Team 18 has wrapped up a busy opening day at The Bend Motorsport Park as the Airtouch 500 got underway, with three practice sessions providing valuable mileage ahead of the first round of the 2025 Ryco Enduro Cup.

The day began with a 30-minute session which was affected by rain towards the end. David Reynolds managed to log a handful of laps in the TRADIE Energy Racing Camaro before an electrical issue forced a steering wheel change. Despite the setback, Reynolds started strong and posted the eighth fastest time of the session, with Anton De Pasquale 14th in the DEWALT Racing Camaro.

The second session was solely dedicated to the co-drivers. Lee Holdsworth impressed in his first on-track session back with Team 18, running inside the top five for most of the session before finishing seventh in the TRADIE Energy Camaro.

Harri Jones completed his first competitive Supercars session with a decent race run in the DEWALT Camaro, placing 20th overall. It’s a busy weekend for Jones alongside his Carrera Cup campaign where he finished second in final practice.

The final session of the day saw Reynolds and De Pasquale back behind the wheel. Reynolds’ running was cut short almost immediately by another electrical gremlin which kept the car in the garage for most of the session before heading out late to finish 22nd on the timesheets.

De Pasquale had a promising finish to the day in fifth fastest, finding a stronger baseline heading into Saturday’s running.

Saturday will see two further practice sessions, a 40-minute hit-out for co-drivers at 9:50am and another 40-minute all-in session at 12:00pm. The grid for Sunday’s 500-kilometre enduro will then be set across a 20-minute qualifying session at 3:05pm followed by the Top Ten Shootout at 4:50pm. All the action can be viewed live on Fox Sports and Kayo.

RESULTS & QUOTES

David Reynolds – Driver – #20 TRADIE Energy Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Practice 1: 8th
Practice 2: 7th
Practice 3: 22nd

“Today we had three practice sessions. The first was shortened because of the rain, but I managed to get a couple of runs in. We had an electrical gremlin early on and had to change the steering wheel, which put us on the back foot, but overall I was reasonably happy with the car.

“It’s one of the better cars I’ve had around here. At The Bend you rely heavily on the car because the corners are so long and flow into each other, if you have an average car here it compounds and you end up a long way off the pace. Small changes can deliver big gains here, so that gives us some direction.

“Lee jumped in for Practice 2 and did a phenomenal job, running inside the top five consistently. Unfortunately in Practice 3 we had another electrical drama from lap one, which wiped out most of our running. That compromised our last run, but we had a a set-up swing at the end and it didn’t work out. We’ve got some learning to do, but with more practice tomorrow we’ll get on top of it.”

Lee Holdsworth – Co-Driver – #20 TRADIE Energy Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

“I’m relatively happy with how today went. We did have some electrical issues which set us back, especially in Dave’s last session, but in my session I was pretty happy with the balance of the car.

“I felt like I made more gains in my driving than we did with the car set-up, but it gave us a reasonable balance to work with and chip away at for the rest of the weekend. Dave didn’t really get a proper run in, so his pace was much quicker than what we saw then, but I think we’ll be in good shape tomorrow.

“Overall, not a bad start. Anton’s car looks like it’s close to the window, so we’ve got something to go by for the rest of the weekend.”

Anton De Pasquale – Driver – #18 DEWALT Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Practice 1: 14th
Practice 2: 20th
Practice 3: 5th

“Friday at The Bend is done. The first couple of practice sessions were pretty short and I didn’t get a lot of laps in, but Harri got some good running as well. We worked through a few changes on the car and got more comfortable as the day went on.

“We’ve got a good base heading into tomorrow, so we’ll keep chipping away at it for the rest of the weekend.”

Harri Jones – Co-Driver – #18 DEWALT Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

“Day one at Tailem Bend is done. It’s been a busy day with two practice sessions in the Carrera Cup car and one co-driver session in the Supercar.

“The car feels good, Anton’s driving really well, and I’ve got a few things to work on myself. I’ll sleep on it tonight and come back stronger tomorrow.”