Will Brown, Anton De Pasquale braced for Bathurst showdown
Championship fight, Lucky Dogs challenge bragging rights on the line
De Pasquale leads Brown by nine points heading to Bathurst
Formerly Bathurst debutants together, Supercars heavyweights Will Brown and Anton De Pasquale are raring to attack each other when the season hits the Mountain.
The Repco Bathurst 1000 concludes the 2026 Ryco Enduro Cup, and sets the running order for the 2026 Repco Supercars Finals Series.
For Brown and De Pasquale, there’s a bit more at stake: not only are they fighting for their championship position, they’re also going head-to-head in Brown’s in-season challenge.
Brown and De Pasquale — who shared an Erebus Commodore in 2018 and 2019 — will face off in the semi final round of the Lucky Dogs Top Dog Challenge.
The challenge, which has seen Supercars drivers pitted against each other in a bid to win a cash prize for a nominated junior driver, comes down to Brown, De Pasquale, Chaz Mostert and Kai Allen.
Brown progressed to the Semi Final at The Bend, beating teammate Broc Feeney, while Lucky Dogs co-host Brodie Kostecki wasn’t as lucky, being eliminated by De Pasquale.
De Pasquale, who is racing for GR Cup driver Jack Szewczuk, is keen to put one over his old teammate turned Supercars sparring partner.
“It's obviously a cool thing. It'd be awesome to beat him. He’s pretty invested in it,” De Pasquale told Supercars.com.
"He's pretty keen to get to the final and win, but so are we. Obviously we want to get there and try and win some cash for young Jack. That's the plan."
Brown and Kostecki’s Lucky Dogs podcast will have a presence at Mount Panorama, with flags on sale from the Hoonigan activation in Harris Park. Brown is offering a genuine race suit to the fan who gets their flag on TV in the most creative spot.
Getting the job done over De Pasquale — who is just nine points ahead in the standings — will go a long way for Brown to making it beyond the Elimination Final on the Gold Coast, while also getting bragging rights over the Team 18 star.
"I'm looking forward to it, going up against Anton. I actually co-drove for him back in the day,” Brown — who is racing for GR Scholarship driver Harry Bresnahan — told Supercars.com.
“We both did our first Bathurst 1000 together. It’s funny, there’s now little bit of a rivalry between us. We'll both be going head-to-head obviously in the coming weeks, hopefully I get it done.
"I was nervous of if I could get this far through, I had Broc at Tailem Bend, and Broc's been so strong, I knew I had to do something there to make it happen.
“It's obviously a cool little challenge to try and give back to young kids coming into the sport.”
When asked if he had any more closing comments on the challenge, Brown shot back: "No, just tell Anton I'm coming for him.”
Track action at the Mountain commences on Thursday October 8.
