Team 18 has wrapped up a competitive weekend at the NTI Townsville 500, with DEWALT Racing’s Anton De Pasquale finishing sixth in Sunday’s 200km finale, while TRADIE Energy Racing’s David Reynolds battled home in 21st.

De Pasquale started the day ninth in qualifying before producing a standout lap in the Top Ten Shootout to line up third on the grid for the 70-lap Race 22. Reynolds narrowly missed out on a Shootout berth in qualifying, starting from 13th.

De Pasquale made a lightning start, diving into second at Turn 2 and taking the fight to leader Broc Feeney. Despite strong pit stops and race pace early, tyre degradation in the closing stages saw him slip back to sixth at the flag. The result capped off a strong weekend that included a podium and two top-six finishes.

Reynolds showed promising pace early and climbed into the top ten, but contact with James Courtney at Turn 2 after his first pit stop resulted in a 15-second penalty that relegated him to 21st place by the finish.

Despite the setback, Reynolds celebrated a career milestone on Saturday, claiming his first pole since 2023 and the team’s first since 2019.

The team’s consistent results across the weekend saw them climb to seventh in the Team’s Championship, while De Pasquale also moves up to seventh in the Driver’s standings.

The 2025 Repco Supercars Championship returns on 8–10 August for the Ipswich Super440 at Queensland Raceway, marking the category’s first visit to the circuit since 2019.

RESULTS & QUOTES

Anton De Pasquale, #18 DEWALT Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Qualifying: P9
Shootout: P3
Race 22: P6

“A good weekend for us, a podium and two sixths.

“It was a fun shootout today. It was good to get back into that.

“Overall good weekend. A lot of car speed, just didn’t have the tyre life to keep racing forward today. I got close to the front and then just didn’t have enough.

“Looking forward to the next one. But overall been good to be here in Townsville.”

David Reynolds, #20 TRADIE Energy Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Qualifying: P13
Race 22: P21

“I knew it was going to be tough for me this weekend because I had the flu in the lead up and I was written off until pretty much Friday. It was like my first day out of bed in four days. So my preparation wasn’t the best and I was feeling pretty weak all weekend. Couldn’t eat anything, sweated all night, coughing up stuff, so not the best preparation!

“Friday was okay. We qualified 17th and was nowhere in the race, but on the Saturday I qualified fourth for the shootout and got pole position in the shootout, which was amazing. It’s the team’s first poll since Winterbottom did it in 2019 at Tassie, and it’s my first since 2023 at Newcastle.

“The pink TRADIE rocket behind me did a good job and I was able to drive it okay and end up at pole.

“In the race we went backwards to tenth. I struggled a bit in the race, the last 20 laps I was iIn all sorts. It was pretty hard on its tyres.

“We came back on Sunday with high hopes qualified 13th. Just missed out on the top ten by a tenth of a second. I had a big overseer at turn one and I lost about a tenth, so that would’ve put us in the shootout.

“In the race I was coming 13th, 14th and coming out of the pits I turned Courtney around and got 15 seconds. I was a stupid mistake and feel really bad for those guys because they were just innocent bystanders and I feel bad for my crew because we were trucking along ok.

“We had a really long first stint and then we’re going to come charging at home, so it should have ended up better.

“We learned a lot this weekend and I’m looking forward to the next one.”