ANTON STARTS ENGINE ON TITLE RACE WITH NT WIN
FORD is back in the V8 title fight after Anton De Pasquale finally landed a blow on Holden hero Shane van Gisbergen.
In a bash-and-barge start to the Darwin Triple Crown, De Pasquale held off Will Davison and van Gisbergen to emerge as a genuine championship contender.
After his first win this season, De Pasquale showed both he and Dick Johnson Racing (DJR) have the speed and race craft to take the championship fight to van Gisbergen.
“It feels awesome to get the win because we’ve been close a couple of times this year,” De Pasquale said.
“We know we have the team and the package to do it, so it wasn’t a surprise. We’ve been working hard and it’s nice for everyone in the team to finally get it.”
Starting by barging his way past teammate Davison on the opening lap, De Pasquale was forced to drive the wheels off his car following a late assault by van Gisbergen.
The Red Bull star looked set to fight De Pasquale for the win until he was held up by Davison in a thrilling finish.
“Shane was coming hard at the end on the fresher tyres, so he made us work for it,” De Pasquale said.
It was a red-letter day for DJR, with Davison finishing second to make it a one-two for the team.
“It is an amazing bounceback from the team to get the one-two,” Davison said.
“Shane was coming and I just had to hold him.
“I didn’t know if I could, but I was going to give Anton a bit of a buffer if I couldn’t.
“I didn’t make it easy for him and, fortunately, I had enough to hang on.”
Earlier, Davison broke the Hidden Valley lap record to win a scorching top-10 shootout.
In a stunning one-lap blast that came on the eve of his 500th race start, the Ford veteran began his milestone weekend by blasting a fastestever 1min 4.95sec to beat van Gisbergen in a thriller.
Davison’s pole-winning time proved 0.0011sec quicker than his practice/qualifying record last year.
“It felt bloody good,” Davison said.
“We made a couple little changes and the car was great.
“I’m putting a lot of pressure on myself today. It’s a very special day.”