Erebus Motorsport’s David Reynolds has scored second in Sunday’s finale at Phillip Island, pushing his team to fourth overall in the points score.

 

Starting off the front row, Reynolds took the lead and passed Scott McLaughlin momentarily before eventually falling behind, the Penrite racer settling into second. Behind him, Anton De Pasquale started his race from the fourth row for the second day in a row.

 

James Courtney dropped back through the field in the early stages, elevating the #99 driver to seventh just moments before the Safety Car was deployed. Both Erebus drivers dived into pit lane for a double-stack and with Reynolds in front, the #9 returned in second, while his teammate lost time and ultimately fell down to 19th.

 

Rick Kelly gained track position over the filed, but with less fuel on board, it would all come down to strategy. Reaching the mark where teams could stop and make the flag on fuel and tyres, Reynolds pit again on lap 28, with his teammate just one lap later.

 

With all eyes on the battle with McLaughlin and the re-join, Reynolds came out in front but it was still all action between the pair. Reynolds held onto the effective lead as long as he could but McLaughlin snatched it back down the inside on turn two.

 

De Pasqaule returned top of the rookies in 17th and nose to tail with Cameron Waters. The #99 driver executed a perfect move and jumped up to 16th at Siberia before crossing the finish line, two spots ahead of the next rookie.

 

DAVID REYNOLDS: Started 2nd, Finished 2nd

“We jumped McLaughlin in the pits, but had a lot of understeer in those first few laps and he snuck past me. I was hanging with him and holding our ground, we played a bit of cat and mouse until the end of the race but I couldn’t get the lead back.

 

“Honestly, I owe today to Anton and Mirko. We had an OK car this weekend, but we weren’t wonderful. Anton probably should have beat me yesterday, so today we stole his set up and put it on the front row. Without his contribution to our team there’s no way I would have been here.”

 

ANTON DE PASQUALE: Started 8th, Finished 16th

“We qualified eighth which is my best result; I felt disappointed as I don’t think I maximised what the car had but I have to be happy with a personal best. The race was going to plan after a good start, I managed to gain a spot early on and was running comfortable in seventh before the Safety Car was called. Unfortunately, that caused a double-stack for us and I came out twelve spots down.

 

“It was hard to fight back from there so it didn’t make the best afternoon but I think if it played our way we would have finished inside the top eight. Overall, I’m happy to be within the top ten most the weekend on genuine pace so there are a lot of positives to take away.”