» Supercars: De Pasquale survives chaotic race for first win

Anton De Pasquale claimed the first Supercars Championship win of his career in the opening race of the Darwin Triple Crown round.

The Erebus Motorsport driver qualified sixth-fastest, but was one of just a handful of drivers to start the 38-lap race on the Soft compound Dunlop tyre.

Championship leader Scott McLaughlin found himself jumped off the line by DJR Team Penske teammate Fabian Coulthard, but the pair was quickly overhauled by the Team 18 Holden of Mark Winterbottom, who was another to opt for the grippier soft rubber at the start.

The Safety Car was called into action after just eight laps when Jake Kostecki was turfed hard into the wall thanks to a wildly unsafe return to the circuit by Rick Kelly, who had locked wheels with Jack Le Brocq and briefly run off the circuit.

The Safety Car triggered a flurry of pit lane activity as everyone sought to make their compulsory tyre change. Winterbottom switched to hard rubber for the run to the chequered flag, while De Pasquale stayed on softs and survived contact with Jamie Whincup as he exited the pits after the Red Bull Holden Racing Team driver was unsafely released from his pit bay.

Despite that, De Pasquale had an untroubled run to the chequered flag, crossing the line less than a second clear of James Courtney’s Tickford Racing Ford which had also gone for a soft/soft strategy.

Whincup finished third on the road, but a 15-second time penalty for his unsafe pit release dumped him down the order and promoted Scott Pye (Team 18 Holden) to the final podium position.

Title rival McLaughlin was classified even further behind in 20th, having also earned a time penalty for prematurely overtaking Courtney at the first restart.

It was a poor race for the Red Bull Holden Racing squad, with Whincup’s teammate Shane van Gisbergen handed a drive-through penalty for tagging Nick Percat into a spin which triggered a race-ending collision with Brad Jones Racing teammate Todd Hazelwood. In a disastrous race for the BJR squad, Macauley Jones later crashed his Holden midway through the race.

Early race leader Winterbottom finished fourth behind teammate Pye, while Chris Pither brought Team Sydney its best finish of the season with s soft/soft strategy to bag fifth place.

McLaughlin’s teammate Fabian Coulthard finished sixth, with Chaz Mostert (WAU Holden), Cameron Waters (Tickford Racing Ford), Andre Heimgartner (Kelly Racing Ford) and Lee Holdsworth (Tickford Racing Ford) completing the top ten.

2020 Australian Supercars Championship Darwin Triple Crown – Race 13 Final Classification (34 laps)
Pos	Driver	Team	Result
1.	Anton de Pasquale	Penrite Racing	46:05.774
2.	James Courtney	Boost Mobile Racing	+ 0.835
3.	Scott Pye	DEWALT Racing	+ 6.128
4.	Mark Winterbottom	IRWIN Racing	+ 11.195
5.	Chris Pither	Team SYDNEY	+ 11.447
6.	Fabian Coulthard	Shell V-Power Racing Team	+ 11.740
7.	Chaz Mostert	Mobil 1 TM Appliances	+ 12.457
8.	Cameron Waters	Monster Energy Racing	+ 13.036
9.	Andre Heimgartner	NED Whisky Racing	+ 13.338
10.	Lee Holdsworth	Truck Assist Racing	+ 14.073
11.	Shane van Gisbergen	Red Bull Holden Racing Team	+ 14.955
12.	Jack Smith	SCT Motor Sports	+ 15.233
13.	David Reynolds	Penrite Racing	+ 16.537
14.	Jack Le Brocq	Supercheap Auto Racing	+ 17.067
15.	Rick Kelly	Castrol Racing	+ 17.935
16.	Alex Davison	Local Legends Racing	+ 18.360
17.	Jamie Whincup	Red Bull Holden Racing Team	+ 20.699
18.	Todd Hazelwood	Brut Military Grade	+ 22.466
19.	Garry Jacobson	Yellow Cover Racing	+ 22.738
20.	Scott McLaughlin	Shell V-Power Racing Team	+ 27.071
21.	Bryce Fullwood	Mobil 1 TM Middy’s Racing	+ 32.762
	Retirements	Team	Reason
DNF.	Macauley Jones	Team CoolDrive	Accident
DNF.	Jake Kostecki	UNIT Racing	Collision
DNF.	Nick Percat	R&J Batteries	Collision

Post-Race Penalties:

Jamie Whincup was issued a 15-second time penalty for an unsafe pit release.
Scott McLaughlin was issued a 15-second time penalty for a restart infringement (overtaking before crossing the control line).

Image via Penrite Racing