De Pasquale wins incident-packed Race 26

Anton De Pasquale has outlasted Shane van Gisbergen in an incident-packed BP Ultimate Sydney SuperSprint opener.

A cat-and-mouse game of strategy loomed to hand van Gisbergen a 14th win of 2021, only for De Pasquale to execute two forceful overtakes to aid his charge to victory.

It was De Pasquale’s fourth win in seven starts at Sydney Motorsport Park this season, and fifth of the season.

Van Gisbergen extended his series lead to 349 points with his 20th podium in 26 starts this season, with Red Bull Ampol Racing teammate Jamie Whincup fourth.

Erebus Motorsport rookie Will Brown climbed over Whincup in the closing laps, with Brown recovering from a slow stop to record his second career podium.

De Pasquale got the holeshot into Turn 1, but it was Shell V-Power Racing Team teammate Will Davison who made the best start of the first four.

Davison was given little room by Whincup on approach to Turn 1 and checked up, allowing van Gisbergen to attack Whincup on the run to Turn 2.

Behind them, James Courtney was sent into a spin after a skirmish with Tim Slade and Scott Pye, with the #44 Boost Mobile Mustang sent into the infield styrofoam boards.

Van Gisbergen hurried Whincup through Turns 2 and 3, with the series leader making minor contact with the rear of the #88 Red Bull Ampol entry.

The field quickly settled into position; by lap 4, De Pasquale had opened up a 1.6s lead over Whincup.

By the time van Gisbergen cleared Whincup on lap 8 at Turn 2, De Pasquale was already 2.6s down the road.

Davison and Chaz Mostert were first of the lead pack to stop on lap 10, with the duo taking on right side tyres.

They emerged line astern with Cameron Waters and Todd Hazelwood, who had stopped five laps earlier.

Whincup stopped from third for working side tyres on the following lap, and emerged 2.6s ahead of Davison, who had Mostert in hot pursuit.

De Pasquale and van Gisbergen continued on, with the margin hovering on three seconds after 13 laps.

Whincup was 44.7s from the lead on lap 15, with Davison cutting the margin to Whincup to 2.2s.

De Pasquale stopped at the end of lap 16, releasing van Gisbergen into the lead.

The undercut paid dividends for Red Bull Ampol Racing; De Pasquale emerged behind Whincup, and was forced to complete an overtake into Turn 9.

Van Gisbergen stopped immediately and took on two tyres, and emerged ahead of De Pasquale.

De Pasquale, who had four tyres fitted, hounded van Gisbergen and passed a Red Bull Ampol Commodore at Turn 9 for the second time in as many laps.

The overtake came at a critical time for De Pasquale, with the BP Ultimate Safety Car deployed due to Bryce Fullwood’s stricken car at the exit of Turn 2.

Prior to the van Gisbergen and De Pasquale stops, Nick Percat was forced into the garage.

De Pasquale ran a shallow line on the restart, but quickly opened up a gap on van Gisbergen.

Hazelwood made front-to-rear contact with Waters at Turn 8, which encouraged an attack from Jack Le Brocq.

Waters was turned into the exit barrier by Le Brocq, who was handed a drive-through penalty over the incident.

The #6 Monster Energy Mustang suffered major rear damage, but Tickford managed to return Waters to the race, albeit three laps down.

Luke Youlden also sent Jack Smith into a spin exiting Turn 5, where Kostecki cleared Davison for fourth on lap 25.

De Pasquale managed his tyres and kept van Gisbergen at an arm’s length, with the margin plateauing at two seconds.

Kostecki, meanwhile, quickly caught Whincup and encouraged Brown into the battle.

The Erebus entries swapped hands and Brown quickly cleared Whincup for third, but Kostecki was unable to demote Whincup further.

The battle for the minors did little to deter De Pasquale, who sailed to a sixth career victory and all 105 points on offer, having recorded the fastest lap on lap 22.

Van Gisbergen crossed the line 1.8s behind, with Brown 3.4s from the lead.

Pye climbed over Davison in the closing laps, with the latter 13 seconds from victory.

Zane Goddard impressed to eighth ahead of Slade and Andre Heimgartner, with Mostert crossing the line 11th ahead of Hazelwood.

Waters and Percat were classified 22nd and 23rd respectively.

"Pretty stoked to get the win, a good day. We'll try and do something similar tomorrow," De Pasquale said.

"Obviously we used a couple more tyres than the other guys, but all good.

"It's the fastest way to the end... pole, leading the race, you don't want to throw it away.

"We'll take the win when we can get them."

On the van Gisbergen overtake, he added: "It's about all I had, that or maybe a couple more corners.

"The guys said they took two tyres, so I knew I was going to have grip out of that corner.

"I did it on Jamie and then Shane on the next lap. They were pretty nice to me, but the speed difference is so much with the two tyres."

Cars will return to the track on Sunday for consecutive qualifying sessions from 11:45am AEDT.

Race 27 will commence at 1:30pm, followed by Race 28 at 4:45pm.