Team 18 has kicked off the NTI Townsville 500 weekend with a strong showing, as DEWALT Racing’s Anton De Pasquale secured his second consecutive podium finish by claiming third place in Race 20 on Friday afternoon.
After starting fifth on the grid, De Pasquale made a decisive move early, overtaking Matt Payne on the opening lap. He then set his sights on the front runners and made a bold lunge on Will Davison at Turn 11 on Lap 7 to move into third place. After his compulsory pit stop on Lap 24, De Pasquale maintained his position, chasing down Brodie Kostecki and Cam Waters to the finish line.
Reflecting on the result, De Pasquale credited the team for their preparation and praised the car’s performance straight out of the transporter.
“Car rolled out of the truck really good, which is something which drivers always want, but I think it was one of the better ones for the year for that,” said De Pasquale.
“So we just fine tuned it all day and got a podium at the end. That was the plan all along obviously, but rolling out of the truck good and executing this day was high on our priority list.
“I’m proud of everyone. It was an awesome day and see what the rest of the weekend brings.”
On the other side of the Team 18 garage, it was a tougher day for TRADIE Energy Racing’s David Reynolds, who battled both illness and misfortune. After qualifying 17th, Reynolds was caught up in an opening lap incident when he was hit from behind, which forced him into another car ahead and left his Chevrolet Camaro with front-end damage. Despite compromised handling, he managed to bring the car home in 20th position.
“Being really crook in the lead up I knew it was going to be a tough day, but at the end of the day, it shouldn’t affect your result too much,” Reynolds said.
“Last year we came here we had a lot of problems with rear locking and instability and the car seems to be a lot better this year with that.
“In the race I got an ok start and then 200 metres in I got centre punched by another driver, which made me centre punch another guy in front and that kind of stuffed the front and rear of my car.”
“It’s not the most exciting day out there, but hopefully it gets easier from now on.”
Reynolds added that Friday’s race format presented an extra challenge given his condition.
“Normally if you’re that sick going into a race, you have practice just to reset your weekend. But this is the first time we’ve actually had a Friday race and qualifying here, so you have that added pressure straight up — and I’ve literally been in bed for the last four days.”
Friday Results – NTI Townsville 500
Anton De Pasquale – #18 DEWALT Racing Camaro
- Practice 1: P3
- Practice 2: P6
- Qualifying: P5
- Race 20: P3
David Reynolds – #20 TRADIE Energy Racing Camaro
- Practice 1: P15
- Practice 2: P8
- Qualifying: P17
- Race 20: P20
