De Pasquale holds his nerve to deny Kostecki in Sydney cliffhanger

Anton De Pasquale has fended off a hard charging Brodie Kostecki to claim his first Team 18 win in another Sydney Saturday night thriller.

On tyres that were six laps older than those on the Shell V-Power Mustang in the final stint, with the 2023 champion applying immense pressure on the Camaro with a clear pace advantage.

However, De Pasquale was able to squeak home in a race that went right down to the wire, securing his first win in Team 18 colours in the squad's second race as Chevrolet homologation team.

De Pasquale and Kostecki's battle started right from the green light with an even launch off the front row, and the Team 18 driver wasn't afraid to get his elbows out on the run to Turn 1, outmuscling the Shell V-Power Ford.

However, Kostecki fought back, and touched the rear of De Pasquale's Camaro into Turn 6, before rubbing him again at Turn 8 as Matt Payne and Aaron Cameron bought into the battle.

There was drama back in the pack at Turn 1 as Jackson Walls touched Declan Fraser into a half spin, with Macauley Jones taking to the grass in avoidance.

Toyota had their first reliability concern with their new package, as Andre Heimgartner's engine expired on Lap 9, bringing out the first Shannons Safety Car of the 2026 season.

That triggered a manic pit stop sequence as the whole field dived into the lane to tick off the first of two compulsory stops.

Kostecki was a big loser as he dropped to fourth behind Payne and Cameron, whilst Broc Feeney found himself under attention from the stewards as he made contact with James Golding on pit exit.

However that wasn't even all of the drama, as Jayden Ojeda lost his right rear wheel as he exited his pit bay, and came to a standstill in the fast lane.

To rub salt into the wound for BJR, Jones also came into the garage as he had to repair a front brake duct that had picked up damage in the Lap 1 skirmish.

The restart was equally wild, as De Pasquale slowed the pack right up on the front straight, with the pack behind all trying to get overlaps.

The #18 Camaro was able to hold the lead over Payne, but Kostecki put on a bold move around the outside of Cameron at Turn 2 to move back up into third.

Feeney was quickly slapped with a 15 second penalty for an unsafe release after the race went back green, having already blown by rival Ryan Wood at the restart, and then barging his way by Cam Waters into fifth.

Cameron then made Feeney's life very easy as he continued to charge ahead of his penalty, which brought the Red Bull Ampol Mustang up into fourth.

Feeney was pushing so hard that he also picked up a track limits warning in his quest to place himself as best as possible before serving his 15 seconds.

Things went from bad to worse for Red Bull Ampol Racing when Will Brown picked up a 15 second penalty of his own for a pit stop infringement, this time for spinning his wheels whilst up on the air jacks.

De Pasquale ever so slightly increased his lead over Payne with each passing lap, and Penrite Racing pulled the trigger on a potential undercut strategy at the end of Lap 30.

However, Team 18 were awake to the threat, and reacted on the next lap, with the DEWALT Camaro maintaining a near-two second lead.

Kostecki went for a different approach in an attempt to try and get himself back in the lead fight, running long on his second stint in an aggressive play.

Feeney came in to serve his penalty at the end of Lap 34, with Waters and Golding also diving in to serve their last stops, however the #88 was able to stay ahead of the #7 after a delayed BRT stop.

Whilst one BRT Mustang was held up in the lane, the other was in the thick of things on the track, with Cameron copping a hit from David Reynolds around the back of Corporate Hill as Reynolds moved into an effective P4.

Cameron was battling with his LIQUI MOLY BLAHST Ford, and soon found himself behind Waters, Wood, and Kai Allen in quick succession.

Kostecki came in for his final stop at the end of Lap 36, and quickly set about putting his tyre advantage to good use as he continually set his best times of the race.

With 10 laps remaining, Kostecki closed to within three seconds of Payne, who couldn't do anything about De Pasquale in front.

Kostecki caught Payne with eight laps to go, and after rattling on the rear bumper of the Penrite Mustang out of the final corner, used the side draft to get by.

That little battle had left Kostecki with just under four seconds to find on De Pasquale with seven laps remaining, and the progress showed no signs of slowing down.

With two laps to go, Kostecki got within a second of the #18 Camaro, however De Pasquale did just enough in the final laps to fend off the #17 Ford by just 0.3627s.

Payne was able to cruise home to third with some 13 seconds in hand over Waters, with Reynolds capping off a brilliant night for Charlie Schwerkolt's team in fifth.

Feeney was able to recover to sixth after his penalty, including a tense late-race tussle with sparring partner Wood, who held on for seventh over Allen, with Jack Le Brocq and Golding rounding out the top 10.