How De Pasquale plans to take down SVG
Continuity in personnel and consistency on track will form the hallmarks of Anton De Pasquale’s 2022 title bid.
De Pasquale finished the 2021 season 855 points adrift of champion Shane van Gisbergen.
The 26-year-old enters his second campaign with the Shell V-Power Racing team off the back of a six-win season.
De Pasquale also secured the ARMOR ALL Pole Champion Award, having recorded a season-high 11 pole positions.
The first half of his 2021 season was punctuated by poor reliability and inconsistency, and De Pasquale quickly fell out of the 2021 title fight.
However, the Dick Johnson squad, compared to its rivals, has had very little personnel change with De Pasquale and Will Davison staying on.
Van Gisbergen, for example, will have a new engineer and teammate, which he believes will create for a new dynamic at Red Bull Ampol Racing.
For De Pasquale, having such a smooth off-season and strong end to 2021 will pay dividends.
"Everyone starts the year on zero points," De Pasquale told Supercars.com.
"You don’t know what to expect when a new season starts. You can’t underestimate anyone.
"An advantage for us is working with the same crew, having all the same personnel.
"Everything we bedded in last year, we can build on this year. I’m keen to get into it with Ludo [Lacroix, race engineer] and the guys.
Stat attack: How van Gisbergen won the 2021 title
De Pasquale forecasts closer 2022 fight with van Gisbergen
"The relationships and performance got better and better as the year went on and we finished strong."
De Pasquale won six races in 2021, five of them coming at the backend of the year at Sydney Motorsport Park, which will open the new season.
However, almost 700 points went begging for De Pasquale in 2021, ruining his title bid.
He crashed after starting at the front in Bathurst and Darwin, suffered engine failures at Sandown and Tailem Bend, and was excluded from Race 21 in Sydney.
His year ended in a late-race engine failure at Mount Panorama as he chased a maiden Great Race podium.
De Pasquale knows the pace is there, but matching the consistency of his rivals is crucial should he add to DJR’s title tally.
Van Gisbergen and De Pasquale battling in 2021
"We know as the year went on, we got better and better in every aspect," he said.
"Continuity is a good thing, and that gives me a lot of confidence. But it’s not that simple.
"There are high quality teams, high quality drivers like Shane, who are there every weekend.
"It’d be disrespectful to everyone else to roll in and think you’ll win every race. The competition is so tight.
"Everyone will be pushing really hard from the start."
In 2021, van Gisbergen only missed the top 10 three times in the 30 completed races.
Only van Gisbergen (23 podiums) and Jamie Whincup (15) recorded more podium finishes than De Pasquale in 2021.
'Everyone starts the year on zero points'
However, van Gisbergen and Whincup finished every race; De Pasquale suffered five DNFs and an exclusion.
Knowing the Shell Mustang will be in the hunt at every round in 2022, De Pasquale knows he and his team need to make it count.
"We need to bank points every time we can, and grab trophies every other time we can," he said.
"We know we have a decent package that works at most tracks, and we’ll go to more tracks this year.
"We need to work on our weaknesses, and I have things I need to work on as well.
"We have one of the best teams in pit lane, so I have no doubt we will be pushing at the front."
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