THRILLING END TO TOWNSVILLE 500

The Shell V-Power Racing Team headed to far north Queensland for the Townsville 500 for Round 7 of the Repco Supercars Championship.

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RACE 19 RECAP

Day 2 of the Townsville 500 started with a quick-fire 15-minute Qualifying session to progress the top 10 into the Shootout. Anton De Pasquale and Will Davison qualified inside the top 10 to progress through to the Top 10 Shootout, in P6 and P4 respectively.

De Pasquale was the first Shell V-Power Ford Mustang to go for his flying lap of the Reid Park circuit, followed up by Davison. De Pasquale started Race 19 in P5 and Davison in P2 after just missing pole by 0.004.

Race 19 was a mixed tyre compound, where teams had to nominate whether they were starting on the Hard or Super Soft tyre compound. Both Shell V-Power Racing Team Ford Mustangs started on the Hard compound, as did the majority of the field, with only three cars nominating to start on the Super Soft tyres.

De Pasquale had a good start, however, dropped down to P7 by Turn 1 after being pushed into the battle. While Davison had a great start to Race 19, going into Turn 1 in P1 ahead of van Gisbergen. ?

De Pasquale was the first Shell V-Power Ford Mustang to come in for the first of two compulsory pit stops on lap 22. The crew serviced De Pasquale with the Hard tyre compound and fuel.

Davison came in on lap 22 for the first of his two compulsory pit stops. The crew serviced him with the Hard tyre compound and fuel. Davison rejoined the race ahead of De Pasquale. Slade also stopped on lap 30 for the Hard tyre compound and rejoined the race in P1 respectively.

After the first compulsory pit stops were complete on lap 33, De Pasquale sat in P6 and Davison in P4.

De Pasquale stopped on lap 58 for his final compulsory pit stop, fuel and brand-new Dunlop Super Soft tyres. De Pasquale rejoined the race behind Reynolds and Randle who were on the Hard tyre compound.

At the completion of all compulsory pit stops, De Pasquale sat in P9 and Davison in P1.

At the completion of Race 19, De Pasquale finished in P6 and Davison in P2.

RACE 20 RECAP

The final day of the Townsville 500 started with a quick-fire 15-minute Qualifying session. Anton De Pasquale and Will Davison started the session on used tyres before coming in for green tyres ahead of their flying laps. Both De Pasquale and Davison progressed through to the Top 10 Shootout in P2 and P1 respectively.

Following Qualifying, Will Davison was investigated for impeding James Courtney and was found to have impeded him. Davison will receive a one-stop grid penalty for Race 20 and this was applied following his Top 10 Shootout lap.

It was another perfect day in Townsville for Race 20, Anton De Pasquale finished P3 in his Top 10 Shootout lap and teammate Will Davison finished P2. De Pasquale started from P2 following Davison’s one-grid spot penalty being applied.

The Shell V-Power Racing Team Ford Mustangs started Race 20 on the Hard tyre compound, as did all but one car in the field, Thomas Randle.

De Pasquale and Davison both had great starts to Race 20, De Pasquale jumped up to P1 and Davison up to P2. Waters and Davison battled into Turn 2 and was passed to drop to his starting position, P3.

Davison was pushed wide into the wall by Scott Pye at Turn 4, he initially escaped damage, but hit the fence at Turn 7 suffering right front tyre damage. The Safety Car was deployed due to Pye suffering significant damage. Davison came into pit lane for a new front right tyre and the Shell V-Power crew looked over the car to ensure no damage was done that would prevent him from finishing the race.

Davison was able to remain on the lead lap after coming in for his forced pit stop and returned to the race at the back of the field. After Davison’s stop, he reported back to engineer, Richard Harris, that there was no major damage, and his focus was to make up as many positions as possible for the remainder of the race.

After 23 laps, Davison was up to P17 following his earlier on-track incident.

Davison came back into the lane on lap 28 for a new set of Hard tyres and fuel.

van Gisbergen came in for his first pit stop on lap 29 for the Hard tyre compound and fuel. De Pasquale came in one lap later for the Hard tyre compound and fuel. De Pasquale rejoined the race ahead of van Gisbergen. De Pasquale and van Gisbergen battle into Turn 4, before De Pasquale, dropped a position to P3.

After the first stint was complete and compulsory pit stops were made, De Pasquale sat in P2 and Davison in P16.

After 51 laps, Davison sat in P15.

Waters came in for his final pit stop on lap 61 for the Super Soft tyre compound and fuel to get home.

De Pasquale came in one lap after Waters, as did van Gisbergen for the Super Soft tyre compound and fuel to get home. Both De Pasquale and van Gisbergen rejoined the race ahead of Waters.

Davison came in for his third stop on lap 63 for a brand-new set of Super Soft tyres and enough fuel to finish the race. Davison rejoined the race ahead of Will Brown and behind Brodie Kostecki. Brown passed Davison at Turn 2. Davison was able to regain the position ahead of Brown one lap later.

After the final compulsory pit stops being complete, De Pasquale sat in 2 and Davison in P14.

Davison moved into the top 10 on lap 71 after passing Le Brocq. With 14 laps remaining in the race Davison passed Slade for P9 and a lap later passed Heimgartner for P8. On lap 79, Davison passed Reynolds for P7.

De Pasquale closed the gap to van Gisbergen, the leader within the final three laps and made a move on the final corner of the final lap. De Pasquale locked up the front left tyre causing him to spin van Gisbergen. De Pasquale was handed a five-second time penalty for the move on van Gisbergen, however, this was not enough to affect the end result. De Pasquale finished in P2 and Davison in P7.

At the conclusion of Round 7 of the Repco Supercars Championship Anton De Pasquale sits 2nd and Will Davison sits in 4th in the Driver’s Championship. The Shell V-Power Racing Team sits 2nd in the Team’s Championship.