Will Davison. Image: Supplied
Davison was called in to assist the team with its ex-Dick Johnson Racing Ford Mustangs following a rough start to the year for rookie drivers Ryan Tomsett and Ayrton Hodson.
Tomsett, 17, and Hodson, 20, sit 20th and 22nd in the series standings respectively after three rounds.
Davison joined the team’s rookie test on Wednesday but could only cut a couple of laps in each car due to tight restrictions intended to ensure main game drivers don’t use such days for their own benefit.
Both the Supercars Championship and Super2 Series will race at the Ipswich venue next week for the first time since 2019.
“They should allow more [laps], it’s a shame,” Davison told Speedcafe. “You’re allowed 10 laps but because I drove both cars, it was about three in each car, with in and out laps.
“[Supercars drivers] don’t get anything out of it. If anything it hampers me going out next weekend, the cars are so different, you’re just trying to help these young kids in Super2.
“A lot have never driven a Supercar so they don’t know what it should feel like. Straight away you notice things that shouldn’t be the way they are, but those guys don’t know any different.
“Both of their drivers had never driven Supercars and have done a few rounds now and it’s like ‘is this normal or not?’”
Davison was back behind the wheel of Gen2 machinery. Image: Supplied
Davison said the day was still worthwhile despite the restriction, having noted “four or five things” to improve within his first lap alone.
“A little bit was setup stuff between the cars, some brake stuff, the way the pedals and master cylinder are set up, just little things that I could jump from car to car and pick up,” he detailed.
“They’re very complex cars. The way they’ve got to be put together, particularly when they’ve come out of the hands of a main game team, it’s very easy for little things to not be quite done the right way.
“I was more than happy to help [team owner] Michael [Anderson], but it’s just so limited, it’s a bit silly that you can’t do any more driving. It’s ridiculous to be honest.”
Hodson’s Mustang had been Davison’s machine through the 2021 and ’22 seasons, while Tomsett’s is a DJR Team Penske-era car raced in the main game by Fabian Coulthard.
Hodson’s car still carries Davison’s name and achievements. Image: Supplied
Davison said the contrast between Gen2 and Gen3 made his first few laps back aboard the older machinery “a bit of a trip out”.
“It’s amazing how quickly you adapt to your new surroundings and all of a sudden what felt like your second home felt very foreign,” Davison said.
“But I enjoyed getting back in my old car, I really sort of miss them in a lot of ways to be honest. They’re just great race cars, the end of that Gen2 era.
“They were at the end of the envelope of development, there were a lot of freedoms for the engineers to customise the whole build of the car to the maximise them.
“Gen3 has come a long way, but they are standard componentry, which is the whole purpose, and there’s a lot of compromises on a lot of elements of the car.
“I miss a lot about the old cars that’s for sure.”