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De Pasquale's rare bid to match Skaife record

15 Jun 2021
De Pasquale aiming to join legend in Darwin this weekend
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Anton De Pasquale has a rare chance to match a record held by Mark Skaife at this weekend’s Merlin Darwin Triple Crown.

As revealed by V8 Sleuth in its event Fast Facts, De Pasquale can become the second driver to take his first three championship poles on the bounce.

The Shell V-Power Racing Team driver claimed both Sunday ARMOR ALL Pole Positions at last month’s OTR SuperSprint.

He became the fourth driver in ATCC/Supercars history to take his first career pole position and then back it up with his second at the next attempt.

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With his Race 11 pole, his second for the day before his Race 10 win, he joined Skaife, Bob Jane and current teammate Will Davison to achieve the feat.

Jane scored poles at Longford (1962) and Mallala (1963) when the ATCC was contested over a single event.

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Skaife did it in 1991, four years before De Pasquale was born at Mallala, Lakeside and Oran Park en route to his maiden title.

In 2009, in his maiden season with the Holden Racing Team, Davison swept both poles in the Sandown sprint event and claimed an emotional victory.

De Pasquale, who will campaign a special Indigenous livery, can match Skaife’s 1991 marker should he claim the first pole of the weekend at Hidden Valley Raceway on Saturday.

It wouldn’t mean De Pasquale would be a shoo-in to claim a second win of 2021; the driver starting from pole has won just 10 of the last 33 races in Darwin.

That trend, however, the trend has started to change, with seven of the last 15 races won by the car starting from pole.

The Repco Supercars Championship field will return to the Northern Territory this weekend for the Merlin Darwin Triple Crown. Tickets are available here.

The event will be broadcast live on Foxtel and will be streamed on Kayo, and will be broadcast live and free on Seven.

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