'Real mongrel about him': Skaife impressed by De Pasquale
Anton De Pasquale catches attention of Supercars legend Mark Skaife
De Pasquale muscled his way from fifth to third in Townsville opener
Team 18 driver moved from 10th to ninth in standings with podium
Anton De Pasquale's march to a brilliant podium at the NTI Townsville 500 has caught the attention of Supercars Hall of Famer Mark Skaife.
The Team 18 driver powered to third in Friday's sprint race at Reid Park, which was won De Pasquale's former co-driver Brodie Kostecki.
While Kostecki and Cam Waters were the class of the field, De Pasquale had to get there the hard way, getting his elbows out off the line before clearing Will Davison.
After qualifying fifth, De Pasquale muscled past Payne on the opening lap and wasted little time chasing Davison.
Chasing Davison, who started third, De Pasquale made a bold lunge on the Shell V-Power Racing Team veteran into Turn 11 on lap 7.
Davison appeared to squeeze De Pasquale towards the inside wall, and the two drivers kept it clean. However, with a podium on the line, De Pasquale made sure he completed the pass, which allowed Matt Payne through into fourth.
From there, De Pasquale did the job required to add to his Darwin podium from last month, with the 29-year-old jumping to ninth in the championship.
Speaking after the race, Skaife made a point to mention De Pasquale's performance, hailing the Victorian's impressive racecraft.
"I was really impressed with the way he drove today. He actually had some real mongrel about him," six-time Bathurst winner Skaife said.
"He did a really good job on the opening lap down of Turn 2, fired down the inside of everybody, which is a ripper.
"And then the pass that he put on Will Davison was aggressive and good."
Kostecki and Waters were clearly the fastest cars in the race; taking their 30% fastest laps, they were 0.15s better than the next best, which was De Pasquale.
Skaife suggested De Pasquale could emerge as a greater threat on Saturday should Team 18 find even more pace in the #18 DEWALT Chevrolet, adding: “For him to finish on the podium — if they make that car a little bit better for tomorrow, they’re a chance."
Supercars action resumes on Saturday with Boost Mobile Qualifying at 10:00am AEST, followed by the Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout at 12:05pm. The first 200km race of the weekend, Race 21, commences at 3:00pm.
Foxtel/Kayo's Saturday coverage commences at 7:30am AEST, with the Seven Network taking live coverage from 12:00pm. Please check local guides.
