Story: New team, less pressure better for De Pasquale
New team, less pressure better for Anton De Pasquale, says Ryan Story
De Pasquale replacing Mark Winterbottom at Team 18 next season
De Pasquale move facilitated Brodie Kostecki/DJR deal
Dick Johnson Racing Team Principal Dr Ryan Story believes outgoing driver Anton De Pasquale has an opportunity to "show everyone what he’s got” at Team 18.
De Pasquale will swap a Shell V-Power Ford for a Team 18 Chevrolet in 2025, with the 28-year-old replacing Mark Winterbottom.
The move helped facilitate Brodie Kostecki’s blockbuster signing with DJR, with the reigning champion joining incumbent Will Davison.
Davison and De Pasquale have been teammates at DJR since 2021, replacing three-time champion Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard in a double move.
Touted as a successor to McLaughlin, De Pasquale has been evenly matched by Davison since joining DJR, with the latter ahead in the championship twice in three seasons. Through eight rounds in 2024, Davison is sixth, and De Pasquale 10th.
Both were out of contract at season’s end; announced last week, two-time Bathurst winner Davison will stay on for a fifth season, with De Pasquale opting for a new team.
Story believes De Pasquale can “get the best out of his racing” at a team where there is a “bit less pressure,” given DJR is the oldest team on the grid, and Ford’s homologation team.
“These decisions are never easy. Both guys have done a phenomenal job for us over the last few years and we’ve still got unfinished business between now and the end of the year,” Story said on SEN’s The Drivers Seat radio show.
“But for us, it was a decision based on what was going to be best for the overall team, for the overall team structure.
“For someone like Anton, I think for him to get the best out of his racing, he needs to take the opportunity to drive somewhere else, where there is a bit less pressure and he can show everyone what he’s got.
“And he’ll be able to do that at Team 18. I think it’s an exciting opportunity for him.”
De Pasquale has more wins (8-3), poles (15-12) and podiums (29-26), but Davison has more top 10s (72-67) and finished ahead in the points two times in three seasons.
Remarkably, in nearly four seasons, Davison has just one DNF, while De Pasquale has copped 12.
On Davison, Story said: “One of the things with Will which still impresses me, out of all of the drivers I’ve ever worked with, you are in no doubt that when he gets out of the car, he’s given it everything he’s got. And he’s got the maximum out of the car.
“He’s consistent, he basically hoovers up points, he’s able to prosecute strong campaigns even when the car isn’t underneath him. And that’s a massive point of difference.
“And one of the things when we were seeking to out together out team for 2025, was to underscore what the strengths and weaknesses, potentially, will be of our outfit.
“Someone like Will, with his experience not just in the car, but also out of the car, is something that is going to strengthen Brodie Kostecki.
“And Brodie Kostecki, with his engineering talent, what he knows about putting cars together, his raw talent and his tenacity to drive the team forward, is going to make Will Davison better.
“So they are going to push each other both in the car and out of it, and that’s how you build championship-winning teams.”
