Team 18 has kicked off the 2026 Repco Supercars Championship with a solid top-six finish under lights at Sydney Motorsport Park, with Anton De Pasquale leading the charge in the opening race of the Dunlop Sydney 500, as Snowy River Racing’s David Reynolds placed 12th.

De Pasquale was the only Chevrolet driver to progress through part 1 of qualifying earlier in the afternoon, converting his pace into fifth on the grid for the first race of the season. Teammate David Reynolds narrowly missed advancing, qualifying just a tenth of a second short in 12th.

Both Camaros made clean starts to the 26-lap sprint, with De Pasquale settling into the fight at the front while Reynolds dropped one position to Allen before the opening round of pit stops.

Holding position in the lead group, De Pasquale fended off pressure from Brown and began to reel in the leaders during the first stint. Reynolds was brought into the lane on Lap 13 for four tyres, while De Pasquale stopped on Lap 17, also taking four fresh Dunlops.

Brown edged ahead of the DEWALT Chevrolet during the pit stop cycle, but De Pasquale responded decisively on Lap 21, reclaiming the position down the main straight in a strong move that ultimately secured sixth place at the chequered flag. Reynolds worked hard across the race distance to finish where he started in 12th.

De Pasquale described the result as a solid start but admitted there is more performance to unlock, while Reynolds acknowledged the need to tune up both qualifying and race pace heading into Sunday.

Team 18 is back on track on Saturday for Qualifying at 3:40pm AEDT, a Top 10 Shootout at 4:35pm and Race 2 over here 52 laps at 7:35pm. All the action can be viewed live on Channel 7, Fox Sports and Kayo.

QUOTES

Anton De Pasquale, Driver #18 DEWALT Racing Chevrolet Camaro

“Sydney first race, sprint race at night. Finished sixth. Pretty okay race for us. Just didn’t have enough rear to keep with the front guys and lost the spot sort of through the pit cycles and stuff, but it was a close battle with a fair few of us.

“So thereabouts. A little bit work to do. So hopefully we can go a little bit better tomorrow because we’re not far away.”

David Reynolds, Driver #20 Snowy River Racing Chevrolet Camaro

“Worked my absolute ass off to start 12th and finish 12th. So a little bit happened in the race, but nothing to really write home about. Need to make the car a little bit better and qualify a bit better and have a bigger run tomorrow.

“A big Saturday coming up, two qualifying sessions, race, Top 10 Shootout, all that stuff. So need to tune it up and make it better.”