2023 season report: Shell V-Power Racing Team

As 2023 winds down, Supercars.com is looking over all 11 teams and their performances in this year's Repco Supercars Championship, continuing with Shell V-Power Racing Team.

The Shell V-Power Racing Team's role as Ford's homologation team had the microscope on the Stapylton squad heading into 2023.

An early-season slump, coupled with questions over parity, had the famous team on the back foot early. Anton De Pasquale did score a pole at Albert Park, but results were otherwise hard to come by.

A mid-season test unlocked speed, with Will Davison scoring a Darwin pole and De Pasquale winning in Townsville. De Pasquale backed it up with a podium in Sydney, before powering to third in the Repco Bathurst 1000 with Tony D'Alberto.

All told, De Pasquale and Davison were eighth and 10th, and the team fifth. For the first time since 2017, the Shell V-Power Racing Team wasn't the lead Ford squad in the standings, a result that will hurt given its role as the Blue Oval's homologation team.

However, before a wheel has turned in 2024, the team has already rung in the changes, showing it means business.

Season results and head-to-heads

Drivers' finish: Anton De Pasquale 8th, Will Davison 10th

Teams' finish: 5th

Best result: 1st (Anton De Pasquale, Townsville Race 17)

Qualifying head to head: Will Davison 17, Anton De Pasquale 11

Race head to head: Will Davison 16, Anton De Pasquale 12

What’s next in 2024?

The team has already laid the groundwork for a serious assault on 2024, with Dr Ryan Story returning as Team Principal. Story led the team to a golden era in Supercars, winning three straight drivers' titles and teams' championship glory before stepping aside in 2021.

The return of Story coincides with the departure of engineer Ludo Lacroix, with engineering head Perry Kapper shifting to race engineer duties with De Pasquale. Richard Harris remains with Davison, with Ben Croke shifting to the Team Manager role.

At 28, De Pasquale has plenty of time to become a Supercars star, but he would have expected more than eight wins in three seasons with the team when he signed on in 2021.

Davison, meanwhile, is fitter than ever and scrapped to 10th overall with 13 top 10s in 28 starts in 2023. Armed with a fast car, the two-time Bathurst winner is as quick as any.

The other question mark is on 2025, with the team handing teenage star Kai Allen a Bathurst wildcard start with Simona De Silvestro. De Pasquale and Davison form one of two unchanged line-ups in 2024, but if at least one driver struggles next season, there could be more changes.