DEWALT Racing’s Anton De Pasquale surged into the top ten in the first race of the Melbourne SuperSprint, while TRADIE Energy Racing’s David Reynolds fought hard to finish 17th.

The day began with two practice sessions, followed by back-to-back qualifying for Races 4 and 5. Both Team 18 drivers struggled with braking issues, with Anton securing 10th on the grid for Race 4, while Dave lined up 19th for the opening 19-lap encounter.

Anton was in the thick of the action early, getting forced wide at Turn 11 and running through the gravel, dropping outside the top ten.

Dave made up three spots in the first five laps but had his hands full defending against the Tickford duo of Waters and Randle. He pulled off an impressive move on Lap 6, diving inside Heimgartner at Turn 6 before completing the pass around the outside at Turn 7 to move into 14th.

However, his race took a hit when Waters made contact on the run out of the final corner on Lap 5, ripping off Dave’s right rear quarter panel. He was then forced wide at Turn 3 on the following lap, losing positions to Davison and Heimgartner.

A safety car was deployed on Lap 7 for a car stranded in the Turn 3 gravel, with racing resuming on Lap 10.

Anton showed strong pace, moving up to eighth by passing Stanaway and Percat. He was among the fastest cars on track late in the race, hunting down Payne for sixth at Turn 11.

Dave had climbed to 15th before being pushed wide at Turn 3 by Fullwood on the penultimate lap, ultimately finishing 17th.

On the final lap, Anton battled rear grip and was reeled in by Waters on the run to the chequered flag, crossing the line in seventh.

Team 18 will be back on track tomorrow for Race 5 of the 2025 Repco Supercars Championship, the second race of the Melbourne SuperSprint, at 2:50pm AEDT. Catch all the action live on Channel 10.

RESULTS & QUOTES

Anton De Pasquale – #18 DEWALT Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Practice 1: 19th

Practice 2: 18th

Qualifying (Race 4): 10th

Qualifying (Race 5): 12th

Race 4: 7th

“Today was probably the busiest day of the year with heaps of sessions and stuff going on. It was an up and down day for us.

“We were chasing some braking dramas for most of the day and maybe we solved that into the race.

“We did okay made some spots up, finished basically finished the same every race all year so far. So I’m looking to move forward in the coming days.”

David Reynolds – #20 TRADIE Energy Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Practice 1: 17th

Practice 2: 9th

Qualifying (Race 4): 19th

Qualifying (Race 4) : 18th

Race 4: 17th

“Very challenging day for the TRADIE Energy team.

“It was looking positive in practice. The car got a bit better and then qualifying, not sure what happened, just all the speed left the car and became really difficult to drive. Not sure what happened there, but we’ll have a look at the data and everything tonight and tomorrow and have another crack on Saturday.

“In the race, I started 19th, which is nowhere. I was trucking along okay, I was just managing my car, not over driving it, just the tyres so I could come hard at the end of the race.

“I was going really good until Waters drilled me and destroyed the rear of my car and probably lost all the downforce. After that I was a bit of a sail and it was impossible to drive after that.

“Just another bad luck race, but onwards and upwards for us. We need to not qualify back there with the numpties and have a better go.”