Anton De Pasquale lost Bathurst victory on final lap
De Pasquale eliminated from 2026 Finals at Semi Final
Team 18 star fell just 0.7 seconds short of Sandown win, Grand Final berth
“It is what you dream of. That race is so much bigger than any other race…”
Anton De Pasquale admits he may never get over the pain of losing Bathurst, but insists his on-track performance won’t be dictated by the heartbreak.
De Pasquale and Team 18 infamously fell short at Mount Panorama last month, when the #18 DEWALT Camaro ran out of fuel on the final lap of the race.
The dramatic moment handed victory to Brodie Kostecki and the Shell V-Power Racing Team, with De Pasquale failing to finish the race after starting lap 161 in the lead.
Speaking on the Life of Brian podcast, hosted by AFL legend and broadcaster Brian Taylor, De Pasquale concedes he needs to “get comfortable” with living with the outcome.
“For a race car driver in Australia, [it’s] the biggest moment of your life,” De Pasquale said.
“It is what you dream of. That race is so much bigger than any other race we could do, and you wanna win it.
“I don't think I'll ever get over it. I’ve just got to get comfortable with that part.
“But trying to win the championship or trying to win the next race is not dictated on that.”
De Pasquale fell just short of a Grand Final berth after losing the Sandown finale to Matt Payne by just 0.7 seconds.
Speaking on the eve of the Gold Coast round, De Pasquale was able to separate Bathurst from the Finals, and duly scrapped his way to the very last lap at Sandown.
Recounting the Bathurst climax, De Pasquale conceded he knew he was in trouble once he recongised the tone of voice in his engineer Andrew Donnelly.
“When [Donnelly] come over and mentioned fuel, I was like, ‘Well, that's odd because we don't need to be saving fuel or anything. Like we've so much margin. Like this is not necessary,’” De Pasquale said.
“So I'm like, ‘Yeah, that's a bit weird. Maybe just being cautious. Maybe he's nervous,’ you know?
“And then it came a bit later, and the way he said it, I was like, ‘I think we're screwed. Like, this doesn't sound good’.
“I was pretty certain I wasn't gonna make it, so I saved as much fuel as I could and it was not meant to be.”
De Pasquale will conclude his 2026 campaign at Adelaide on November 26-29.
