William Davison (born 30 August 1982) is an Australian professional racing driver. He currently drives the No.17

Ford Mustang GT The Ford Mustang is a series of American automobiles manufactured by Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its seventh generation, it is the fifth-best sel ...

for

Dick Johnson Racing Dick Johnson Racing (formerly DJR Team Penske) is Australia's oldest motor racing team competing in the Supercars Championship. Founded by Dick Johnson, the team's drivers have won ten Australian Touring Car Championship titles (five of the ...

in the Repco Supercars Championship. Davison is a two-time winner of the

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (known for sponsorship reasons as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a Touring car racing, touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supe ...

, in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Early career

Having won the

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

n title in 2000, Davison won the 2001 Australian Formula Ford Championship, competing against future

IndyCar IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with the Indianapolis ...

driver

Will Power William Steven Power (born 1 March 1981) is an Australian racing driver who competes in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 12 Dallara-Chevrolet for Team Penske. He won the 2018 Indianapolis 500 and has won the IndyCar Championship twice, in ...

and Leanne Ferrier.

Open-wheel career

European campaign

Taking a common route to

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

, Davison packed up and moved to

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

where he competed in the 2002

British Formula Renault Championship British Formula Renault Championship referred to one of two Formula Renault championships that were held in the United Kingdom. The main series was Renault Sport, Renault Sport UK's Formula Renault Eurocup, Formula Renault 2.0 UK championship which ...

, finishing fourth in the series. In 2003 he moved up to the

British Formula 3 Championship The British Formula Three Championship was an international motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It was a junior-level feeder formula that used small single sea ...

with

Alan Docking Racing Alan Docking Racing (ADR) is a motor racing team based in Silverstone, United Kingdom. The team was formed in 1975 by Australian Alan Docking. The team competed in the British Formula 3 series throughout most of its existence; however, it has ...

but an enforced mid-year change of teams to Menu F3 did not help his campaign. Davison continued with Menu F3 into 2004 but his campaign was cut short for financial reasons. In 2004 he tested a

Minardi Minardi was an Italian automobile racing team and constructor founded in Faenza in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal following ...

Formula One car with fellow Australian Will Power at the

Misano World Circuit The Misano World Circuit (officially known as Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli or Misano Circuit Sic 58, and before 2006 called Circuito Internazionale Santa Monica Misano) is a race track located next to the town of Misano Adriatico (Provi ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, organised by Minardi's Australian team owner,

Paul Stoddart Paul Gerard Stoddart (born 26 May 1955) is an Australian businessman, airline owner and former Minardi Formula One team boss. Personal life Born in Coburg, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and attended Preston Technical School and ...

A1 Grand Prix

During his time between Formula 3 and V8 Supercar seats, Davison drove for

A1 Team Australia A1 Team Australia was the Australian team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. Management The team chairman is former Formula One world champion Alan Jones (racing driver), Alan Jones, backed by general manager and former NASCAR ...

in the inaugural season of the

A1 Grand Prix A1 Grand Prix Operations Ltd. operated as A1 Grand Prix (A1GP) was a "single-make" open-wheel auto racing series that ran from 2005 until 2009. It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themse ...

, where he was once again racing for Alan Docking Racing. During the season he experienced many ups and downs, including being involved in various incidents outside his own control. The positives for the season were two sixth-place finishes in both the Portuguese and

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

feature races.

Touring car career

Team Dynamik

In 2004, Will made his first appearance in Australia's premier

touring car Touring car and tourer are both terms for open cars (i.e. cars without a fixed roof). "Touring car" is a style of open car built in the United States which seats four or more people. The style was popular from the early 1900s to the 1930s. The ...

series, V8 Supercars, driving a third car for Team Dynamik at Winton. However, it was an inauspicious debut as he only managed to complete a single lap before retiring. He then reappeared in the next round at Oran Park before co-driving with Dale Brede in the endurance events, the

Sandown 500 The Sandown 500 (commercially titled Penrite, Penrite Oil Sandown 500) is an annual endurance racing (motorsport), endurance Auto racing, motor race which is staged at the Sandown Raceway, near Melbourne, Victoria, Australia from 1964. The even ...

and

, with the latter event marking his final appearance of the season.

Dick Johnson Racing

In 2005, Will was not able to find a full-time drive. However, he did appear at Sandown and Bathurst, where he drove for

, co-driving with Steven Johnson in the No. 17 Westpoint

Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distrib ...

. By mid-November 2005, Davison had been signed as a full-time driver for Dick Johnson Racing, set to pilot the team's No. 18 Falcon in 2006. For Davison, 2006 was a quiet year as Davison was plagued by technical difficulties. He recorded only modest results, with a fourth place with team-mate Steven Johnson at Sandown being his lone highlight. He finished 19th in the championship. In 2007, Davison continued to drive the No. 18 Falcon under the team's new naming rights sponsor,

Jim Beam Jim Beam is an American brand of bourbon whiskey produced primarily at James B. Beam Distilling Co. in Clermont, Kentucky by Suntory Global Spirits. It is one of the best-selling brands of bourbon in the world. Since 1795 (interrupted by Prohi ...

. In the 2007 endurance races, Davison partnered with Steven Johnson for the third straight year, with the duo scoring a third place at Bathurst. He finished 10th in the championship. Davison remained at the team to race the No. 18 Falcon in 2008, winning his first championship race and round at

Eastern Creek Raceway Sydney Motorsport Park (known until May 2012 as Eastern Creek International Raceway) is a motorsport circuit located on Brabham Drive, Eastern Creek (40-kilometres west of the Sydney CBD), New South Wales, Australia, adjacent to the Western ...

the second round of 2008. It was the team's first round victory in seven years. Davison also scored a further 2 podiums in the year, one of these with teammate Steven Johnson at the

Phillip Island 500 The Phillip Island 500 was an annual motor racing event, last held for Supercars at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Phillip Island, Victoria. The race had three distinct eras; from 1971 to 1977 as an endurance production and later Austral ...

. He finished a career-high 5th in the championship.

Holden Racing Team

In 2009, Davison moved to the

Holden Racing Team Walkinshaw Andretti United is an Australian motor racing team based in the Melbourne suburb of Clayton. The team, initially branded as the Holden Racing Team, used to field Holden Commodores in the Supercars Championship before making the swit ...

to drive the No. 22

Holden VE Commodore The Holden Commodore (VE) is a full-size car that was produced from 2006 to 2013 by Holden, the former Australian subsidiary of General Motors. Dubbed Holden's "billion dollar baby", the car was available as the Holden Berlina—the mid-rang ...

. This was Davison's best year to date; he finished 2nd in the championship after collecting a round win at the

Sandown Challenge The Sandown SuperSprint was a Supercars Championship, Supercars motor racing event held at Sandown Raceway in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria, Australia. The event was a semi-regular part of the Supercars Championship—and its previous ...

, a race win at

Queensland Raceway Queensland Raceway nicknamed "the paperclip" is a motor racing circuit located at Willowbank, Queensland, Willowbank in Ipswich, Queensland, Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. The circuit hosted Supercars Championship until 2019, Drifting (motor ...

and a rare endurance double at the Phillip Island 500 and Bathurst 1000, driving with

Garth Tander Garth Dirk Tander (born 31 March 1977) is a multiple-championship winning Australian motor racing driver competing in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship's Enduro Cup, co-driving for Grove Racing. He was the 2007 series champion for th ...

. This provided Davison with his first Bathurst victory. He also scored several other podiums during the year and won the Barry Sheene Medal at the post-season awards night. In 2010, Davison continued with HRT, but technical issues and bad luck plagued him throughout the entire year and he finished the championship in 22nd place. Midway through the season, Davison decided to end his relationship with Holden Racing Team and signed with

Ford Performance Racing Tickford Racing (formerly known as Prodrive Racing Australia and Ford Performance Racing) is an Australian motor racing team which competes in the Supercars Championship. The team currently campaigns two Ford Mustangs, with their current driv ...

for 2011 to drive the No. 6

Trading Post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory in European and colonial contexts, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically a trading post allows people from one geogr ...

FPR Falcon.

Ford Performance Racing

2011 saw Davison regain his form as a front runner, with four pole positions and six podiums. Although unable to break through for a win, he ended the season 7th in the championship. 2012 started on a high note: after 11 starts and 6 wins, including winning the

Clipsal 500 Adelaide The Adelaide 500, officially the BP Adelaide Grand Final, is an annual motor racing event for Supercars held on the streets of the east end of Adelaide, South Australia between 1999 and 2020 and again from 2022. The event uses a shortened form ...

for the first time, Davison was the leader of the series, albeit involved in a very tight battle for the championship with

Jamie Whincup Jamie David Whincup (born 6 February 1983) is an Australian professional racing driver competing in the Supercars Championship. He currently is team principal for Triple Eight Race Engineering. He has driven the No. 88 Holden Commodore (ZB), Ho ...

and his FPR teammate

Mark Winterbottom Mark James "Frosty" Winterbottom (born 20 May 1981) is an Australian former professional racing driver. He last competed in the Supercars Championship, Repco Supercars Championship, driving the No. 18 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Team 18. His career ...

. However, after a stroke of bad luck in the endurance races, despite scoring his maiden Bathurst 1000 pole position, Davison only managed to finish fourth overall. 2013 once again ended in disappointment for Davison, with a number of racing incidents transpiring to ruin his championship ambitions causing him to finish third in the standings behind the

Triple Eight Racing Triple Eight Racing (888 Racing) was a motorsports team formed in 1996 as Triple Eight Race Engineering, which competed in the British Touring Car Championship and the British GT Championship. The team's original focus was to design, build an ...

duo of

Craig Lowndes Craig Andrew Lowndes (born 21 June 1974) is an Australian racing car driver in the Supercars Championship, Repco Supercars Championship racing for Triple Eight Race Engineering. He is also a TV commentator. Lowndes is a three-time V8 Superca ...

and Jamie Whincup.

Erebus Motorsport

Davison confirmed in early 2014 that he would be joining

Erebus Motorsport Erebus Motorsport (formerly known as Erebus Racing) is an Australian motor racing team. The team competes in the Supercars Championship with two Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation)#ZL1, Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s. The team's current drivers are Jack ...

on a four-year contract. Driving a Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG, he finished 14th in 2014 and 15th in 2015, collecting just one win, at the

2015 Ubet Perth Super Sprint The 2015 Ubet Perth Super Sprint was a motor race for V8 Supercars held from 1–3 May 2015. The event was held at Barbagallo Raceway in Wanneroo, Western Australia, and consisted of two sprint races, each over a distance of and one endurance ...

, and six top five results. In both years, Davison drove with his brother

Alex Alex is a given name. Similar names are Alexander, Alexandra, Alexey or Alexis. People Multiple * Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Cook (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Forsyth (disambiguation), multiple people * Al ...

in the

Enduro Cup The Enduro Cup is an award given out to the highest points scorers over the three endurance events in Supercars, currently The Bend 500 and the Bathurst 1000. The Cup was previously awarded from 2013 to 2019 before being relaunched in 2025. Back ...

, narrowly missing a Bathurst podium in 2014. Financial pressures on the team resulted in Davison being given permission in mid-2015 to negotiate a drive elsewhere.

Tekno Autosports

Davison moved to

Tekno Autosports Tekno Autosports was an Australian motor racing team, established in the 1990s initially for the motor racing activities of Stephen Webb, and later his son Jonathon Webb. The team competed in the Supercars Championship using two Holden ZB Commo ...

in 2016, returning to Holden for the first time since 2010. The move brought Davison near-immediate success, winning the second round of the year, the Tasmania SuperSprint. After a lean patch in the middle of the year, Davison returned to form at the Enduro Cup, finishing third at Sandown with

Jonathon Webb Jonathon Stephen Webb (born 10 December 1983) is an Australian former professional racing driver and team owner of Team Sydney, who once co-drove alongside Fabian Coulthard in the No. 19 Holden ZB Commodore for the Pirtek Enduro Cup. In 2016, ...

. At the Bathurst 1000, Davison achieved an even better result, capitalising on late drama between the race leaders to take his second Bathurst crown, despite not leading any laps.

23Red Racing

Davison contested the Supercars Championship with

23Red Racing 23Red Racing was an Australian motor racing team that competed in the Supercars Championship. It fielded a single Tickford Racing-run Ford, driven by Will Davison. The team had also competed in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia and plan ...

from 2018 through to the demise of the team in 2020. Davison Supercars Ride Day Aug 2019

Dick Johnson Racing

In 2020, it was announced that Davison will sign for

in the

2021 Supercars Championship The 2021 Supercars Championship (commercially known as the 2021 Repco Supercars Championship) was a motor racing series for Supercars. It was the twenty-third running of the Supercars Championship and the twenty-fifth series in which Supercars ...

racing alongside

Anton de Pasquale Anton De Pasquale (born 14 September 1995) is an Australian motor racing driver. He currently drives the No. 18 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Team 18 in the Supercars Championship, Repco Supercars Championship. He briefly raced in various Formula R ...

GT career

Davison has competed multiple times in the

Bathurst 12 Hour The Bathurst 12 Hour, currently known as the Meguiar's Bathurst 12 Hour for sponsorship reasons, is an annual endurance race for Group GT3, GT and Production car racing, production cars held at the Mount Panorama Circuit, in Bathurst, New South ...

, with a best result of 3rd in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

in an Erebus Motorsport-prepared

Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG (C197 / R197) is a FMR layout, front mid-engine, 2-seater, limited production sports car developed by the Mercedes-AMG division of German automotive manufacturer Mercedes-Benz, with the assistance of David Coulthard. Th ...

Personal life

His grandfather

Lex Davison Alexander Nicholas Davison (12 February 1923 – 20 February 1965) was a racing driver who won the Australian Grand Prix four times between 1954 Australian Grand Prix, 1954 and 1961 Australian Grand Prix, 1961 and won the Australian Drivers' ...

won the

Australian Grand Prix The Australian Grand Prix is an annual Formula One motor racing event, taking place in Melbourne, Victoria. The event is contracted to be held at least until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Gran ...

four times and also won the

1957 Australian Drivers' Championship The 1957 Australian Drivers' Championship was a CAMS-sanctioned Australian motor racing title for drivers of Formula Libre cars. The championship was contested over a nine race series with the winner awarded the 1957 CAMS Gold Star.The CAMS G ...

. His father Richard Davison was the winner of the 1980 Australian Formula 2 Championship and his brother

Alex Davison Alexander Davison (born 3 November 1979) is a Auto racing, racing driver from Australia. He was the 2004 Australian Carrera Cup Championship, 2004 Porsche Carrera Cup Australia champion. Junior career Starting in karts at a young age, he prog ...

has won numerous titles including the 2004 Australian Carrera Cup Championship as well as also competing in Supercars for several years. Continuing the family tradition, cousin

James Davison James D. Davison (born 28 August 1986) is an Australian professional racing driver who drives an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the Blancpain GT World Challenge America. He has also competed in the NTT IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, and NASCAR ...

has competed in the

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, officially known as the NTT IndyCar Series for sponsorship reasons, is the highest class of American open-wheel car racing in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies sinc ...

and the

Rolex Sports Car Series The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...

. His grandmother Diana Davison was one of the first female racing drivers in Australia. His stepgrandfather

Tony Gaze Frederick Anthony Owen Gaze, (3 February 1920 – 29 July 2013) was an Australian fighter pilot and racing driver. He flew with the Royal Air Force in the Second World War, was a flying ace credited with 12.5 confirmed victories (11 and 3 shar ...

was a decorated fighter pilot in World War II and also a Formula One driver. Davison is married to Riana Crehan as of early 2020, a pit reporter for Supercars Media.

Career results

Complete British Formula 3 results

( key)

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Supercars Championship results

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Complete Bathurst 12 Hour results

Bathurst 6 Hour results

References

External links

Will Davison's racing profile

Will Davison
at Supercars. * *
Will Davison
Career stats at Third Turn Database. {{DEFAULTSORT:Davison, Will 1982 births A1 Team Australia drivers Bathurst 1000 winners British Formula Renault 2.0 drivers British Formula Three Championship drivers Formula Ford drivers Living people People educated at Xavier College Racing drivers from Melbourne Supercars Championship drivers Motaworld Racing drivers Alan Docking Racing drivers Dick Johnson Racing drivers Audi Sport drivers W Racing Team drivers McLaren Racing drivers Racing drivers from Victoria (state)