Will Davison has claimed line honours in the first event at Sandown this weekend in an impressive drive which saw him lead the majority of the race after starting from pole. The Australian driver showed his experience in dominating fashion, the 8 second gap over second-place Shane Van Gisbergen all but ending the Kiwis five race winning streak.
Davison started well and was rarely threatened from the front of the grid, with Van Gisbergen staying in contact but not close enough to threaten through the early proceedings. Red Bull attempted to undercut the Shell V-Power car, a move which failed and saw Davison emerge a second of the championship leader.
From here it was all Davison, who pulled away through the later stages of the race to come home by over 8 seconds. Anton de Pasquale rounded out the podium, completing a successful day for DJR following the announcement of new ownership and the contract renewal of both drivers earlier this week.
Whilst second placed finisher Van Gisbergen extends his championship lead to over 400 points, the result was important in the Dunlop Teams Championship, putting Shell V-Power Racing only 74 points behind Red Bull Racing.
Red Bull were impacted by a Lap 1 incident between Andre Heimgartner and Broc Feeney, with the Kiwi spinning the youngster at Turn 8. This resulted in a 15 second time penalty for Heimgartner which saw him come home in 23rd of the 25 car field. It was an unlucky return for Heimgartner who returned to the track after a massive, 38g impact at Tailem Bend which left him requiring hospital treatment.
Cam Waters drops a spot in the championship standings, with de Pasquale regaining second position after losing out at The Bend. Waters, however, recovered from a poor qualifying to drive through the field and come home in 5th. He now sits third in the standings, just 10 points behind de Pasquale.
Will Brown scored a solid result in finishing 4th, however was 6.5 seconds outside the podium and over 15 seconds behind Davison.
James Courtney drove a consistent race to finish 6th, with Scott Pye, Mark Winterbottom, Thomas Randle and Chaz Mostert rounding out the top 10 respectively.
The third Kiwi in the field, Chris Pither, was the last placed car in the classifications, sitting 25th.
A busy day of racing begins at 12.40pm tomorrow with dual qualifying sessions followed by Race 25 at 3.05pm and Race 26 at 6.20pm.
