De Pasquale silences critics in Darwin finale

Chevrolet are Supercars winners for the first time since February, after Anton De Pasquale dominated the final race of the betr Darwin Triple Crown.

Team 18 pulled the right reign strategically, emulating Kai Allen's winning strategy from Saturday's race to lead home Matt Payne under Safety Car, while Cam Waters rounded out the podium to secure the Darwin Triple Crown.

De Pasquale took on a shorter fuel load in his first stop having run third from the start, vaulting the DEWALT Camaro into what ultimately proved to be the Race 19 win.

The win comes after weeks of criticism of the performances of both Team 18 and Chevrolet as a whole, and serves as a great morale boost for the team, who have won multiple races in a single season for the first time in their history.

All eyes were on Waters and Payne off the front row of the grid, as they resumed their heated battle from Saturday, and the Fords were very evenly matched off the line.

Waters was in the ascendancy on the inside line, and led the field around the opening lap, while De Pasquale got his elbows out for third, muscling Broc Feeney wide at the first corner.

The duo cleared away from the Chevrolet, and whilst Waters looked to have the #19 covered, Payne came into his own as the opening stint progressed, and on lap 16 he fired down the inside at Turn 1 to claim the lead.

Payne's teammate Kai Allen was also on the move, charging from 12th to ninth before he made an early stop on lap 13, which vaulted him up to effective fifth in the pit cycle.

De Pasquale and Team 18 made their strategy play on lap 18, stopping in an attempt to undercut the Fords leading the way.

Waters reacted the next time by, with Payne in the following lap, yet when they all filtered back out onto the circuit, De Pasquale and Payne had swapped places, the Penrite Ford hesitating in the lane upon release, and the DEWALT Chevrolet using a big undercut to full extent.

That also meant Payne had to find a way back past the Monster Mustang, which had held it's second position through the pit cycle, and there were shades of Sunday when Waters covered to the extreme inside into Turn 1 on lap 27.

It took Payne a further nine laps before he could get back past Waters, all but replicating his initial move at Turn 1, but by that stage De Pasquale was three seconds up the road.

Payne was the first of the leaders to blink for their final stop, pitting on lap 43, which De Pasquale responded to the following lap.

The margin was substantially crushed on account of a longer second stop for De Pasquale, however the #18 Camaro remained in first after replicating Kai Allen's short-fuel strategy from Saturday.

Waters meanwhile faded further back, and found himself under pressure from Broc Feeney when he emerged after his final stop on lap 48.

With a podium on the line, Feeney threw everything he could at a vigorously defensive Waters, with the pair making bit contact at Turn 7 which saw Feeney redress the situation, having briefly gone by the #6 Ford.

Payne had also continued to close on De Pasquale, the gap shrinking to as little as eight tenths of a second, however that gap only went the other way as the laps wound down, Chevrolet looked poised to secure a drought-breaking win.

Victory was sealed when Chaz Mostert's Toyota suffered a spectacular engine failure on the 67th lap of 70, the race ultimately finishing under the control of the Safety Car.

Will Brown and Broc Feeney finished fourth and fifth for Red Bull Ampol Racing, the pair having swapped places late in the race, with Allen finishing sixth.

The top 10 was rounded out by Ryan Wood, Jack Le Brocq, Cameron Hill, and David Reynolds.

The 2026 Repco Supercars Championship continues at the NTI Townsville 500 from July 10-12.