Ford driver Will Davison has overcome a difficult Saturday to win Sunday's Phillip Island V8 race and take back the championship lead.
Ford driver Will Davison turned anger into energy to power back into the lead of a V8 Supercar championship destined to go down to the wire.
Davison put aside a terrifying crash which destroyed his car and robbed him of championship points on Saturday to win Sunday's race at Phillip Island.
It was his sixth win in 11 races this season, and lifted him back ahead of defending champion Jamie Whincup and Ford teammate Mark Winterbottom in a title chase in which the top three are separated by just 29 points.
With 150 points on offer for a race win, that is nothing in the scheme of things and virtually ensures sudden-death racing for the remainder of the season.
For Davison, he admitted he needed to put aside his emotions after leaving the track late in Saturday's race, sliding on wet grass and crashing into good friend Whincup.
"I was angry ... (but) you've got to try and control your emotions - there's always highs and lows in this sport," Davison said.
"I just use it as energy when I have a bad day. When you have a bad day yesterday, throw my toys out of the cot last night, and then push reset. That's all you can do."
Davison's car was rebuilt overnight as was Whincup's.
But as Davison drove on to the podium, holding off fast-finishing Holden driver Craig Lowndes and Jason Bright's Team BOC Commodore to win the 45-lap race, Whincup finished fifth.
Tyre degradation slowed Whincup late in another eventful race, with Winterbottom finishing sixth and Davison able to leapfrog both in the championship standings.
He now holds a 10-point advantage over Whincup.
In a race with four safety cars and several accidents, Davison took the lead 25 laps in and held on - even as Lowndes launched a late charge on newer tyres.
Lowndes had started on pole position, but stalled the Team Vodafone car and slipped to 10th by the second corner.
Yet as several lower-ranked drivers crashed out and brought the safety car into play, Lowndes crept up the order until he was looming large on Davison.
But time beat him, with Bright benefitting from a different pit strategy to remain on the podium.
Earlier, stewards declared no action would be taken over Davison and Whincup's Saturday race crash.
They said no driver had a case to answer over the incident in which Davison clipped Ford driver Tim Slade, skidded out of control and ploughed into a helpless Whincup.
The crash came as a group of drivers diced for several laps after a restart, almost certainly costing Whincup second place on Saturday, and probably the weekend's championship lead.
The next races in the championship are scheduled for Darwin from June 15 to 17.
