DEWALT Racing’s Anton De Pasquale continued his strong form at the Melbourne SuperSprint, charging from 12th to eighth in Race 6 at the Australian Grand Prix. Meanwhile, TRADIE Energy Racing’s David Reynolds fought back to 18th after being taken out early in a chaotic opening lap.

Reynolds, who started 14th, had a difficult start after being caught up in an incident at Turn 1, dropping down the order. Further contact at Turn 4 damaged his right rear tyre, forcing him to pit for repairs during the first safety car period.

Starting from 12th on the grid, De Pasquale moved into the top ten after the restart, making decisive moves on Hill and Murray.

A well-timed move on Stanaway at Turn 11 after the Lap 7 safety car restart saw him move up to eighth.

De Pasquale withstood pressure from Waters in the closing stages to narrowly secure his third top ten finish in as many races this weekend.

Despite Reynolds’ setback, he clawed his way back through the field, making a strong pass on Randle at Turn 6 to finish in 18th when the race reached its time-certain conclusion after 15 laps.

De Pasquale was pleased with the car’s progress in qualifying but admitted there was still work to do to extract more pace.

Reynolds reflected on the challenges of the race but remained optimistic about Sunday’s finale, where both drivers will start inside the top ten.

Team 18 returns to the track tomorrow for the final race of the Melbourne SuperSprint at 10:25 am local time, before the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix at 3pm. Fans can catch all the action live on Channel 10, Fox Sports, and Kayo.

RESULTS & QUOTES

Anton De Pasquale – #18 DEWALT Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Qualifying (Race 6): 12th

Qualifying (Race 7): 9th

Race 6: 8th

“We had a couple of qualifying sessions and our third race today. The focus was on making gains in qualifying, and I think we made some small improvements.

“I didn’t put together perfect laps, and with how tight the field is, I was just on the wrong end of a tenth or two, but we’re slowly learning what we need to improve.

“The race was pretty much a copy-and-paste from the last few, moved up a few spots. The race car was decent, but it could still be a little stronger late in the stint.

“Looks like we might get some rain tomorrow, so who knows what’s in store!”

David Reynolds – #20 TRADIE Energy Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Qualifying (Race 6): 14th

Qualifying (Race 7): 10th

Race 6: 18th

“Today was actually better in qualifying. It was a good session, we maximised what we had, ending up 14th and 10th.

“In the first session, I probably made a mistake. Going into qualifying, I wasn’t overly confident, mostly because of how the car felt over the last 48 hours and the feedback I’d been giving, that affects your confidence a bit, but in the final session, we did well and maximised what we had for 10th.

“In the race, I started 14th but didn’t get a great start. I got sandwiched at Turn 1 and ended up crashing with two other cars. Then, at Turn 3, I had another incident, and by Turn 4, someone drilled me pretty hard and ripped my tyre off.

“I had to pit late to get a new tyre, which dropped me to the back, but I managed to recover to 18th.

“Overall, not great, but tomorrow’s a new day. We’re starting 10th, and we’re going to try a few things. We made some changes to the car today, I’m not sure if they worked or not, but when the car was handling okay, it felt fine.”