Stepping into the massive void left by the departure of the most successful driver in V8 Supercar history is a tall order that would daunt even the sport’s most experienced drivers but there is little doubt at the Toll Holden Racing Team that their boom recruit, Will Davison, is well and truly up to the challenge.

The third-generation racer returned to Melbourne in 2009 to replace the retired Mark Skaife and it was initially thought he would take some time to match the pace of team-mate Garth Tander.

But first-up podium finishes at the Clipsal 500 quickly showed the former Formula Ford champion was a ready-made replacement and he pushed Jamie Whincup all season to eventually finish runner-up in the V8 Supercar Series.

Davison’s results, which included career-first pole positions at Sandown, endurance victories at Phillip Island and Bathurst and a total of four race wins for the season, helped Toll HRT claim the Team’s Championship. To round out a brilliant season, Davison was awarded the coveted Barry Sheene Medal.

On an arduous journey to join V8 Supercars’ most watched and admired team, Davison has tasted much success in both domestic and international open wheelers, and even tested a Formula 1 racer for the now-defunct Minardi team.

After winning both the Victorian and Australian Formula Ford championships – the latter against the likes of Jamie Whincup, Mark Winterbottom and Will Power – Davison went offshore to chase his F1 dream, impressing with wins and podiums in the British Formula Renault and Formula Three championships before a lack of funding ultimately curtailed his chance to progress further.

Davison then accepted a test in Minardi’s F1 car at the Misano track in Italy in 2004 as part of a plan to promote more Australian drivers into F1 ranks, outpacing several vastly more experienced test drivers.

His V8 Supercar career kicked off in a Holden in 2004 with enduro races at Sandown and Bathurst for Team Dynamik, which offered him a two-year full-time contract but folded before the new season began.

Instead, Davison again raced the enduro events in 2005, this time with Ford team Dick Johnson Racing which – despite Davison being involved in an incident at the top of Mount Panorama – couldn’t help but be impressed by the youngster’s speed and maturity and installed him in a full-time drive in 2006.

Highlights of his maiden season include 10th placing in his first outing at the Clipsal 500, and 4th placing in the Sandown 500 alongside Steve Johnson. In 2007, he and Johnson snared a podium finish at the Bathurst 1000 and Davison finished a creditable 10th in the championship standings for the season.

His breakthrough round victory came in Round 2 of 2008 at Eastern Creek and he was extremely unlucky in Round 8 at Winton to form part of the first-ever three-way tie for victory in the sport, which was awarded to future team-mate Tander on a countback. Davison went on to finish an outstanding 5th for the season