DJR's 'biggest focus' for 2022 title fight

Preventing mechanical failures is the Shell V-Power Racing Team's "biggest focus" in 2022, says team principal Ben Croke.

The Ford squad enters the new season with an unchanged driver and engineer line-up.

Anton De Pasquale hit top form at the backend of his first season in Shell colours, scoring five wins across four weekends in Sydney.

He also ended the year with a season-high 11 ARMOR ALL pole positions.

However, mechanical gremlins ensured De Pasquale ended the year sixth overall, marking a bittersweet result.

Croke believes improved reliability will help the team make a genuine title bid in 2022.

“It’s been the biggest thing we have been working on,” Croke told Supercars.com.

“The couple of mechanical failures were all very different and very isolated in different ways.

“It’s definitely something we have been working very hard on, and we can’t afford to have it happen again.”

The Dick Johnson Racing squad launched its 2022 livery for De Pasquale and Will Davison on Wednesday.

The new season will start in Sydney, but DJR isn't relying on De Pasquale’s form at the track to give them an edge.

“I’m not sure it’s an advantage. We are definitely looking forward to going there based on the success and speed that we had last year,” Croke said.

“I’m sure everyone has been working hard on the deficiencies they had there.

“It definitely feels good to go somewhere where we went very well last year.”

The driver-engineer relationships for both Shell Mustangs will carry into 2021.

De Pasquale will again be engineering by Ludo Lacroix, with Davison to be skippered by Richard Harris.

De Pasquale was a cut above in Sydney last year

Johnson says continuity will only help the team overcome the previous season’s mechanical issues.

“The failures that he had last year are not the team failures,” Johnson told Supercars.com

“They were part failures that didn’t have a lot of kilometres on them or anything like that.

“It’s very unusual, because we do a lot of the lifeing of stuff at a very young ages, so we don’t have reliability problems, but somehow, it cost Anton.

“Those things last year cost him around 700 points, which is a lot.

“It really would have put him up in the mix and right up the front.

“One would hope we will overcome these things for this year.”

The Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight will open the 2022 Repco Supercars Championship on March 4-6.

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