Anton De Pasquale ends 17-race winless drought at Darwin

Anton De Pasquale won Race 19 of the betr Darwin Triple Crown at Hidden Valley Raceway on Sunday.
Anton De Pasquale won Race 19 of the betr Darwin Triple Crown at Hidden Valley Raceway on Sunday.

The Repco Supercars Championship concluded the betr Darwin Triple Crown on Sunday afternoon with Race 19 at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, Northern Territory. The race was 70 laps. Cameron Waters started the race on the pole, with Matthew Payne starting second.

Before the race, Thomas Randle (illness) and Brodie Kostecki (injury) did not compete. Todd Hazelwood drove for Kostecki, and Mark Winterbottom drove for Randle.

Waters beat Payne off the line to start the race, while De Pasquale passed Broc Feeney for third place. Waters led the opening 15 laps before Payne passed him for the lead inside Turn 1 on lap 16. De Pasquale went to pit road a couple of laps later, while Cameron Waters and Matthew Payne went to pit road a lap later. When both drivers exited pit road, De Pasquale was the leader.

On lap 27, Matthew Payne was looking to take second away from Waters, but he covered the inside at Turn 1. It took Payne nine laps to pass Waters for second place, while De Pasquale had a three-second lead. On lap 43, Payne made his final pit stop, and De Pasquale went in a lap later.

Late in the race, Broc Feeney challenged Waters for third place. At one point, they made contact at Turn 7 with Waters holding on. The race was safety car free until with three laps to go when Chaz Mostert’s car suffered an engine failure. The race ended under the safety car, with Anton De Pasquale winning the race. He ended a 17-race winless streak. It was his second win of the season. It was also Chevrolet’s first win since February.

Matthew Payne, Cameron Waters, William Brown, and Broc Feeney rounded out the top five. Kai Allen, Ryan Wood, Jack Le Brocq, Cameron Hill, and David Reynolds completed the top ten. Click here to see the full results.

The Repco Supercars Championship heads to Reid Park for the NTI Townsville 500 in Townsville, Queensland, from July 10-12.

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My name is Michael Heilman. I'm the Founder of BGMSportsTrax. An independent blog dedicated to covering regional and national sports, while presenting commentary on sports-related stories.