Favourite tag not fazing De Pasquale

The BP Supercars All Stars Eseries banter has begun, with Anton De Pasquale responding to Scott McLaughlin’s claims the #99 driver is favourite to win the virtual championship.

McLaughlin, De Pasquale and Shane van Gisbergen have been common tips to star in the Eseries, beginning 7pm AEST tonight.

WATCH: WHAT TO EXPECT FROM ACTION-PACKED ESERIES

It’s no secret De Pasquale, 24, is an avid online racer but he stopped well short of agreeing with McLaughlin’s prediction.

“I have heard what some of the others have said and I know Scotty came out and tipped me as a hot favourite, but that was right after he won an IndyCar iRacing Challenge, so I think he’s probably trying to take some pressure off himself,” De Pasquale laughed.

“It’s always a good thing when people think of you as competition.

“I think myself, Scott, Shane and even Chaz [Mostert] have done a fair bit of this stuff in the past, so naturally we should be up there somewhere.

“But all the other guys have been putting in a massive amount of effort, so you can’t discount anyone because they are all super competitive people.”

Bunkered down in his Werribee home in outer Melbourne, De Pasquale and his PIRTEK Enduro Cup co-driver Brodie Kostecki have used their extra spare time of late to help create a new tyre model for iRacing based on real-life feedback.

“I’ve been spending most of my days on the sim. Let’s face it there’s not much else to do and we’ve all got plenty of time, and I have been happy to be involved,” said De Pasquale.

“It’s just so good to have the opportunity to race and be competitive. It’s obviously never as good as the real thing but it’s cool to be able to do this and especially with all the effort that the teams and drivers have gone to.

“There are a handful of tracks I have physically raced on when I was in Europe and pretty much all I have been on in terms of on the sim, so I am pretty familiar with them all.”

De Pasquale’s teammate David Reynolds is less optimistic about his Eseries chances.

“I am totally out of my comfort zone even though I have been spending more time than I have ever in my life trying to master the simulator,” he said.

“It’s a new experience for me as a lot of the elements in real life are removed, you can’t feel the car underneath you.

“It’s a different world. All the young guys are good at it and they just hose us older guys.

"They are seconds faster than us and we look like some old fossils."

Tonight’s action will involve two pre-broadcast qualifying sessions followed by a nine-lap race at Phillip Island, a 16-lap reverse-grid race also at Phillip Island, and a 19-lap finale at Monza.