Team 18 banks Townsville positives despite challenging finale

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Team 18 wrapped up the NTI Townsville 500 with Snowy River Racing’s David Reynolds narrowly missing the top 10 in 11th and Cub Cadet Racing’s Anton De Pasquale finishing 13th after an eventful final 200km race at the Reid Park Street Circuit.

Despite Sunday’s result, the team leaves North Queensland with plenty of positives, highlighted by De Pasquale’s outstanding drive from 11th to second on Saturday, which delivered Team 18’s fourth podium of the season.

Earlier in the day, Reynolds led the Team 18 charge in qualifying, narrowly missing a place in the Top Ten Shootout by just 0.0361s after recording a 1:13.1667. De Pasquale qualified 13th with a 1:13.2235.

De Pasquale’s afternoon was compromised at the opening corner after becoming an innocent victim in a incident at Turn 1, as Heimgartner turned into Cameron, De Pasquale was left with nowhere to go before receiving a nudge from behind by Macauley Jones. Although the contact caused only minor damage, De Pasquale spent the remainder of the race carrying bodywork damage that hampered the car’s pace.

Reynolds made an excellent start, climbing from 11th to seventh before the Safety Car intervention. As the race unfolded, balance issues limited his ability to maintain that momentum, ultimately finishing 11th, while De Pasquale crossed the line in 13th.

While Sunday’s race didn’t unfold as hoped, both drivers were encouraged by the progress made throughout the weekend. De Pasquale acknowledged the team’s race pace remained a strength despite a lack of qualifying speed, while Reynolds praised the improvements made across the weekend after Friday’s struggles and believes the team has a solid foundation heading to Perth.

Team 18 will next head to the Perth Super440 on July 31 – August 2.

RESULTS & QUOTES

Anton De Pasquale, driver – #18 Cub Cadet Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Qualifying – Race 22: P13 (1:13.2235)
Race 22: P13 (Fastest Lap: 1:15.2819)

“Wrapping up Townsville. It was a really busy weekend with three races and, as always, plenty happening around a street circuit. Saturday was a highlight with a podium finish, which was a great result for the team.

“Unfortunately today we got caught up in an unavoidable incident at the first corner and carried a bit of bodywork damage for most of the race. I think that hurt our pace a little bit. We managed to make up a few positions to finish just outside the top 10, but we couldn’t really go much further than that.

“Overall it was an okay weekend. It was a bit up and down and we were missing a little bit of qualifying pace, but it’s good to come away with another podium. We’ll take the positives and look forward to Perth.”

David Reynolds, driver – #20 Snowy River Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Qualifying – Race 22: P11 (1:13.1667)
Race 22: P11 (Fastest Lap: 1:15.1776)

“It was a bit of a mixed weekend. I actually arrived in Townsville feeling a bit under the weather, although I was in much better shape than I was here last year. Thankfully I felt better as the weekend went on and it didn’t really affect me in the races.

“On Friday we struggled with the car. We couldn’t brake as late as we wanted, couldn’t carry the speed we needed through the corners and that was really the story of the weekend. If we got the braking and entry right, our pace was quite good. If we didn’t, we really struggled.

“Today we rolled out with the car we finished with yesterday and made a few small changes. I got a great start and was up to seventh on the opening lap, but from there I just battled with front locking and understeer, which made it difficult to stay with the cars around me.

“The positive is we had a clean weekend with no reliability issues or mistakes from the team. We just didn’t quite have the pace we needed. Perth was a strong track for us towards the end of last year, so hopefully we can keep building and come back stronger there.”