daniel's Racing | Holden Commodore VE2 | 50 | 51:19.6702 |
| 20 | Jonathon Webb | Tekno Autosports | Holden Commodore VE2 | 50 | 51:21.4624 |
| 21 | Lee Holdsworth | Irwin Racing | Ford Falcon FG | 50 | 51:24.2777 |
| 22 | James Moffat | Team Norton DJR | Ford Falcon FG | 50 | 51:27.4775 |
| 23 | Todd Kelly | Jack Daniel's Racing | Holden Commodore VE2 | 50 | 51:37.5535 |
| 24 | Alexandre Premat | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Holden Commodore VE2 | 49 | 51:16.4101 |
| 25 | Taz Douglas | Team iSelect | Holden Commodore VE2 | 47 | 51:30.5478 |
| 26 | David Reynolds | The Bottle-O Racing Team | Ford Falcon FG | 45 | 51:23.6945 |
| DNF | David Wall | Wilson Security Racing | Holden Commodore VE2 | 46 | 47:06.9512 |
| DNF | Tony D'Alberto | Tony D'Alberto Racing | Ford Falcon FG | 14 | 14:13.7290 |
