De Pasquale wins Sydney strategy thriller

Anton De Pasquale has claimed his second win of the BP Ultimate Sydney SuperSprint weekend.

De Pasquale was forced to overhaul Shell V-Power Racing Team teammate Will Davison after the stops.

It marked De Pasquale’s fifth Sydney win in eight starts, with Jamie Whincup managing to pass Davison in the closing laps.

Series leader Shane van Gisbergen stole the final podium spot on the line from Chaz Mostert, having emerged from his lap 18 stop in 10th.

Van Gisbergen pipped Mostert to the line by 0.007s, with a grip-limited Davison fifth across the line.

The two Shell Fords made even starts, and De Pasquale used the inside line to defy Davison through Turn 1.

De Pasquale and Davison skipped away, leaving Whincup and Will Brown to engage in a spirited battle.

Through seven laps, De Pasquale and Davison were split by a second, with Whincup three seconds from the lead.

Jack Le Brocq began the pit cycle on lap 5, with Scott Pye stopping for two tyres on the following lap.

Davison stopped for four tyres on lap 10, and emerged two seconds ahead of Pye.

Brown fell away from the rear of Whincup and, in his bid to hold Mostert behind, earned a bad sportsmanship flag for exceeding track limits.

Mostert stopped for two tyres on lap 13, with De Pasquale and Mark Winterbottom taking on four tyres on the following lap.

The erstwhile race leader emerged behind Davison, who had tyres four laps De Pasquale’s senior.

Lap by lap, De Pasquale reeled in his teammate and executed a clean pass at Turn 2 on lap 20.

Whincup took on three tyres at his lap 16 stop, and emerged ahead of Pye, Mostert and Brown, who stopped for two tyres on the previous lap.

Once van Gisbergen took on three tyres at his lap 18 stop, the pit strategies began to unfold.

Winterbottom passed teammate Pye into Turn 4 on lap 21, with Brown also struggling for grip.

Van Gisbergen cleared Brown and Pye and settled into seventh.

The series leader caught and passed Nick Percat on the pit straight at the end of lap 25, and had 1.8s to make up on fifth-placed Winterbottom.

All the while, De Pasquale opened up a gap on Davison, with the margin 3.5s by the end of lap 25.

Whincup and Mostert pushed themselves towards Davison, with the three cars covered by 1.5s with six laps remaining.

Whincup showed the nose at Turn 7 and held Davison to the apron on approach to Turn 8.

The former teammates ran line astern to the final sequence of corners, and Whincup emerged ahead onto the pit straight.

Mostert muscled past at Turn 2, leaving Davison vulnerable to the charging van Gisbergen.

Van Gisbergen mirrored his teammate’s efforts on Davison on lap 31, and used his extra grip to motor past the #17 Shell Mustang on the run to Turn 9.

The battling allowed De Pasquale to cross the line six seconds to the good, but all eyes turned to the battle for third.

Van Gisbergen caught Mostert and took a more shallow line onto the pit straight.

Mostert and van Gisbergen dragged to the line, with the latter clinching the final spot on the podium by 0.0072s.

Davison was a lonely fifth ahead of Winterbottom, Percat, Brown, Kostecki and Todd Hazelwood.

Bryce Fullwood inherited 10th, with Hazelwood dropping to 13th due to a 15-second time penalty over a pit lane infringement.

Pye was demoted to 12th, with Zane Goddard 11th.

The BP Ultimate Sydney SuperSprint will conclude with Race 28 at 4:45pm AEDT.