First Bathurst podium a 'relief' for De Pasquale
Supercars
10 Oct
Anton De Pasquale relieved to score first Repco Bathurst 1000 podium
Tony D'Alberto takes first podium since 2017, DJR its first since 2019
De Pasquale leads quartet of Fords from third to sixth
Anton De Pasquale was relieved to secure his first Repco Bathurst 1000 podium amid a backdrop of drama and a run of Mount Panorama outs.
De Pasquale, in his sixth Great Race start, combined with Tony D’Alberto to deliver the Shell V-Power Racing Team’s first Bathurst podium since it won in 2019.
It was a bright spark on an otherwise tricky day for the famous Ford team, which ran three cars in this year’s Great Race.
Will Davison/Alex Davison had a troubled run and brought the #17 home in 16th, with the Simona De Silvestro/Kai Allen wildcard crossing the line 20th.
With fellow Ford driver Cam Waters recording a DNF due to co-driver James Moffat’s crash, De Pasquale moved to seventh in the drivers’ standings as the team consolidated fourth in the standings.
The podium was a reward for a strong week for the #11 crew, with De Pasquale third in Friday qualifying and fifth in Saturday’s Shootout.
For De Pasquale, the trophy was a “relief” after previous Bathurst results of 24th, DNF, ninth, DNF and seventh, as well as the pre-race weekend noise surrounding parity — a topic he shut down when asked if third felt like a win.
“We worked hard at this one,” said De Pasquale, who was 33.0867s from victory on Sunday.
“We felt we had a good race car all week, similar to Shane [van Gisbergen, race winner], we spent a lot of time doing a lot of race runs.
“I felt like we maximised our day, which is what I said a couple of days ago in qualifying, and we’re third.
“It feels good. It’s a relief, but it doesn’t feel like a win.”
It was another impressive, yet unheralded driver by reigning TCR Australia champion D’Alberto, who added to his 2017 podium with the Ford team.
“I’ve been with this team for eight years, I love this group of people,” the 2007 development series champion said.
“To repay them with a podium today… they’ve worked really hard this year, they’ve worked hard to get the car to the front of the field.”
When asked if he thought he would get a podium, D’Alberto replied: “I thought maybe top five, but trophy was a stretch.”
De Pasquale will resume his 2023 season at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 in three weeks’ time.
