It was a challenging yet promising day for Team 18 at CARCO Raceway, as DEWALT Racing’s Anton De Pasquale broke into the top ten with a strong drive to ninth place in Race 15 of the Perth Super440.
The day began with mixed results in qualifying. TRADIE Energy Racing’s David Reynolds narrowly missed out on a spot in Part 2 of Qualifying, starting 12th for Race 14, while De Pasquale slotted into 16th. For Race 15, De Pasquale improved to 14th on the grid with Reynolds just behind in 16th.
Race 14 saw both drivers pit early for left-side tyres, Anton on Lap 21 and Dave two laps later. The pack was tight, and strategy played a crucial role. Dave held position to finish 16th, while Anton slipped to 19th after a tough stint battling through traffic.
The team regrouped for Race 15 later in the afternoon, and Anton made an immediate impact, charging up three spots on the opening lap. With a solid pit stop strategy and consistent pace, he emerged inside the top ten and brought the DEWALT Chevrolet home in ninth place, his eighth top ten of the season.
Reynolds’ race was a tougher affair. Despite an early stop for four tyres on Lap 21, he struggled for grip in the closing stages and crossed the line in 19th.
The team will now turn their focus to Sunday’s 83 lap finale. Qualifying kicks off at 11:00am, followed by the Top 10 Shootout at 1:05pm and Race 16 at 3:15pm. Fans can catch all the action live on Fox Sports and Kayo.
RESULTS & QUOTES
Anton De Pasquale, driver #18 DEWALT Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Qualifying (Race 14): 16th
Qualifying (Race 15): 14th
Race 14: 19th
Race 15: 9th
“Not a great day for us from where we were yesterday. We just missed the window in qualifying unfortunately and had a bit of a struggle with the balance and all these things.
“We did some stuff for the second race today and it seemed to be back into a more workable window, which was good and it was a good race.
“We’ll have a look at all that stuff tonight and understand where we went wrong, but we’ve got plenty of information to work towards.”
David Reynolds, driver #20 TRADIE Energy Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
Qualifying (Race 14): 12th
Qualifying (Race 15): 16th
Race 14: 16th
Race 15: 19th
“After yesterday and all the dramas we had in practice I knew it was going to be hard rolling out for qualifying, as the car was very different. We qualified 12th in the first qualifying so if I did a tiny bit better job, I could have made the ten and gone on from there, but missing a little bit of pace.
“Then on the super soft it was okay, the car’s very different. Surprisingly I went faster on the slower tyre, both cars actually did, so it’s something we need to look at.
“In the first race, I got a good start and trucked along alright. I think I was 11th, but after a couple laps, I realised I was going to struggle a little bit and had a lot of understeer in the car and made the rest of the race pretty difficult and ended 16th. I tried really hard and got nowhere. It was challenging, but we just need to do a better job with the balance and try and make the car make grip and the rest will be history.
“The second race, got hung out to dry on the start and never recovered after that. I expected to go a bit better on the super soft tyre. We need to really think about how we go forward and try and make grip and make it suit how I like to drive it here, so that’s what we’ll do overnight.”