Anton De Pasquale wants to move into the top five
De Pasquale 30 points behind Kai Allen, 55 behind Brodie Kostecki
Team 18 driver on course to improve on 2025 Finals seeding
Anton De Pasquale is determined to put himself in the top five in the championship as the Repco Sprint Cup concludes in Ipswich.
While a Sprint Cup winner will be crowned at this weekend’s Century Batteries Ipswich Super 440, there’s plenty to play for in the championship.
While De Pasquale has the longest odds of the sextet to seal the deal this weekend, the Team 18 star is also looking to move his way up the ladder, and sits behind five Mustangs.
Heading to Ipswich, Cam Waters, Brodie Kostecki, Kai Allen and De Pasquale are covered by just 135 points. De Pasquale is 30 points behind Allen, and 55 behind Kostecki.
Where drivers end the regular season is critical, given a higher seeding for the Finals offers more bonus points to play with.
For De Pasquale — who ended last year's regular season seventh — the goal is to march forward and unseat his Ford rivals.
“It’s the final round of the Sprint Cup, so we want to finish it on a high,” said De Pasquale, who has finished on the podium in four of the last seven races.
"We’re currently sixth, and it would be great to move into the top five and carry that momentum into the enduros.”
De Pasquale arrives in Ipswich following a flying trip to the United States, where he linked up with GM and completed driver development work.
“It’s been a pretty non-stop couple of weeks. I went almost straight from Perth to the US for the GM trip and have come back ready to head to Ipswich, so I’m looking forward to jumping back in the car,” De Pasquale added.
“It was great to come away from Perth with a couple of podiums and continue the momentum we’ve been building.”
A dual podium weekend in Perth helped De Pasquale close the gap to third from 155 to 138 points. While the Sprint Cup is out of reach, the Victorian is hopeful speed can carry over into Queensland Raceway.
"We were really quick at Queensland Raceway last year on both tyres and had both cars sitting first and second in the Super Soft qualifying session before the rain arrived,” De Pasquale said.
“We learned some good lessons there that helped us move forward, so hopefully we can return with an even stronger package this weekend."
Supercars action in Ipswich commences on Friday afternoon. Tickets for the event are on sale now.
