Team 18 completed a solid run at the AirTouch 500 at The Bend Motorsport Park, bringing both cars home in Sunday’s 500km enduro in 10th and 13th respectively and moving up one position in the Teams’ Championship standings to sixth.

The #18 DEWALT Racing Chevrolet of Anton De Pasquale and co-driver Harri Jones finished in tenth place from seventh after a consistent day, while the #20 TRADIE Energy Racing Camaro of David Reynolds and Lee Holdsworth came home in 13th from starting 12th.

De Pasquale and Jones spent much of the day in the top ten, with Jones making his Supercars endurance debut and showing maturity across his opening stints before handing over to De Pasquale to bring the car home.

The 500km race ran without a single safety car, leaving little opportunity to regroup the field as the race went on with outright car speed dictating the play.

The pair’s top-ten result adds another solid finish to their campaign as they build towards Bathurst.

In the sister entry, Holdsworth made a strong start in the TRADIE Energy Chevrolet, with Reynolds completing the final two stints. Despite battling tyre life in the opening run and a pit lane delay, the duo pushed hard across the 500km distance to finish just outside the top ten in 13th.

The double finish sees Team 18 move up to sixth in the Teams’ Championship standings, adding valuable points in the lead-up to the Bathurst 1000 on 9-12 October.

RESULTS & QUOTES

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

Race 26: 13th

“We started 12th and finished 13th, so somehow lost a spot along the way. We dropped a bit of time in the pit stop which we’ll need to look at, but once I got in it felt more like a test day – I was just driving around by myself.

“I tried, but I couldn’t make any inroads on the car in front. At this track you can’t really hustle the car or force the issue, you just have to let the car do its thing. I ended up doing about 65 laps across two stints and it was a long day, but a clean one.

“All in all I had a lot of fun sharing the car with Lee. We didn’t quite get the reward today, but I’m looking forward to lining up with him again at Bathurst in a couple of weeks.”

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

“I actually really enjoyed the weekend, even though we didn’t get the result we wanted. I had a great time driving with Dave and with the team. We always talk a bit of rubbish, and that made it fun.

“In my first stint I got away well but the rears went away really early, which made it hard to manage. We made a change at the stop which brought it back to life and the car was much stronger in the second stint.

“When I handed over to Dave there was a gap in front and a gap behind, and unfortunately with no safety cars it just turned into a bit of a procession. That’s the way it goes at a track like this, high speed, lots of run-off, not much to bring the field back together. We had a clean run though, and now the focus is on Bathurst.”

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

Race 26: 10th

“500km done, and it was a pretty interesting race. No safety cars, very spread out in the end, so everyone just ran their own race and outright car speed really prevailed.

“For us, we floated around pretty much the same positions all day. Had a few little battles, but we just didn’t have the outright speed. It was strange not really being in a pack. I didn’t do the start, so when I got in it almost felt like a practice session, just turning laps.

“Harri did most of the heavy lifting at the start of the race and did a great job in his first Supercars race.

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

“It was a tough old slog today. I had a bit of a shocker off the start, unfortunately, but just had to deal with what we had. The first stint was pretty good. I was in a bit of a pack, tried to move forward and did what I could.

“In the second stint we had a good pit stop and I came out in some cleaner air, had some good little battles, and then handed the car over to Anton. I’m pretty exhausted now, it’s been a busy weekend juggling Carrera Cup and the Supercar, but overall it was a great experience. I’m looking forward to Bathurst.”