Burgess: 'Smart' De Pasquale 'driving with his head'

"Smart" Anton De Pasquale "driving with his head," says Team 18 boss
De Pasquale, Will Brown and Cam Waters the only drivers to finish each race in top 10
Team 18 recruit an impressive seventh overall, and just 22 points from third

Team 18 Team Principal Adrian Burgess has praised Anton De Pasquale's racing smarts through the first two rounds, hailing the star recruit's ability in "using his head."

De Pasquale has reeled off six straight top 10 finishes to start the new season, a feat only matched by points leader Will Brown and second-placed Cam Waters.

The ex-Dick Johnson Racing driver has finished seventh or eighth in all races so far, and has gained an average 5.4 positions per race.

Crucially, De Pasquale has stayed out of trouble and brought home points. To the Albert Park round in the last three seasons, De Pasquale recorded two DNFs, a DNS and eight finishes outside the top 10.

De Pasquale's consistency has been a bright spot for Team 18, as David Reynolds encounters what he termed his "worst start of any championship I've been in."

“We had one side of the garage where Anton had a solid weekend,” Burgess told Supercars’ Cool Down Lap podcast.

“Davey had another shocker, just keep getting involved in other people's incidents, getting turned around, punctures. So he's just had a shocker.

“Overall, still our weakness as last year, we still don't qualify as good as we should, but we've made a bit of progress in this Saturday morning qualifying session.

“Yesterday's start positions and today's that didn't happen were better. We were both in the top 10 for today's race.

“Anton's doing a great job. We've finished seventh or eighth in every race so far. We can't knock his consistency. He's driving very smart, car’s coming back straight every race. He's using his head. He's doing a great job.”

Only James Courtney has passed more cars than De Pasquale through the first two rounds, with the later now heading to New Zealand, where he won the Jason Richards Trophy last year.

De Pasquale reeled off his best round of 2024 at Taupō last April, finishing third twice and leaving with overall weekend honours.

The 29-year-old was pleased with another solid weekend, and suggested he has already identified the weaknesses holding him back in qualifying.

“Overall, another decent weekend some sevenths and eighths," De Pasquale said.

“It was solid, we’re just working on our weaknesses now and we’re pretty clear on what they are and we’ll focus forward on New Zealand.”

The 2025 Repco Supercars Championship will resume in New Zealand at the ITM Taupō Super 440 on April 11-13. Tickets for the event are on sale now.