The Bend Supercars: De Pasquale and Waters kick-start season with victories

De Pasquale put in a controlled drive to score a second career win and first since shifting to the famous DJR Ford outfit. 

He was joined on the podium by teammate Will Davison and Triple Eight's van Gisbergen. 

The race got off to a spectacular start with a multi-car clash at Turn 6.

The drama started when Andre Heimgartner ran Tim Slade wide, Slade then spooking Chaz Mostert as he bounced off the exit kerb.

As Mostert moved left he tagged old foe Cam Waters, tearing the back right out of the Monster Mustang.

Waters and Mostert both limped back to the pits, the former done for the day while the latter did get back out to at least bank a few points.

Behind them there was more contact, David Reynolds tipping Nick Percat into a spin. 

Out front De Pasquale quickly pulled a small gap over Davison and Andre Heimgartner, although he threw his early advantage away on Lap 3 when he locked up on the way into Turn 1.

He was lucky to hold on to the lead, De Pasquale re-establishing a one-second gap before pitting on Lap 7.

Davison opted to run a bit longer, emerging from his Lap 11 service behind an early-stopping James Courtney.

He cleared Courtney three laps later before closing up on the back of De Pasquale.

The two DJR cars didn't have things all their own way, though, with van Gisbergen becoming a factor as the race wore on.

Starting outside the Top 10 the Kiwi had made remarkable progress early in the race as he dodged the madness around him, before going for a very long first stint.

He finally stopped on Lap 16, popping out in third before using his superior tyre condition to run down the Shell Fords.

Van Gisbergen's speed was ultimately a reprieve for De Pasquale as Davison was forced to go defensive in the closing laps.

That left the leader free to charge to a 1s win, his first in a Mustang and Ford's 400th in Supercars. 

"We know how much that means to all the fans," said De Pasquale. 

"We’ve got massive support behind me and Will. I’m loving that and loving racing for the Shell V-Power Racing guys. 

"They’ve given me a good car. We’ve got a one-two. It’s pretty cool, it’s a cool day."

Davison held on for second as van Gisbergen settled for third ahead of James Courtney.

Brodie Kostecki, who was part of the Reynolds/Percat clash on the first lap, came home fifth ahead of Bryce Fullwood.

Race 1 winner Heimgartner finished seventh, having fallen out of contention for a podium when he stalled on his way out of his pit bay.

Wildcard entrant Thomas Randle was an impressive eighth ahead of Team 18 pair Mark Winterbottom and Scott Pye. Jamie Whincup could only manage to come home in 11th spot. 

Waters held off van Gisbergen to win the last of three races.

The Tickford Racing driver inherited the lead on Lap 3 when polesitter De Pasquale slowed with an engine misfire.

He spent the rest of the first stint leading Jamie Whincup before taking his mandatory service for new rear tyres on Lap 12.

While he had the likes of Whincup and Will Davison covered, as usual van Gisbergen emerged as a contender with an overcut strategy.

The Kiwi stayed out until Lap 16 before taking on new tyres on the left-hand side of his car for the run home.

He resumed right behind Waters, the pair staging a tense battle for the lead that went right to the flag.

There was no way through for van Gisbergen though, Waters holding on to win by six tenths of a second.

Speaking post-race he said the win marked a sweet comeback for the Tickford team after his car was destroyed in today's earlier race. 

"I’ve got no words," he said. 

"We had a fast car all weekend. We were quick in the wet and then you know what happened in the first race today. 

"The boys worked so bloody hard to fix the car, and not just fix it, but give me one that’s capable of winning. 

"The boys earned this one. They gave me a good pitstop and it was up to me."

Davison rounded out the podium thanks an undercut strategy that helped him jump fourth-placed Whincup during the stops.

Mostert finished fifth followed by Percat, who seemed to run out of fuel on the cool-down lap. He was pushed back to the pits by Brad Jones Racing teammate Todd Hazelwood.

Slade finished seventh as Courtney, Pye and Heimgartner rounded out the Top 10.

Van Gisbergen's series lead is now 190 points over teammate Whincup.

Race 2 Results

Cla	Driver	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval
1	Anton De Pasquale	24	45'18.438
2	Will Davison	24	45'19.386	0.947	0.947
3	Shane van Gisbergen	24	45'19.872	1.433	0.486
4	James Courtney	24	45'24.888	6.449	5.016
5	Brodie Kostecki	24	45'26.082	7.643	1.194
6	Bryce Fullwood	24	45'26.614	8.175	0.532
7	Andre Heimgartner	24	45'32.432	13.994	5.818
8	Thomas Randle	24	45'32.858	14.419	0.425
9	Mark Winterbottom	24	45'33.652	15.213	0.794
10	Scott Pye	24	45'35.620	17.181	1.967
11	Jamie Whincup	24	45'35.956	17.517	0.336
12	Jack Le Brocq	24	45'41.150	22.711	5.193
13	Will Brown	24	45'42.463	24.024	1.313
14	Garry Jacobson	24	45'43.363	24.924	0.899
15	Tim Slade	24	45'43.600	25.161	0.237
16	Kurt Kostecki	24	45'43.913	25.474	0.312
17	Nick Percat	24	45'45.917	27.478	2.004
18	Jake Kostecki	24	45'46.754	28.315	0.836
19	Todd Hazelwood	24	45'56.764	38.325	10.010
20	Zane Goddard	24	45'58.756	40.317	1.992
21	Jack Smith	24	46'10.827	52.388	12.071
22	David Reynolds	21	47'01.561	3 Laps	3 Laps
	Fabian Coulthard	23	44'35.090	1 Lap
	Chaz Mostert	4	21'16.626	20 Laps	19 Laps
	Cameron Waters	1	2'08.064	23 Laps	3 Laps
	Macauley Jones	1	3'08.087	23 Laps	1'00.023
View full results

Race 3 Results

Cla	#	Driver	Car	Time
1	6	Cameron Waters	Ford Mustang GT
2	97	Shane van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore ZB	0.696
3	17	Will Davison	Ford Mustang GT	6.658
4	88	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore ZB	7.858
5	25	Chaz Mostert	Holden Commodore ZB	11.703
6	8	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore ZB	12.806
7	3	Tim Slade	Ford Mustang GT	13.177
8	44	James Courtney	Ford Mustang GT	14.839
9	20	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore ZB	15.100
10	7	Andre Heimgartner	Ford Mustang GT	17.986
11	99	Brodie Kostecki	Holden Commodore ZB	19.196
12	26	David Reynolds	Ford Mustang GT	20.529
13	14	Todd Hazelwood	Holden Commodore ZB	23.243
14	2	Bryce Fullwood	Holden Commodore ZB	26.713
15	55	Thomas Randle	Ford Mustang GT	28.446
16	34	Jake Kostecki	Holden Commodore ZB	30.226
17	19	Fabian Coulthard	Holden Commodore ZB	30.849
18	18	Mark Winterbottom	Holden Commodore ZB	31.136
19	4	Jack Smith	Holden Commodore ZB	32.525
20	96	Macauley Jones	Holden Commodore ZB	35.928
21	35	Zane Goddard	Holden Commodore ZB	45.415
22	5	Jack Le Brocq	Ford Mustang GT	1'00.597
23	27	Kurt Kostecki	Holden Commodore ZB	1'17.472
24	9	Will Brown	Holden Commodore ZB	1 lap
	22	Garry Jacobson	Holden Commodore ZB
	11	Anton De Pasquale	Ford Mustang GT
View full results