MOTORSPORT: Will Davison moving to Tekno!

In the bombshell driver move of the V8 Supercars silly season, Will Davison is understood to have departed Betty Klimenko's Erebus Motorsport midway through a four-year contract, with Tekno Autosports Holden Commodore his likely new home.

Davison, the 2009 Bathurst 1000 winner and championship runner-up, is expected to replace Shane van Gisbergen in the Darrell Lea Stix entry, with the New Zealander moving in alongside Jamie Whincup in the Triple Eight/Red Bull Commodore team in 2016.

The future of Davison, who signed with Klimenko's privateer team in a big bucks deal two years ago, has been the subject of intense pitlane rumour for some weeks now.

Rated as one of the most talented drivers in pitlane with former stints at the Holden Racing Team and Ford Performance Racing, he has scored one win in the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG in Perth this year and currently runs 16th in the championship.

The Tekno team is owned by the Webb family and managed by F1 veteran Steve Hallam. Van Gisbergen took the car to runner-up position in the championship in 2014, and Jonathon Webb and the quick Kiwi almost won Bathurst.

It is understood the departure of Davison – which none of the parties involved are prepared to confirm at this stage – was negotiated over some weeks, with Klimenko thought to have given the green light to the switch only as recently as this week.

Davison should now line up in a garage at V8 Supercars race meetings shared with Craig Lowndes, who was confirmed for a third Triple Eight Commodore sponsored by Caltex earlier this week.

The Tekno Autosports team already has a close technical alliance with Triple Eight.

While Tekno is the hot favourite to have won Davison's services, there are still other good drives open in the paddock, with a seat alongside Scott McLaughlin at the factory Volvo team yet to be confirmed. James Moffat and David Reynolds are thought to be prime candidates.

It is expected that current Walkinshaw Racing driver Tim Slade will move to Brad Jones Racing to replace Penske-bound Fabian Coulthard.

Meanwhile, Walkinshaw Racing has been reported as selling its third Racing Entitlements Contract (REC) to New Zealand team Super Black Racing, signalling it will likely cut back to running just two cars for the factory Holden Racing Team in 2016.