Davison Wins Tradingpost Perth Challenge Race Three Thriller

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: