Sydney Supercars: De Pasquale wins ahead of thrilling podium battle
Anton De Pasquale cruised to victory in Race 2 at Sydney Motorsport Park while Jamie Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen triumphed in thrilling battle for the podium.
Shane van Gisbergen, Anton De Pasquale and Jamie Whincup
Mark Horsburgh, Edge Photographics
The race was an all-Dick Johnson Racing affair for a stint and a half, Will Davison challenging polesitter De Pasquale through Turn 1 and into Turn 2 on the opening lap.
De Pasquale managed to stave off that early challenge, the pair then settling into a rhythm for the first stint separated by a bit under two seconds.
On Lap 10 Davison went for the undercut, pitting for four new tyres. De Pasquale waited four laps longer to do the same, re-emerging around a second behind Davison.
De Pasquale then shadowed his teammate for a few laps before inquiring over the radio is there were any team orders in play. He was swiftly told that he was "free to race" by engineer Ludo Lacroix, De Pasquale then reclaiming the lead on Lap 20.
Once in front the form man was unstoppable, De Pasquale bolting to a 6s win.
"I'm glad it looks [easy], it doesn't feel it," he said. "I'd hard work. The cars are a handful after a few laps and you're just hanging on to it for the rest of it.
"We'll try and do something this afternoon. I don't think we've got many tyres left but we'll make something work."
Davison's early stop set up a thrilling battle for the podium spots as he came under pressure from Jamie Whincup, Chaz Mostert and Shane van Gisbergen late in the race.
Whincup, who stopped for three tyres on Lap 16, held off a challenge from Mostert early in the second stint before setting after Davison.
With four laps to go Whincup and Davison staged a thrilling side-by-side battle for several corners, the Red Bull Holden driver eventually able to get by.
That opened the door for Mostert to join the fun as well, a hip-and-shoulder on Davison at Turn 2 three laps from home setting up a pass for third.
The pain wasn't over for Davison, though, who a lap later found himself being passed for fourth by Shane van Gisbergen.
The Kiwi had run a classic overcut, taking on three new tyres on Lap 19. That gave him the rubber to not only get past Davison but hunt down Mostert, pipping the Walkinshaw driver for third by 0.01s in a drag race to the line.
"The end was awesome," said van Gisbergen.
"Carving through, everyone was racing well. And the last corner with Chaz, I saw him slide and keep wiggling. I was head down on the wheel like in a go kart trying to go faster."
Davison finished fifth ahead of Mark Winterbottom, Nick Percat and Erebus pair Will Brown and Brodie Kostecki.
Bryce Fullwood rounded out the Top 10.
Cla | # | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Interval |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 11 |
Anton De Pasquale
|
Ford Mustang GT | - | ||
2 | 88 |
Jamie Whincup
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 6.087 | 6.088 | 6.088 |
3 | 97 |
Shane van Gisbergen
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 9.952 | 9.953 | 3.865 |
4 | 25 |
Chaz Mostert
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 9.960 | 9.960 | 0.007 |
5 | 17 |
Will Davison
|
Ford Mustang GT | 12.117 | 12.118 | 2.158 |
6 | 18 |
Mark Winterbottom
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 14.566 | 14.567 | 2.449 |
7 | 8 |
Nick Percat
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 16.650 | 16.650 | 2.084 |
8 | 9 |
Will Brown
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 26.093 | 26.094 | 9.443 |
9 | 99 |
Brodie Kostecki
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 28.051 | 28.052 | 1.958 |
10 | 2 |
Bryce Fullwood
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 31.131 | 31.132 | 3.080 |
11 | 35 |
Zane Goddard
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 34.188 | 34.188 | 3.057 |
12 | 20 |
Scott Pye
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 39.384 | 39.384 | 5.196 |
13 | 14 |
Todd Hazelwood
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 43.557 | 43.557 | 4.173 |
14 | 5 |
Jack Le Brocq
|
Ford Mustang GT | 43.833 | 43.833 | 0.276 |
15 | 6 |
Cameron Waters
|
Ford Mustang GT | 44.133 | 44.134 | 0.300 |
16 | 7 |
Andre Heimgartner
|
Ford Mustang GT | 49.092 | 49.092 | 4.959 |
17 | 19 |
Fabian Coulthard
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 49.861 | 49.861 | 0.769 |
18 | 96 |
Macauley Jones
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 50.983 | 50.984 | 1.122 |
19 | 44 |
James Courtney
|
Ford Mustang GT | 51.462 | 51.463 | 0.479 |
20 | 3 |
Tim Slade
|
Ford Mustang GT | 53.149 | 53.150 | 1.687 |
21 | 4 |
Jack Smith
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 53.974 | 53.974 | 0.824 |
22 | 34 |
Jake Kostecki
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 55.045 | 55.046 | 1.071 |
23 | 26 |
Luke Youlden
|
Ford Mustang GT | 1'04.205 | 1'04.206 | 9.160 |
24 | 22 |
Garry Jacobson
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 1'08.948 | 1'08.948 | 4.743 |
View full results |
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