De Pasquale looking for repeat enduro success

Anton De Pasquale is hopeful that the upcoming enduro season can be just as successful as his 2023 enduro campaign.

The 28-year-old claimed his maiden Bathurst podium last year alongside Tony D’Alberto, and was the first Ford to greet the chequered flag in a race won by Shane van Gisbergen and Richie Stanaway.

De Pasquale will reunite with D’Alberto for their fourth consecutive campaign across Sandown and Bathurst, and have proven to be a reliable combination for Dick Johnson Racing.

Another strong enduro campaign would be a big boost for De Pasquale heading into the back end of the season, with speculation growing surrounding DJR’s driver lineup for 2025 and beyond.

However, the nine-time race winner’s focus is solely on making the most of the championship contenders potentially playing a more conservative game with big points on the line.

“We're not in a championship battle, we're not fighting for those final spots. Obviously we can make a lot of room or lose a lot of room through enduros, but nothing that means too much,” said De Pasquale on Supercars.com’s Schick Cool Down Lap Podcast.

“For us, it's chasing trophies, going for big results. That's what's important, I think. There's sort of five or so people that will be thinking championship and the rest will be going for silverware.

"So that's the plan. That's sort of how we approached last year.”

De Pasquale is also excited to continue his partnership with D’Alberto, who has continued his successful program in TCR to stay match fit.

“Tony's a good pair of hands. We've done a lot of racing, test day coming up, so we'll chuck him in for a heap of laps, get him up to speed and have a crack.”

The enduro reset comes at a good time for De Pasqaule and DJR, who had a quiet weekend at the NED Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint.

After qualifying eighth on Saturday, De Pasquale fell back through the pack to 13th by race’s end, before qualifying 17th and finishing 13th on Sunday.

De Pasquale left Tasmania tenth in the standings, but wasn't fazed by the dip in form after what had been a productive few months for De Pasquale, including winning the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy in New Zealand.

“Tough one for us. Just struggled for speed, which is really the aim of the game,” said De Pasquale.

“We were just sort of in that middle of the field, sort of on the wrong end of a tenth, pretty much every session. Just lacking speed. This track is so unique like the hairpin that we just couldn't get our heads around it. 

“We've been showing a lot of progress, I guess, the last sort of three to six months. This was a big backwards step, but it's also a very different track. We're not going to come here again for 12 months. 

“We'll regroup, obviously, learn what we can for here, but focus on the enduros.” 

The 2024 Repco Supercars Championship shifts into enduro mode at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 from September 13-15, tickets for the 60th anniversary event are available on the Supercars website here.