Will Davison, Jim Beam Racing Driver – Preparing for Bathurst
On the podium at last year where we placed third.
Of all the races throughout the championship, Bathurst is the biggest and most challenging both mentally and physically; it is unlike any track I have ever raced. Preparation is everything. It is 100% a team effort. There are so many elements involved; so many elements that must be right. There is huge potential for mistakes and so the team must really pull together and make it work; that is what makes it so exciting for everyone.
The track itself is the biggest rush to drive. The blind corners, massive hill climbs and huge drops at extremely high speeds make the track both challenging and frightening. There is absolutely zero room for error and your concentration is at 100% the entire time. Anyone who comes unstuck on the mountain usually does it in spectacular fashion. Car setup is crucial for driver confidence and driver bravery and commitment can certainly be rewarded on a track like this.
It is no secret that Bathurst is tough on all drivers physically, and so leading up to the big week has been all about ensuring that I am in top physical form; ensuring that I have conditioned my body appropriately. Now is not a good time to be sick. I have been concentrating on my nutrition and hydration in recent weeks and have been getting plenty of rest. From a driver’s point of view, Round 10 is an excellent stage of the competition for Bathurst to be raced; we are usually in top physical and mental form, having already raced 9 rounds for the year. Right now, I feel fitter and more confidant than ever. In fact, I find that the more confident I am the less brain power I need during the race which enables me to relax and deal with what is going on around me.
I also go through a fair bit of mental preparation for Bathurst. I spend a great deal of time analyzing last year’s race; looking at any mistakes I made and working out strategies to improve my overall race. I take the time to visualize the track and concentrate on what I am trying to achieve; I do most of this using techniques I have learnt from years of sports psychology. It is important that we try to stay a step ahead of what is going on around us; it is so easy to make a mistake.
Although I have no concerns regarding preparation, it is always at the back of my mind that Bathurst can really make or break my championship. It is of upmost importance that we finish the race; gaining points at this stage of the championship is critical.
DJR is certainly due for a Bathurst win.
It goes without saying that DJR have a strong heritage at Bathurst and this always exerts a huge pressure to perform. That being said, we do have the best shot at winning that we have had in a long time; we have good car speed, team morale is high, all of the team have been working really hard, we have the backing of sincerely passionate fans, both Steve and I are fit and we have shown good form in recent races. Hopefully we can lift ourselves and bring home the goods. We will all do everything we can to give the team a win. DJR is certainly due for a Bathurst win.
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All the best will ,hope you and steve will be standing on the top step of the podium come sunday arvo -and i hope you will be driving for djr long into the future !!!!Asfar as im concerned yourself and steve are the gun combo going into this weekend -GO THE MIGHTY DJR!!!!
Good luck Will, Hope you and Steve can pull it off – my cash is with you!
Go get em Willbo Mel and i will be cheerin you home in p1
Go get em fellas, race em hard all day and give em all something to chase for about 6 hours if they can keep up!. We all wanna see Dick standing on the pit wall on lap 161, like he did in 94′. GOOD LUCK, theres a lot of loyal DJR fans out there, they’ll be comin out of the woodwork if you pull it off.
Hello Glen, from Peter Bates. Go DJR
All the best boys and to the family, this will be 12 years in a row that i will have friends over to have a BBQ and beers and watch the great race. Once again i will deck myself out in DJR gear and place bets with my mates that the team will turn out a top 3 finish. I have followed the team till nearly every track in Australia and still wish for the day that the Johnson family name is once again on the number one step at bathurst. Good luck Will and Steve ( Steve I still wish for u to be around for years to come and run DJR till i am a wrinkled old fart ). Once again good luck to both cars #18 and #17 tomorrow and last of all, your a champion Dick Johnson and I hope you all the best through these hard and good times and you will always have this fan behind you 100%.
” Bring it on”