2021 Recap of Sydney SuperSprint Race 26-28

Sydney SuperSprint – Saturday 13th November – Practice, Qualifying, Race 26

Anton De Pasquale – No. 11 Shell V-Power Racing Ford Mustang
Practice 1: 1st (Fastest Time: 1m29:440s)
Practice 2: 1st (Fastest Time: 1m29:287s)
Qualifying: 1st (Fastest Time: 1m28:637s)
Race 26: 1st (Fastest Time: 1m31:607s)

Will Davison – No. 17 Shell V-Power Racing Ford Mustang
Practice 1: 2nd (Fastest Time: 1m29:637s)
Practice 2: 4th (Fastest Time: 1m29:706s)
Qualifying: 3rd (Fastest Time: 1m29:026s)
Race 26: 7th (Fastest Time: 1m32:374s)

De Pasquale did a clean sweep of the Saturday sessions. Teammate Will Davison finished 7th in Race 26.

Race 26

De Pasquale started the 32 lap Sydney SuperSprint from P1 and teammate Davison wasn’t far behind him in P3. De Pasquale had an excellent start, leading the field into Turn 1, Davison also had a good start but was pushed close to the pit wall by Whincup resulting in him propping one place to P4.

Davison was the first Shell V-Power Racing Team Ford Mustang to complete his compulsory pit stop on lap 11 for two used tyres on the right side only. De Pasquale stopped for his compulsory pit stop on lap 16 for four used tyres. At the completion of all compulsory pit stops on lap 18, De Pasquale sits in P1 and Davison sits in P4.

On lap 18, the Safety Car was deployed due to Fullwood being stranded at Turn 3. Race 26 restarted on lap 21. B.Kostecki passed Davison on lap 23 for P4, Kostecki stopped for four new tyres compared to Davison’s two during the pit stop window. In the closing laps Davison was passed by Brown and Pye, who both took on four tyres during their stop.

De Pasquale finished Race 26 in P1 and Davison finished in P7.

De Pasquale said, “It has been a good few weeks, so we have another week and a half to go. We will try to do some more and obviously anytime you’re in that top 5; top 3, you’re having a good day.”

“Our car has been in a really good window and we just been trying to maximise that as much as we can. We’ve had a few results go missing through whatever reasons, but otherwise, it’s been awesome. I’m very happy, the car has been awesome to drive and I enjoy driving it.”

Davison added, “Disappointing day, I thought we made some good inroads in Practice and Qualifying, I was relatively happy with that, I didn’t think we were far away.”
“The race was compromised with the Safety Car and two tyre pit stop. That obviously hurt our result, we will have a look at it all tonight, I’m sure we will be better tomorrow.”

Sydney SuperSprint – Sunday 14th November – Qualifying, Race 27, Race 28

Anton De Pasquale – No. 11 Shell V-Power Racing Ford
Qualifying for Race 27 – 1st (Fastest Time: 1m29:201s)
Qualifying for Race 28 – 3rd (Fastest Time: 1m29:459s)
Race 27 – 1st (Fastest Time: 1m31:656s)
Race 28 – 9th (Fastest Time: 1m32:910s)

Will Davison – No. 17 Shell V-Power Racing Ford
Qualifying for Race 27 – 2nd (Fastest Time: 1m29:157s)
Qualifying for Race 28 – 15th (Fastest Time: 1m29:915s)
Race 27 – 5th (Fastest Time: 1m32:880s)
Race 28 – 12th (Fastest Time: 1m33:059s)

Anton De Pasquale finished 1st and 9th in Races 27 & 28. Teammate Will Davison finished 5th and 12th.

Race 27

De Pasquale and Davison locked out the front row of the grid for the 32-lap sprint race. The teammates got off the line and into turn 1 bumper to bumper. De Pasquale and Davison retained their starting positions of P1 and P2 respectively.

Davison was the first Shell V-Power Racing Team Ford Mustang to complete his compulsory pit stop on lap 10. The crew serviced Davison with four used Soft tyres to finish Race 27 on. De Pasquale stopped for his compulsory pit stop on lap 15 and was serviced with four used Soft tyres. De Pasquale returned to the track in P2, behind teammate Davison who stopped 5 laps earlier.

De Pasquale was able to get pass this teammate on lap 19, they sit P1 and P2 respectively with 13 laps to go. Davison was passed by Whincup and Mostert on lap 29, both having fresher tyres. With two laps remaining Davison was passed by van Gisbergen who also had fresher tyres from stopping later in the race.

De Pasquale claims victory in Race 27 and teammate Davison close behind in P5.

Race 28

De Pasquale qualified for the final SuperSprint event in P3 and teammate Davison qualified in P15. Prior to the race starting Supercars declared the race wet and inclement weather expected around lap 10. De Pasquale had a clean start but dropped a position to Brown at turn 2. Davison also had a clean start and was able to gain a position to P14 after lap 1.

Davison continued to make ground and by lap 10 was up into P12. De Pasquale was the first Shell V-Power Racing Team Ford Mustang to complete his compulsory pit stop on lap 12. The crew serviced De Pasquale with four used tyres. De Pasquale was jumped by Mostert in pit lane; however, he only took on two tyres, compared to De Pasquale. Davison came in for his compulsory pit stop on lap 16 for three used tyres.

With 12 laps remaining van Gisbergen with fresher tyres passed De Pasquale. At the completion of all compulsory pit stops, De Pasquale sits in P5 and Davison sits in P13 with 11 laps to go. During the late stages of the race Percat made up two positions, getting past both De Pasquale and Mostert. De Pasquale now sits in P6. With five laps remaining, Hazlewood with fresher tyres passed De Pasquale for P6. Tyre degradation was not on De Pasquale’s side this afternoon, dropping to P9 with three laps to go after being passed by Pye and Waters. With two laps remaining Davison was able to pass Fullwood for P12.

De Pasquale finished Race 28 in P9 and Davison in P12. De Pasquale was the round winner for Round 10 at Sydney Motorsport Park.

At the completion of Round 10, De Pasquale is 6th in the Driver’s Championship and Davison is 3rd. The Shell V-Power Racing Team sit 2nd in the Team’s Championship with two rounds remaining.

De Pasquale noted, “To get Pole and a win in the first race today was good. We went with the same strategy as yesterday and take advantage of that to get a win again.”

“In the second race starting P3, we had to just survive and we were able to finish in the top 10. We were undercut by a few who only took on two tyres compared to us.”

“Overall, a good weekend, two wins and a round win.”

Davison said of the day, “It was a difficult day to be honest, we had glimpses of good signs. We’ve been trying a lot with the car and I thought qualifying second for the first race was solid. It was very disappointing to finish fifth.”

“The second race, coming off qualifying 15th after a mistake in the lap was always going to be tough. I did what I could, made up a few spots.”

“I’m looking forward to the Test Day on Tuesday to help try to understand where we can be better for next week.”