Van Gisbergen's take on Waters-Davison battle

Shane van Gisbergen says he felt for Cam Waters following his Race 11 penalty.

Waters crossed the line first in Sunday’s first race, but was demoted to fourth with a time penalty.

It handed victory to Will Davison, who snapped a six-year winless drought.

It came after a dive from Davison down the inside of Waters at Turn 7.

Waters opted to run around the kerb towards the old pit entry and retained the lead.

Officials hit Waters with a five-second time penalty for gaining a lasting advantage upon re-entry.

A later Safety Car wiped out Waters’ advantage; he was later left reeling, claiming he felt “robbed”.

Van Gisbergen, speaking after his Race 12 win, said he was impressed by Davison's move.

However, he was critical of the penalty.

“I complimented [Davison] on his pass on Waters,” van Gisbergen said.

“It was an awesome dive-bomb.

“I was a little critical of the officials’ consistency though. I did feel for Cam.

“Maybe they could have readdressed it straightaway and not done what they did, it was pretty rude.

“Finally for him to get a win is good; I would have rather have won."

Davison was adamant the right decision had been made: “It’s black and white; back in the day, we all used to do that.

“Someone passes you, you get off the brakes and run the speed in, and run around the back of the kerb.

“It isn’t classified as the race track; as we all know in qualifying, you can’t start a lap there or finish one.”

Davison’s win ended a run of 10 straight wins by Holden drivers in 2022.

Anton De Pasquale still leads Davison in the championship, albeit by a reduced 47 points.

Davison has four poles to De Pasquale’s three, and has the only win between the duo.

Van Gisbergen trailed Davison in the Perth finale, before overhauling the #17 and James Courtney to win.

However, van Gisbergen batted down suggestions Davison was the new DJR leader: “It’s good that he’s finally up there.

“They’re both quick, but hopefully I’m more consistent."