Anton De Pasquale has been around racing long enough to know there really is just one end goal—to be competitive and hopefully get silverware. After four years of mixed fortunes with iconic Supercars’ team Dick Johnson Racing, the Victorian-bred driver has signed with Team 18. He now carries the DeWalt sponsorship and the #18 previously synonymous with veteran racer, Mark Winterbottom.
Although he has only recently joined owner Charlie Schwerkolt, team principal Adrian Burgess, fellow driver David Reynolds and the rest of the squad at Team 18’s new workshop in Melbourne, De Pasquale already feels at home. Even more happily, he believes everyone is on the same wavelength.
“You obviously start the year super-hopeful, wanting to win races, wanting to win trophies. The more races you do, the more your goals shift and change, but definitely at the start of the year, all you can think about is chasing silverware. That’s the main priority.”
Team 18 finished 10th in the teams’ championship last season; De Pasquale finished 11th in the drivers’ tally, a much lower ranking than in previous years. Neither he or his new team want a repeat of those results.
“Obviously everyone goes into round one with zero points and 10 months later you want to be the one with the most. That’s the goal, aiming to be the fastest as often as possible. Things can happen during the year which are in your control or out of your control, but you
worry about that as it comes,” says De Pasquale. “At this stage of the year, you put your full focus on having the fastest car and driving the best you can and go from there.”
The 29-year-old, who joined Supercars full-time in 2018, admits it is good to be back in Melbourne after several years on the Gold Coast, adding that proximity to family was not a major factor in the decision. Rather, it was the right move for his career. He has confidence the team is heading in the right direction, with plans he is optimistic will translate into good results on track.
“It was time to make a change,” he says. “We had some good results during my time at DJR but between the Gen 3 Mustang and the previous model, we were definitely a bit up and down with our results to what we had been, and that was with both cars. It was all about building an understanding of how to make those cars fast and as a team I don’t feel we got completely on top of that. We did at times but nowhere near consistently enough to be competitive as a whole.”
Aside from the change of team, the most obvious difference from last year is the car: from a Mustang to a Chevrolet Camaro. De Pasquale is not anticipating much trouble making the switch, given how similar the cars are under the category’s Gen 3 engineering blueprint. The body, motor and brand might be different but what it ultimately comes down to is hard work.
“The guys have built me a brand-new car, which is very exciting, so I’m really keen just to get stuck into it and get to the track. Once you’re in the car, nothing else comes to mind. You just drive what you have, and I think we have something pretty good.”
De Pasquale is no stranger to adjusting to different cars. It’s part of the deal when you’re a professional racing driver. He started his motorsport career in karting at the relatively late age of 13, taking the Australian title in 2011 before moving into Formula Ford in 2012-2013. He won the Victorian title in 2012 and the national title the following year.
He also spent two years competing in Formula Renault in Europe, including winning the 2014 Formula Renault 1.6 NEC title with nine wins in 15 races. With further international involvement not possible, he returned to Australia and joined the Supercars’ development category then known as the Dunlop Super2 Series.
The rest, as they say, is history—34 podiums in Supercars including nine wins—although De Pasquale believes there are bigger and better things to come. He would eventually love to add at least one Supercar title and one Bathurst win to his tally, preferably more, but that’s not where his focus is now.
“You want to get to the first race and feel like you’ve been doing it together with the team for years. So that’s the aim. Get everyone on the same page, get to the track and see how we go.”
