The stunning numbers behind De Pasquale's Team 18 debut
Anton De Pasquale gained 23 positions across three Sydney races
Only James Courtney gained more places at the opening round
De Pasquale finished eighth, seventh and seventh; sits seventh overall
It was a case of feast and famine in Team 18’s garage in Sydney, with Anton De Pasquale arguably the weekend’s biggest quiet achiever.
As Cam Waters, Tickford Racing and Triple Eight Race Engineering stole all the headlines, De Pasquale charged through the field in all three races.
The pace-setter in the sole practice session of the weekend, De Pasquale slumped to 15th in Race 1 qualifying, and it appeared his luckless run would continue.
As darkness fell over Sydney Motorsport Park, De Pasquale engaged in a heated midfield battle on lap 1, before a 2.7 second stop helped him finish eighth.
On Saturday, the #18 DEWALT Chevrolet again failed to fire in qualifying, De Pasquale falling to 15th once again.
De Pasquale gained three positions on the opening lap and slotted into 12th, before a big undercut and strong late race pace catapulted him to seventh.
Come Sunday, and for the third day in a row, De Pasquale tripped over in qualifying despite topping Q1. Starting 16th, the 29-year-old had it all to do once again.
De Pasquale wasted no time moving forward, jumping to 12th before taking on fresh tyres on lap 13. He broke into the top 10 before his second stop, and finished seventh.
All told, De Pasquale raced from 15th to eighth, 15th to seventh, and 16th to seventh — a weekend gain of a whopping 23 positions.
It was a stark contrast to teammate David Reynolds, who left Sydney 22nd overall, having lost 13 positions across the three races in a torrid weekend.
Importantly, De Pasquale is seventh overall, ahead of the driver that replaced him at Dick Johnson Racing, Brodie Kostecki. This time last year, De Pasquale was 19th in points.
"That’s a wrap on my first weekend in the DEWALT Camaro for Team 18. It’s been a solid start, with plenty of ups and downs, but a lot to take away and learn from,” De Pasquale said.
"We started the weekend with a test day, then jumped straight into three races. Qualifying wasn’t where we wanted it to be, but our race pace was strong, and we moved forward in every race.
"We made some big setup changes overnight, and while Qualifying improved, we just missed the mark on the final run. There are a lot of positives, though — we showed great tyre life, and the car felt strong across the stints.
"The last race was hectic with rain coming down in the final laps, which made things stressful, but it was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed my first weekend with Team 18, and I’m looking forward to taking another step forward at the Grand Prix.”
De Pasquale is 136 points behind Waters heading to the Melbourne SuperSprint, which will feature at the Formula 1 Louis Vuitton Australian Grand Prix 2025 on March 13-16.
