Cub Cadet Racing’s Anton De Pasquale finished seventh in Friday’s final practice session at the Sandown 500, as Team 18 worked through two closely contested sessions at its home circuit.

Snowy River Racing’s David Reynolds opened the weekend seventh in Practice 1 before ending the second session 15th, with tyre degradation a key consideration across the afternoon.

De Pasquale recorded a best lap of 1:08.7262 in Practice 2, just 0.2248 seconds from the benchmark, as he prepares to fight for a place in the championship’s final four this weekend.

The Cub Cadet Racing driver completed 12 laps in the opening session to finish 17th, before improving to seventh with his final lap of the second 25-minute session.

Despite the limited running and rapid tyre wear, De Pasquale felt his Camaro was close to its operating window heading into Saturday.

Reynolds made an encouraging start aboard the #48 Snowy River Racing Camaro, recording a 1:09.1680 to finish seventh in Practice 1.

Reynolds finished Practice 2 with a best lap of 1:08.9632, within half a second of the fastest time. While finding a small gain during the session, he said the afternoon had helped identify areas to address overnight.

Team 18 will get set for Saturday’s qualifying at 11:20am and the opening 250km race at 3:30pm. All the action can be viewed live on Fox Sports and Kayo.

RESULTS & QUOTES

Anton De Pasquale, #18 Cub Cadet Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Practice 1 – P17 (1:09.4618)
Practice 2 – P7 (1:08.7262)

“A couple of short sessions here at Sandown today. We didn’t do too many laps because the tyres wear out so quickly, so it was about trying to get our car in the window.

“It’s not too far away, and we ended the day inside the top 10. It’s very close, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

David Reynolds, #48 Snowy River Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Practice 1 – P7 (1:09.1680)
Practice 2 – P15 (1:08.9632)

“We rolled out in Practice 1 and weren’t too bad straight out of the gate, but every time we went out the tyres seemed to degrade a lot on the Super Softs.

“We tried to make the car more stable on entry and improve the drive so we can look after the tyres in the race, but it got progressively worse. We found one small gain in Practice 2, then put new tyres on and the session was over.

“Across the 50 minutes of running, we learnt a lot about what not to do, which gives us something to work through and fix up for tomorrow.

“The weather is looking a bit average tomorrow morning, so that could throw another spanner in the works for everyone. All in all, though, it was a fun day.”