De Pasquale, DJR's big jumps in title fights
06 May 2022
He may be winless in 2022, but Anton De Pasquale has banished the nightmares of an inconsistent 2021.
De Pasquale is second behind points leader Shane van Gisbergen after four rounds.
The Shell V-Power Racing Team driver is a staggering 275 points better off than the same time last season.
De Pasquale's 2021 campaign, his first in Shell V-Power red, was littered with DNFs and inconsistency.
Bar tyre dramas at Albert Park, De Pasquale has been a fixture in the top 10.
Tim Slade is in the top 10, and is a whopping 249 points ahead of his 2021 tally.
David Reynolds, Macauley Jones and Todd Hazelwood are 163, 141 and 116 points better off.
Conversely, Jack Le Brocq, Scott Pye and Bryce Fullwood have benched more than 140 points versus their 2021 campaigns.
De Pasquale and Will Davison's relative gains, coupled with the arrival of Broc Feeney, has tightened the teams' championship fight.
Davison has gained 15 points on his 2021 score; however, he is now buoyed by a first win in six years.
De Pasquale finished second in Race 10
After four rounds in 2021, Red Bull Ampol Racing led Shell V-Power Racing Team by 525 points.
After four rounds in 2022, the two teams are separated by a measly 13 points.
Drivers will contest three 100-point races in Perth at Winton Motor Raceway later this month.
Should van Gisbergen or Feeney slip up, the teams' points lead will be Shell V-Power Racing Team's for the taking.
The season will resume at Winton on May 21-22.
Championship points standings after Round 4
2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
McLaughlin (1024) | van Gisbergen (1112) | van Gisbergen (1087) |
Whincup (923) | Whincup (922) | De Pasquale (923) |
Mostert (814) | Mostert (866) | Davison (876) |
van Gisbergen (753) | W.Davison (861) | Waters (751) |
Reynolds (736) | Waters (848) | Mostert (745) |
Waters (733) | Winterbottom (697) | Feeney (725) |
Winterbottom (706) | De Pasquale (648) | Reynolds (709) |
Percat (705) | Heimgartner (646) | B.Kostecki (659) |
Coulthard (682) | Percat (617) | Slade (659) |
Holdsworth (675) | B.Kostecki (615) | Courtney (639) |
Heimgartner (602) | Pye (580) | Hazelwood (618) |
De Pasquale (583) | Courtney (566) | Winterbottom (553) |
Le Brocq (566) | Reynolds (546) | Heimgartner (538) |
R.Kelly (534) | Brown (544) | Brown (532) |
Courtney (528) | Fullwood (527) | Holdsworth (530) |
Hazelwood (525) | Le Brocq (516) | Percat (523) |
Pye (488) | Hazelwood (511) | Jones (423) |
Fullwood (460) | Goddard (442) | Pye (423) |
Smith (390) | J.Kostecki (432) | Fullwood (382) |
Jones (372) | Slade (410) | Pither (380) |
Jacobson (363) | Coulthard (334) | Randle (364) |
Pither (346) | Smith (330) | Jacobson (357) |
Jacobson (285) | Le Brocq (354) | |
Jones (282) | J.Kostecki (347) | |
Smith (344) |
Teams' championship points standings after Round 4
2021 | 2022 |
Red Bull Ampol Racing (2034) | Red Bull Ampol Racing (1812) |
Shell V-Power Racing Team (1509) | Shell V-Power Racing Team (1799) |
Tickford Racing 6 & 44 (1414) | Tickford Racing 5 & 6 (1390) |
Walkinshaw Andretti United (1393) | Erebus Motorsport (1241) |
Team 18 (1277) | Grove Racing (1239) |
Kelly Grove Racing (1192) | Walkinshaw Andretti United (1238) |
Erebus Motorsport (1159) | Matt Stone Racing (972) |
Brad Jones Racing 8 & 14 (1128) | Team 18 (964) |
Matt Stone Racing (874) | Brad Jones Racing 8 & 14 (920) |
Team Sydney (619) | Brad Jones Racing 4 & 96 (767) |
Brad Jones Racing 4 & 96 (612) | PremiAir Racing (737) |
Tickford Racing 5 (516) | Tickford Racing 55 & 56 (711) |
CoolDrive Racing (410) | CoolDrive Racing (659) |
