'Good mates' De Pasquale and Brown come full circle

Race 22 marked the first time former co-drivers Anton De Pasquale and Will Brown shared a Supercars podium.

De Pasquale held out Brown in the Bunnings Trade Sydney SuperNight finale.

Brown put on four tyres and charged down De Pasquale, with the Erebus Motorsport rookie eroding a 10-second margin in quick time.

However, Brown worked through his tyres chasing De Pasquale, and had little left in reserve to mount an attack.

De Pasquale crossed the line 1.2s ahead, and helped himself to a second win of the weekend.

The two drivers ran line astern in Saturday night's race, and Brown stayed with the #11 Shell V-Power Racing Team Mustang.

However, a botched pit stop for Brown ensured De Pasquale had a clear run to victory.

Come Sunday, and Brown pushed his old friend all the way.

The two drivers raced against each other in Super2, with De Pasquale rising to the main game with Erebus in 2018.

The same year, De Pasquale and Brown made their Bathurst debuts together.

"Back in 2018, we were just a couple of young blokes having a dip at Bathurst," De Pasquale said.

"Now we're on the podium together, which is probably why he has no rear tyres left!

"In all seriousness, Will and I have been racing a while and we're good mates.

"You always want new faces on the podium."

Brown became the 11th different driver to record a podium in 2021, joining teammate Brodie Kostecki, who finished third on Saturday.

The 23-year-old's first podium seemed likely to be a win considering the rate Brown was catching De Pasquale.

"Will's been denied a few this year, he's been quick," De Pasquale continued.

"He obviously missed out last night. He was quick today and pushed me again.

"I obviously didn't want to see him on the top step, but I'm happy to see him up there."

Brown relished the opportunity to race alongside De Pasquale, and was pleased their careers continued to intertwine in the main game.

"For me, racing with Anton in 2018 and us stepping up as young blokes, we had a lot of fun as co-drivers," Brown said.

"Sharing the podium now is fantastic, especially that Anton has made the transition to DJR, and I've stepped up at Erebus.

"It's pretty cool to do it in my first year."

Brown's maiden podium was celebrated with the team in victory lane, with team owner Betty Klimenko joining on FaceTime.

The young driver was pleased his crew managed to maintain confidence despite the pit stop disaster which all but cost him victory on Saturday.

"Race 1 with the pit stop was pretty disappointing, but I think we made the right choice to go four tyres in that race," Brown said.

"I was probably driving a bit hard, they told me to drive to a number and typical young bloke, I couldn't do that.

"I ran out of puff and gave him a few taps at the last corner... I had a crack and I had a lot of fun.

"A few times we've had pace but it fell away overnight.

"The guys did a great job and we backed it up today... I'm pretty glad we have four weekends in a row now."

The 2021 Repco Supercars Championship will resume next weekend at the ARMOR ALL Sydney SuperNight.

Tickets for the three upcoming Sydney events are on sale now.