Pole drama sets up Sydney king’s win under lights as Supercars champ’s struggles continue

Anton De Pasquale has fended off a hard charging Brodie Kostecki to claim his first Team 18 win in another Sydney Saturday night thriller.

On tyres that were six laps older than those on the Shell V-Power Mustang in the final stint, with the 2023 champion applying immense pressure on the Camaro with a clear pace advantage.

Watch every race of the 2026 Repco Supercars Championship LIVE & ad-break free during racing on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.

However, De Pasquale was able to squeak home in a race that went right down to the wire, securing his first win in Team 18 colours in the squad’s second race as Chevrolet homologation team.

De Pasquale and Kostecki’s battle started right from the green light with an even launch off the front row, and the Team 18 driver wasn’t afraid to get his elbows out on the run to Turn 1, outmuscling the Shell V-Power Ford.

However, Kostecki fought back, and touched the rear of De Pasquale’s Camaro into Turn 6, before rubbing him again at Turn 8 as Matt Payne and Aaron Cameron bought into the battle.

There was drama back in the pack at Turn 1 as Jackson Walls touched Declan Fraser into a half spin, with Macauley Jones taking to the grass in avoidance.

Toyota had their first reliability concern with their new package, as Andre Heimgartner’s engine expired on Lap 9, bringing out the first Shannons Safety Car of the 2026 season.

That triggered a manic pit stop sequence as the whole field dived into the lane to tick off the first of two compulsory stops.

Kostecki was a big loser as he dropped to fourth behind Payne and Cameron, whilst Broc Feeney found himself under attention from the stewards as he made contact with James Golding on pit exit.

However that wasn’t even all of the drama, as Jayden Ojeda lost his right rear wheel as he exited his pit bay, and came to a standstill in the fast lane.

To rub salt into the wound for BJR, Macauley Jones also came into the garage as he had to repair a front brake duct that had picked up damage in the Lap 1 skirmish.

The restart was equally wild, as De Pasquale slowed the pack right up on the front straight, with the pack behind all trying to get overlaps.

The #18 Camaro was able to hold the lead over Payne, but Kostecki put on a bold move around the outside of Cameron at Turn 2 to move back up into third.

Feeney was quickly slapped with a 15 second penalty for an unsafe release after the race went back green, having already blown by rival Ryan Wood at the restart, and then barging his way by Cam Waters into fifth.

Aaron Cameron then made Feeney’s life very easy as he continued to charge ahead of his penalty, which brought the Red Bull Ampol Mustang up into fourth.

Feeney was pushing so hard that he also picked up a track limits warning in his quest to place himself as best as possible before serving his 15 seconds.

Things went from bad to worse for Red Bull Ampol Racing when Will Brown picked up a 15 second penalty of his own for a pit stop infringement, this time for spinning his wheels whilst up on the air jacks.

De Pasquale ever so slightly increased his lead over Payne with each passing lap, and Penrite Racing pulled the trigger on a potential undercut strategy at the end of Lap 30.

However, Team 18 were awake to the threat, and reacted on the next lap, with the DEWALT Camaro maintaining a near-two second lead.

Kostecki went for a different approach in an attempt to try and get himself back in the lead fight, running long on his second stint in an aggressive play.

Feeney came in to serve his penalty at the end of Lap 34, with Waters and Golding also diving in to serve their last stops, however the #88 was able to stay ahead of the #7 after a delayed BRT stop.

Whilst one BRT Mustang was held up in the lane, the other was in the thick of things on the track, with Aaron Cameron copping a hit from David Reynolds around the back of Corporate Hill as Reynolds moved into an effective P4.

Cameron was battling with his LIQUI MOLY BLAHST Ford, and soon found himself behind Waters, Wood, and Kai Allen in quick succession.

Kostecki came in for his final stop at the end of Lap 36, and quickly set about putting his tyre advantage to good use as he continually set his best times of the race.

With 10 laps remaining, Kostecki closed to within three seconds of Payne, who couldn’t do anything about De Pasquale in front.

Kostecki caught Payne with eight laps to go, and after rattling on the rear bumper of the Penrite Mustang out of the final corner, used the side draft to get by.

That little battle had left Kostecki with just under four seconds to find on De Pasquale with seven laps remaining, and the progress showed no signs of slowing down.

With two laps to go, Kostecki got within a second of the #18 Camaro, however De Pasquale did just enough in the final laps to fend off the #17 Ford by just 0.3627s.

Earlier with the conditions worsening in Saturday’s shootout, provisional pole sitter James Golding was left skating “on an ice rink” as the final driver to come out.

And as a result he dropped down to 10th in heartbreaking scenes.

“Absolutely out of luck today … he’s going to go plummeting down the order,” Fox Motorsport’s Chad Neylon said of Golding’s hot lap.

“Heartbreak for the Blanchard Racing Team.

“They’ve got all that speed but they didn’t have the luck.”

But while it was tough luck for Golding who had pole for race one on Friday, de Pasquale secured his ninth pole at Sydney – only one away from Scott McLaughlin’s record of 10.

“He’s the modern king around Sydney Motorsport Park. That driving style, where he doesn’t brake the car super late … works so well here,” Garth Tander praised.

De Pasquale said he was happy to make the most of the conditions he faced in the shootout.

“I enjoy just ragging a lap around here. It’s pretty sketchy in those conditions,” he shared.

“You’ve got your wipers on but the grips still there so bit of a weird feeling.

“Stoked! It’s the first one (pole) for the team – awesome!”

Ryan Wood became the first driver to put Toyota into the top 10 shootout in 2026, and he was the first man out as the rain began.

Matt Payne managed to scamper through to top the time sheets before conditions worsened for the rest of the field.

“These are hard conditions for drivers,” Triple Eight team boss Jamie Whincup said after his star, and race one winner, Broc Feeney could best manage ninth.

“Coming into Turn 1 at 250km/h and hoping you come out the other side, if you fear a bit of danger, it’s not pleasant. Lucky no one out there does.

“We just got on the wrong side of the weather.”

Shell V-Racing’s Brodie Kostecki was impressive in the conditions to land a 1.28.171 and briefly take top spot before Anton de Pasquale immediately bettered that mark by 0.01 seconds to claim the pole position.

Earlier Golding and Blanchard Racing Team proved that their Friday success was no fluke as he claimed provisional pole while resetting his own qualifying lap record.

Teammate Aaron Cameron rolled the dice with just one run before parking up to save his tyres, and managed to qualify for the Top Ten Shootout after a nervous wait.

But it was disappointment once more for reigning Supercars champion Chaz Mostert who failed to even progress through the first stage of qualifying.

Mostert could only manage 22nd – missing the initial 18-driver cut off in early worrying signs for his title defence.

It was then Red Bull Racing’s Will Brown who was left disappointed when he missed the top 10 shootout as Golding, Anton De Pasquale, Brodie Kostecki, Cam Waters, Zach Bates, Feeney, Thomas Randle, Cameron, Matt Payne, and Ryan Wood took out those top spots.

Race 2 report via Supercars.com and used with permission.