Securing a rare V8 Supercars win for Ford was a rush for driver Will Davison.
But one look at long suffering Ford fans after taking line honours in Townsville’s opening 200km race on Saturday made it even more special for his team.
Blue Oval fans have not had much to smile about of late.
Ford had only tasted victory twice in the season’s opening 19 races.
But the real body blow came in May when Ford announced it would cease manufacturing in Australia and kill off the Falcon by October 2016, throwing the manufacturer’s V8 future in serious doubt.
Yet, after Davison reeled in early pace setter Craig Lowndes to set up a 1-2 finish for his team, frustration and uncertainty gave way to a relatively untapped emotion for Blue Oval fans – joy.
“When you see the fans on the side of the track, to go 1-2 means more to them more than anything,” said Mark Winterbottom who finished second behind Davison.
“The Blue Oval fans really needed that.”
Davison added: “We are carrying the Ford flag and doing it proudly.
“We have got a lot of people pushing us to get results so it feels really good to do that for our guys – we just have to keep it going.”
On a day that would have made Holden rivals see red, the Blue Oval brigade filled five of the top 11 placings in Townsville.
However, Winterbottom admitted it would take more than just results to secure Ford’s V8 Supercars future.
“The team is negotiating at the moment but there’s more to it than winning races,” he said.
But Davison agreed that it was important Ford remained in V8s – no matter what model they used.
“Absolutely. It is such a big part of the history of the sport,” he said.
“People forget there’s been all sorts of models over the years.
“Whatever it is (in the future) I am sure the fan base will come out and support us.”
Davison is off-contract at the end of the season and has been linked with the Holden Racing Team but said he would prefer to stay with Ford.
Davison (1298pts) is in third spot on the standings behind defending champion Jamie Whincup (1519) and Lowndes (1384) after his second win of the year.
“(But) it’s hard to think about the championship right now. We haven’t been good enough at this stage but we’ve kept ourselves in a good position,” Davison said.
“I’ve been a little down on myself. We have got a lot of people pushing to get some good results – we just have to keep it going.”
The second and final Townsville 200km race is on Sunday afternoon.
