Wins, not title, current focus for De Pasquale

Continuing the Shell V-Power Racing Team’s upwards trend, rather than the championship, is Anton De Pasquale’s immediate focus heading to Perth.

De Pasquale and Will Davison returned the Shell V-Power Fords to the pointy end in Melbourne after a tough start in Newcastle.

Both red Mustangs were quick off the blocks at Albert Park, with De Pasquale scoring pole position for the opener.

It was a far cry to Newcastle, where neither driver cracked the top 10.

In a heartbeat, Dick Johnson Racing Fords became a factor at the front, with Davison also racing into podium contention later in the weekend.

However, despite the points deficit, De Pasquale’s current goal is keeping his team in the hunt race-by-race.

To Perth, Davison (11th) and De Pasquale (18th) are 243 and 275 points respectively from the lead.

De Pasquale leads the AGP opener

“The pole was good, but it would’ve been better to convert it into a trophy, which we were close to,” De Pasquale told Supercars.com.

“If we’re in a similar situation in Perth, we have to capitalise.

“It’s still super early to look at the championship. Every race, I'm not looking at the championship too much anyway.

“Poles, podiums and wins are the primary objective for everyone, and it’s no different for us.

“We were a lot more competitive straight out the gate, which makes it easier to progress through the weekend.

“We were able to fine-tune rather than throw the kitchen sink at it.”

Instead of opting to rest in the four-week break, both drivers straight went from Melbourne to Mount Panorama for the Bathurst 6 Hour.

De Pasquale, who brought home a 6 Hour podium finish, says his team has been working around the clock to find even more gains for Perth.

Davison led a DJR one-two in Perth in 2022

DJR was one of the form teams in Perth last year — De Pasquale and Davison scored a pole each, with Davison leading a one-two in the first Sunday race.

“It’ll be good to get to another track and keep validating what we’re doing — we definitely improved at the Grand Prix,” De Pasquale said.

“I don’t like breaks, I always want to be doing something. I went straight to Bathurst for the 6 Hour, so it was good to be at a track and especially at Bathurst.

“Aside from that, we’ve been working on ways to improve, and building on what we did at the Grand Prix.

“We were towards the pointy end nearly the whole weekend. There were some hiccups which weren’t ideal, but we’ve worked through them.

“There was more potential to get great results, which is far better than where we were only a few weeks prior."

The 2023 Repco Supercars Championship will resume at the Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint on April 28-30.