De Pasquale outlasts Brown in Sydney finale
Anton De Pasquale has defied a spirited Will Brown to claim his second win at the Bunnings Trade Sydney SuperNight.
De Pasquale, who won Saturday’s night race, raced from pole to victory in Race 22.
It marked the Shell V-Power Racing Team driver’s third win of 2021, and fourth of his career.
De Pasquale also claimed bonus points for the fastest lap of the race.
Click here for Race 22 results
De Pasquale at the double: Race 22 takeaways
Erebus Motorsport rookie Brown, who was left wanting on Saturday due to a botched pit stop, claimed his first career podium.
Jamie Whincup was a lone hand in third, with the Red Bull Ampol Racing driver claiming his first podium since July’s WD-40 Townsville SuperSprint.
Like he did on Saturday night, Brown had an initial better launch, but De Pasquale led through Turn 1.
The battles down the field punctuated the opening lap; however, only Todd Hazelwood - who made an ill-fated attempt on Tim Slade at Turn 8 - emerged with damage.
Hazelwood, who started eighth, had dropped to 11th by the time he arrived at Turn 8, and rode up on Slade’s right rear quarter.
The #14 Dunlop Super Dealer Commodore was forced into the garage for repairs.
Zane Goddard also escaped a hairy ride in the Turn 1 exit grass, but managed to return to the track.
By lap 8, De Pasquale enjoyed a 2.8s lead over Brown, with Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen falling behind by the lap.
Davison, who suffered an electrical drama in Race 21, stopped for right-hand side tyres on lap 8.
By lap 10, De Pasquale had eked his lead out to 3.4s; Whincup was nearly seven seconds down the road, with van Gisbergen keeping a watching brief.
De Pasquale and van Gisbergen stopped on lap 11; De Pasquale took on four tyres, and van Gisbergen three.
Van Gisbergen emerged behind Davison and alongside Slade, with the series leader clearing the Dayco Mustang through Turn 2.
Brown stopped from the lead on lap 16, and took on four tyres.
The 23-year-old returned to the race 10 seconds behind De Pasquale, and quickly began eating into the margin.
Lap by lap, Brown edged closer to the rear of the #11 Shell Mustang.
By lap 26, the margin was just 1.5s. By lap 28, the margin was less than a second.
By lap 28, Brown was all over the back of De Pasquale, who was smarting after being excluded from the day’s earlier race.
De Pasquale extended the margin to 0.7 on lap 30, and crossed the line 1.2s to the good.
Whincup was 20.5s from victory, with series leader van Gisbergen fourth ahead of Davison.
Whincup shaved van Gisbergen’s series lead to 338 points.
Cameron Waters scored his best result of the weekend in sixth, with Chaz Mostert, Jack Le Brocq and Slade filling positions seven through nine.
Mark Winterbottom, who celebrated his 550th career race start, rounded out the top 10.
Fabian Coulthard was the only retirement due to a suspected transaxle drama.
The 2021 Repco Supercars Championship will resume next weekend at the ARMOR ALL Sydney SuperNight.
Tickets for the three upcoming Sydney events are on sale now.
