De Pasquale fired up over Courtney clash penalty

Anton De Pasquale has questioned the 15-second penalty that saw his Repco Supercars Finals Series hopes evaporate.

De Pasquale entered the day seventh in points, holding the final transfer spot for the Semi Final at Sandown, however could only qualify 17th, whilst chief rival Thomas Randle qualified on the front row. However, as the race unfolded, the two went differing directions, Randle fading through the field, and De Pasquale beginning to charge his way forward.

As Randle found himself struggling to fend off a surging Kai Allen, De Pasquale was flying to the rear of James Courtney after escaping a massive battle pack triggered by contact between Brodie Kostecki and Richie Stanaway.

With nine laps to go, De Pasquale bumped into the rear of Courtney at the Turn 4 hairpin, though both carried on without further drama. However, the same could not be said a lap later.

Courtney took a defensive line as he looked to hold on to ninth, however the #18 Cub Cadet Camaro had already committed to the inside, tapping the rear of the #7 Snowy River Caravans Mustang, and sending it into the Turn 11 tyre wall.

Whilst the initial hit didn't inflict much damage, a blindsided Stanaway clattered into the 45-year-old, putting Courtney out on the spot in his final Gold Coast start. The bp pulse Safety Car was deployed, and when it returned to pit lane with four laps to go, De Pasquale was soon hit with the decisive penalty.

Rubbing salt into the wound, Allen would round up Randle after the restart. Had De Pasquale maintained ninth, he would've bumped Randle out of Finals by just two points. Instead, he missed out by 36.

" Very disappointed. I think we had a fast car, both races,” De Pasquale said.

“Unfortunately missed out on The Finals because of some stewards decision. So yeah, it's a bit disappointing. We can't sort of argue it or have our own say. I think we're pretty stiff.

“Had a fast car, we moved forward. We're racing pretty hard and yeah, on the bad end of some decisions, I think.”

De Pasquale entered the day 16 points clear, but it could have been 31 if not for a post-race penalty after Saturday's opener.

Post-race, Mark Skaife said: “I always say it takes two to tango when you have an incident like that.

“My initial read straightaway was it was predominantly Anton’s fault. But the more I look at the other parts of the vision, and James is moving in the braking area, often it looks worse for the overtaker.

“When the lead car turns down on you as you try to make the move, it always looks worse for the person trying to overtake. I thought that Anton probably was at fault most, but it did still take some movement from James Courtney to end up having an accident."

De Pasquale questioned the tactics of the 2010 Supercars champion, adamant that he was moving too much under brakes, and that he'd been let off for a similar infringement earlier in the race.

"I think you can only move so much when you're braking before there's going be contact, I guess,” De Pasquale continued.

“Something similar happened to me earlier in the race and it was play on, and that one's 15 seconds. So yeah, I'll have another look at it, but I think it's a bit disappointing I can't have my own say on it, and that sort of determines most of the year. 

“I feel pretty hard done by, I spent the whole lap braking and turning to the white line, so contact's going to happen."