Supercars veteran Will Davison has taken a swipe at Dick Johnson Racing following his split with the team at the end of last year.
After five seasons driving the iconic No.17 Ford, Davison said he was blindsided by the decision, which came after months of speculation surrounding his future with the squad.
Davison was given the news following the Gold Coast 500 in late October – far too late in the year to be able to secure a full-time drive for 2026.
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The Gold Coast weekend was a tough one for the Ford squad. Davison finished 13th and 20th from the two races, while teammate Brodie Kostecki was forced to sit out of the Saturday race altogether after a monster crash in qualifying all but destroyed the car.
Will Davison was axed by Dick Johnson Racing at the end of 2025. Getty
Speaking to Wide World of Sports, Davison said the timing of the team’s delivery of the news, following a weekend where much of the team’s effort was focused on the other side of the garage, left much to be desired.
“I hadn’t shunted the car and written it off, that’s for sure,” he said.
“It had been a tough middle part of the year, but we’d had reasons for that and I think the form was coming on strong at the end of the year. From my side, we’d been quite competitive.”
Davison was well aware of the rumours he was on the chopping block, but had been given repeated assurances by the team that was not the case. He said he had even turned down offers from other teams.
“Then it was kind of like ‘Oh god, all the rumours were true’,” he said.
“But that’s what annoyed me – I’m an honest sort of person, I had a great relationship with that team. I had a lot of other people offering me opportunities because they’d heard rumours, but I was reassured over and over again I was safe because I was hearing I wasn’t. The way things went down was frustrating.
“It’s the type of industry it is. It bites a lot of people. It’s dog-eat-dog. I get it’s a business, but it left a bitter taste in my mouth.
“It was not an enjoyable year last year dealing with some of the things I was.”
It brought to a close Davison’s second stint with DJR – his first between 2006-2008. While that exit was on Davison’s terms – he took up a plum drive with the Holden Racing Team – this was the complete opposite.
But despite the frustrations over how it ended, Davison said it was a “privilege” to have such a long career in the sport.
Davison and teammate Anton de Pasquale in Tasmania in 2024. Getty
“I was able to finish over 600 races and I had all my family there to give me a wonderful farewell,” he said.
“I was contracted for this year, which was honoured, so it’s not all bad – there was just a bit of a shorter time frame to say goodbye.
“I had another good year in me in the right circumstances, I know I did. I know some of my performances last year when things were going wrong out of my control, I was driving as well as I’d ever driven. It was just a messy year, which happens in our sport sometimes.”
Once on the road to F1 – he even tested a Minardi in 2004 – Davison has had several incredible lows.
At the 2010 Bathurst 1000, Davison broke several ribs in a heavy crash at the top of the mountain. Six weeks later, he was involved in another massive crash at Sandown. Both crashes required him to drive spare cars for the next race.
Davison and Garth Tander after winning the 2009 Bathurst 1000. LAT Images
Then in 2020, he had the rug pulled out from under him when his 23Red team was abruptly shut down during the pandemic. It left him out of a drive, although he did snare a co-drive for the Bathurst 1000.
But he’s also had some incredible highs – two Bathurst 1000 victories, as well as a shock race win for Erebus Motorsport during their Mercedes era in Perth in 2015.
Davison said the ups and downs during his career had taught him “critical and crucial lessons”, and promised to one day release a tell-all book.
“I’ve had some kicks, but I’ve always come back,” he said.
“There have been times where you totally doubt yourself and you’ve been kicked when you’re down.
“When things are running hot and you’re on a momentum train and you’re with the right group and the right car, very quickly it can turn on you, and people can turn on you, and you can start doubting yourself.
“I’ve been through it a lot but I’ve been able to come out the other side four or five times. There’s been a lot of self-doubt, there’s been a lot of elements in my career where I’ve learned the hard way.
“But I’ve also been very fortunate that I’ve been able to grind and dig myself back to amazing situations and be competing with the best of them over and over. I’ve challenged the best of the best as teammates and beaten them.
“If everyone knew some of the things I went through … when I break it all down, they’re the stories and chapters that made me stronger as a person. Some of those experiences I actually look back on just as fondly as the victories in small teams or podiums or top fives.”
Although he’s not racing full-time, that doesn’t mean he won’t be in a car. He was immediately signed as a co-driver by Grove Racing to join defending Bathurst 1000 champion Matt Payne at The Bend and Bathurst.
He is also sharing a Ferrari GT3 with OnlyFans star Renee Gracie in the GT World Challenge.