2021 Recap of Bathurst 1000

Repco Bathurst 1000 – Thursday 2nd December – Practice 1 and 2

Anton De Pasquale and Tony D’Alberto – No. 11 Shell V-Power Racing Ford
Practice 1 (All Drivers) –15th (Fastest Time: 2m05.798s)
Practice 2 Co-Drivers) – 9th (Fastest Time: 2m06.355s)

Will Davison and Alex Davison – No. 17 Shell V-Power Racing Ford
Practice 1 (All Drivers) – 3rd (Fastest Time: 2m05.139s)
Practice 2 (Co-Drivers) – 3rd (Fastest Time: 2m06.055s)

Anton De Pasquale and Tony D’Alberto finished Practice 1 in P15 and Practice 2 in P9. Will Davison and Alex Davison finished both sessions in P3.

Practice 1

The first day of the Repco Bathurst 1000 kicked off with Anton De Pasquale and Will Davison opened the Shell V-Power Racing Team’s campaign in Practice 1.

Davison was the first person to clock a time before Jones caused a red flag at the exit of The Cutting. After the restart De Pasquale was able to set a time.

De Pasquale used Practice 1 to complete race runs and get comfortable with the track conditions after two days of racing being complete on the Mt Panorama circuit. Davison also completed race runs during the session and finished with a Qualifying run.

De Pasquale and D’Alberto finished the session in P15 and W. Davison and A. Davison finished the session in P3.

Practice 2

The second session was exclusively for the co-drivers after an extended period of no racing. D’Alberto and Davison took the opportunity to get comfortable with the car and the track ahead of Sunday’s Great Race. They started the session well with both drivers setting times in the Top 10.

D’Alberto remained in the Top 3 for most of the session but after a quickfire period of times, he ended the session in P9. Davison set his quickest time on used Dunlop Hard tyres and finishes the session in P3.

De Pasquale said, “Today was a good day and we will get back in the car tomorrow. We will have a think about what we have and today is a baseline to see what you have and have a think about it ahead of the weekend.”

D’Alberto added, “A good session from my end, I was pretty comfortable in the car straightaway. We ran through our changes, which probably didn’t go in the direction we’d like but we have learnt a lot of things, which is what today is all about.”

“The car is nice and straight and looks nice and shiny, so happy days.”

Will Davison noted, “It was a good clean start for us and we weren’t trying to do anything crazy, the car is comfortable for Alex and I, so a pretty good start.”

Alex Davison said, “The car felt pretty comfortable and it’s good to get Thursday out of the way.”

Repco Bathurst 1000 – Friday 3rd December – Practice 3 and 4, Qualifying

Anton De Pasquale and Tony D’Alberto – No. 11 Shell V-Power Racing Ford
Practice 3 (All Drivers) – 5th (Fastest Time: 2m05.010s)
Practice 4 (All Drivers) – 14th (Fastest Time: 2m05.181s)
Qualifying – 2nd (Fastest Time: 2m03.921s)

Will Davison and Alex Davison – No. 17 Shell V-Power Racing Ford
Practice 3 (All Drivers) – 9th (Fastest Time: 2m05.181s)
Practice 4 (All Drivers) – 5th (Fastest Time: 2m04.856s)
Qualifying – 8th (Fastest Time: 2m04.807s)

Anton De Pasquale and Will Davison both qualified for the Top 10 Shootout.

Practice 3

It was the two co-drivers who started Practice 3 in the opening session of Day 2. Friday is all about setting the car up for the weekend and the afternoon Qualifying session.

De Pasquale and W. Davison jumped into the car with 35 minutes to go in the hour-long session after minor adjustments were made to the car during the driver change. With 14 minutes to go, De Pasquale jumped up to P4.

De Pasquale came back into the garage for a new set of green Dunlop Hard tyres with 9 minutes remaining in the session. After settling into the car, De Pasquale jumped to P2. W. Davison was sent for a Qualifying run with a green set of Dunlop tyres with just over 2 minutes remaining in the session and was able to jump up to P9.

At the end of Practice 3, De Pasquale and D’Alberto finished in P5 and W. Davison and A. Davison finished in P9.

Practice 4

The final hour-long Practice was open to all drivers, with De Pasquale and A. Davison starting in their respective cars for the session. A. Davison came back into pit lane after completing one flying lap to do practice a driver change with W. Davison.

Both sides of the garage used the session fine tune the cars ahead of the Qualifying session. De Pasquale found pace 15 minutes into the session and jumped up into P2, just 0.0070 seconds behind Brown. W. Davison also jumped up into the top 10 into P7.

For the final run of the Practice session, both drivers went out on green Hard tyres for their flying laps. De Pasquale made a small mistake at the last corner on his flying lap, which saw him finish the session in P14. W. Davison had an excellent lap and finished the final hit out ahead of Qualifying in P5.

Qualifying

Both Shell V-Power Racing Team Mustangs have made it through to the Top 10 Shootout tomorrow afternoon, to decide the starting grid for the Great Race on Sunday.

De Pasquale and Davison spent the opening run of laps on used tyres, settling into the warm conditions.

De Pasquale and Davison both continued to improve their times each stint that they went out ahead of their final run-on green tyres. De Pasquale qualified his Shell V-Power Racing Team Mustang in P2 and Davison in P8.

De Pasquale said of the event, “It’s a good feeling, the goal today is to make the shootout and that is everyone’s goal, we did that. We can sleep well and try to do it again tomorrow.”

“The end of the last practice session, there will be a couple of shootout preps and give some laps to Tony as I stole a lot off him today. Once they changed Practice 3 to all drivers and we were a bit behind the Eightball, we took advantage of that.”

“We’ll have a bit of fun, it’s a pretty cool lap around here. It’s the most fun session of the year, just having this place to yourself and a privilege to do that, and I have been lucky enough to be in a shootout every year I’ve been here.”

D’Alberto noted, “I feel pretty comfortable in the car, the seat is good, and I feel comfortable at race pace.”

Will Davison said, “We struggled a little today with the warmer conditions and the balance of the car. To end each session in the top 10 is good and especially to make it through to the shootout tomorrow, we’ll see what we can do to have the best chance on Sunday.”

Alex Davison added, “I felt pretty good in the car and we ran on some heavily used tyres, so I wasn’t worried about the pace. In general today, we have struggled a little more with the car than previous days, just with the warmer conditions and they haven’t really suited us.”

“Will did a great job to get the car into the shootout for tomorrow. We’re in with a fitting chance.”

Repco Bathurst 1000 – Saturday 4th December – Practice 5 and 6, Top Ten Shootout

Anton De Pasquale and Tony D’Alberto – No. 11 Shell V-Power Racing Ford
Practice 5 (Co-Drivers) – 10th (Fastest Time: 2m06.492s)
Practice 6 (All Drivers) – 4th (Fastest Time: 2m04.795s)
Top Ten Shootout – 2nd (Fastest Time: 2m03.663s)

Will Davison and Alex Davison – No. 17 Shell V-Power Racing Ford
Practice 5 (Co-Drivers) – 18th (Fastest Time: 2mx06.801s)
Practice 6 (All Drivers) – 8th (Fastest Time: 2m04.978s)
Top Ten Shootout – 6th (Fastest Time: 2m04.778s)

Anton De Pasquale and his Co-Driver Tony D’Alberto will start the Great Race from P2. Teammate Will Davison and his Co-Driver Alex Davison will start from P8.

Practice 5

The final dedicated Co-Driver session for the event was all about long race runs for both cars and drivers.

The session was halted by a red flag 11 minutes into the session after Campbell hit the wall at Reid Park and again on Conrod Straight. Once the session restarted, D’Alberto and A. Davison continued their race runs to get comfortable with the race set-up ahead of tomorrow’s Great Race.

D’Alberto finished the session in P10 and A. Davison finished the session in P18.

Practice 6

The final hour-long practice session was for all drivers, and it was D’Alberto and A. Davison who started the session. After one lap, D’Alberto came into pit lane to simulate a pit stop, including a driver change. A. Davison followed one lap later.

De Pasquale and W. Davison spent the session working on race runs, followed by shootout simulations towards the end of the session. De Pasquale finished the session in P4 and W. Davison finished in P8.

Top Ten Shootout

Davison was the first Shell V-Power Racing Team Ford Mustang to head out for his flying lap around Mount Panorama. Davison put together a smooth lap after a small slide at turn 1. W. Davison and A. Davison will start from P8*.

De Pasquale was the second last car to go for his flying lap. De Pasquale lost a small amount of time in the first sector but was able to make up ground during the final two sectors. De Pasquale and D’Alberto will start from P2.

*Davison moved up to P6 after a post-race penalty was applied to both Erebus cars.

De Pasquale noted, “The lap was right, had an average first sector and then the car hooked up and it was alright. Fun laps and the track hooks in really well, once I saw some 2:03m times, I knew I had to strap up and have a dip, otherwise I would’ve been left behind.”

“It’s fun when the track is gripped up and you have to trust the car you’ve got, so it’s awesome fun out there.”

“Tony has had a lot of work this week and I think we started a fair way behind kind of where we are now in terms of the car and it’s in a completely different direction. Tony has played a massive part in that, obviously he’s done a lot of laps with the Team and knows what it takes to be up the front here. He’s good to have in our corner and we will have a good race tomorrow hopefully.”

D’Alberto said, “Today for me was setting up the car with race runs and being comfortable in the car. Anton did an awesome job in the shootout to get us on the front row for tomorrow’s race. I’m looking forward to seeing how we go tomorrow and putting our best foot forward.”

Will Davison added, “The car felt more comfortable during our race runs during Practice 6. I had a small slide at turn 1 on my flying lap which cost me some time. Overall, the car felt good.”

“We will see what we can do from P8 tomorrow.”

Alex Davison went on to say, “We purely did race runs in the Co-Driver session and the car was fuelled up each run I went out on. I was reasonably comfortable, and I would like to be a little stronger going into the race tomorrow, we have been chasing the set-up, but it feels like we have made some progress today. The boys will give it a bit of a tune up.”

“Will has done a good job to get into the shootout, it was so competitive to get in there in the first place. Starting 8th, we will give it a go and we in with a chance.”

Repco Bathurst 1000 – Sunday 5th December – Race 31

Anton De Pasquale and Tony D’Alberto – No. 11 Shell V-Power Racing Ford
Race 31 – DNF (Fastest Time: 2m06.818s)

Will Davison and Alex Davison – No. 17 Shell V-Power Racing Ford
Race 31 – 10th (Fastest Time: 2m06.633s)

Race 31

Will Davison had initially qualified in P8, however a post-qualifying penalty was applied to both Erebus cars for being underweight, bumping up Car No 17 to P6. Car No 11 started in P2.

D’Alberto and A. Davison started the 1000km season finale. Both drivers had excellent starts off the line, D’Alberto was able to beat Holdsworth to turn 1 and take the lead. A. Davison also got a great start and was able to jump up into P4 going into turn 1. Holdsworth stayed close to D’Alberto and regained the lead at The Chase on the opening lap and Tander was also able to get by, dropping D’Alberto to P3.

The drivers settled into the rhythm of the race, on lap 8 Slade passed A. Davison for P5.

The Safety Car was deployed for the first time on lap 17 after Car No 44 was caught in the gravel at turn 1. The first pit stops of the race happened during the Safety Car, with Car No 11 coming in first for fuel and tyres only. Car No 17 had to double stack for fuel and tyres. After the Safety Car period, D’Alberto was P3 and A. Davison was P18.

On lap 20, B. Kostecki passed TD for P3 and Waters passed D’Alberto shortly after, putting him in P5.

On lap 37, A. Davison came in for his second stop and W. Davison got behind the wheel of his Shell V-Power Racing Team Mustang for the first time in the Great Race. D’Alberto shortly after came in for his second stop and hopped out of the car to make way for De Pasquale. Both cars were serviced with fuel and tyres.

After 48 laps, De Pasquale was in P5 and W. Davison was in P13.
Car No 17 stopped on lap 50 for another fuel drop and a new set of tyres. On lap 54, Car No 11 stopped for a new set of tyres and a splash of fuel.

With over 60 laps of racing complete, the two Shell V-Power Racing Team Ford Mustangs were P5 and P8 respectively. On Lap 71, De Pasquale passed Car 99 for P3.

W. Davison came in for the fourth compulsory pit stop on lap 72, swapped out with A. Davison. He was serviced with tyres and fuel, and the crew completed the compulsory brake change. De Pasquale came in on lap 75, where D’Alberto got behind the wheel for his final double stint. The crew serviced Car No 11 with tyres and fuel, as well as new brakes.

The racing stayed clean, and the Co-Drivers completed their minimum number of 54 laps by lap 92. On lap Car No 17 came in for one final driver change on lap 95. The crew serviced Car No 17 with new tyres and fuel as well. Car No 11 came in for a driver change on lap 98. De Pasquale jumped in and was serviced with new tyres and fuel.

The Safety Car was again deployed with 56 laps to go. W. Davison came in for tyres and fuel under Safety Car. At the restart of the race De Pasquale was in P4 and W. Davison was in P11.

With 52 laps remaining in the Great Race, Fullwood went wide at the last corner and opened up an opportunity for W. Davison to go past for P10. Two laps later, W. Davison was able to get past Goddard for P9. De Pasquale was having his own battle with Mostert with 51 laps remaining, he was able to get past, but two laps later conceded the position back to Mostert.

The Safety Car was deployed for the third time on lap 113, with boths cars coming in for pit stops. Car No 17 had to double stack during the stop again and on release out of pit lane was pinged for an unsafe release, resulting in a five-second time penalty.

Shortly after the Safety Car restart, Fullwood pushed De Pasquale wide at the last corner, dropping him three positions. W. Davison jumped up one position to P9 due to De Pasquale going wide.

Eight laps after the third Safety Car, J. Kostecki hit the tyre bundles at Forrest Elbow deploying another Safety Car. Car No 11 came into pit lane for a pit stop during this Safety Car period for tyres and fuel. At the Safety Car restart, W. Davison was in P8 and De Pasquale was in P16. W. Davison had an excellent restart and was able to pass Slade at The Cutting for P7.

W. Davison made his final stop with 24 laps remaining and he served his five-second time penalty at the end of the stop.

De Pasquale experienced a mechanical failure at The Cutting with 22 laps remaining in the race.

The Safety Car was again deployed with 19 laps to go when Feeny hit the wall at McPhillamy Park and got beached in the sand at Skyline. The race restarted with 17 laps to go.

W. Davison and A. Davison finished the Repco Bathurst 1000 in P10 and De Pasquale and D’Alberto did not finish.

De Pasquale said of the event, “Weird old Bathurst 1000, we were having a decent run in the top 3 for the most of it. A few things didn’t go our way and the mechanical issue late in the race ended our campaign. Today wasn’t our day.”

D’Alberto noted, “I was absolutely thrilled to get the start, that was a real highlight, because it is probably the highest pressure start of the year. We were trucking along nicely in the race, and I felt good in my stints.”

“Unfortunately, the day didn’t pan out how we’d like, with a mechanical failure at the end, it just wasn’t our day.”

Will Davison went on to say, “It was a tough day for us, I gave my heart and soul today. The two double stacks cost us, but that is what happens when both drivers are so competitive.”

“I’m disappointed for the Team as the result doesn’t reflect the effort put in by everyone.”

Alex Davison added, “We were battling with the car balance from the beginning of the race, it was a little bit inconsistent. The engineers were working really hard to help fine tune the balance throughout the race. We were quite quick during bursts in the race, we just struggled to maintain the competitiveness all day.”

“In the end, the two double stacks really affected us and something that unavoidable when you have two cars so competitive and close in the order. Disappointing to get the five-second time penalty and without that I thought we could’ve been a top 5 car today.”

“Everyone worked extremely hard this weekend and over the last six weeks. It was a privilege to be part of the Team and I really enjoyed the Great Race.”