The Repco Supercars Championship has officially met the halfway point of the 2023 season, with another new 2023 race winner and new championship leading the storylines at this past weekend’s NTI Townsville 500.
The 2023 event marked the 15th year Supercars has raced in Townsville, and featured two 250-kilometre races around the Reid Park street circuit.
Coca-Cola Racing’s Will Brown dominated Saturday’s Race 16 from pole to score his fourth win of the 2023 season, and also took control of the drivers’ championship as team mate Brodie Kostecki faded to 19th with a mechanical problem.
On Sunday, Ford star Anton De Pasquale (main photo) broke through for his long-awaited first win of the 2023 season, ending a 16-race drought for a Ford Mustang and taking his first career victory on the streets of Newcastle.
“It’s awesome, it’s been an average year so far. The guys worked all night fixing the problems from yesterday,” said De Pasquale, who became the eighth different winner of 2023.
“I had an amazing car today, it was a dream to drive. Big credit to everyone behind me, they’ve done awesome. It’s good to get this done.”
Following the Townsville event, just seven points separate Erebus team mates Brown and Kostecki, with Red Bull star sophomore Broc Feeney just 26 points from the top of the order.
Coming off his sensational win on debut in NASCAR the previous weekend, Red Bull’s Shane van Gisbergen recorded finishes of fourth and fifth in the Townsville races, and now sits fourth in the championship, but just 82 points behind Brown.
“The biggest credit for this weekend goes to our mechanics,” commented van Gisbergen. “They busted their asses all weekend to try and make the car go better, but we keep finding so many problems. It’s a shame that they’re parts that we can’t go back to the workshop and make better – we have to deal with these things, it’s tough. I had a lot of car troubles in today’s race.
“The steering had a mind of its own, my throttle was jamming and cutting out, and my brakes weren’t working. At every brake zone, I was hoping my throttle was going to return and had my foot hovering over the clutch in case that happened. We were really lucky to end up where we did and we obviously got a decent points haul, but overall it was a really tough day.”
The Repco Supercars Championship returns to action later this month at the Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight, which will feature Gen3’s first ever night race as the championship descends on Sydney Motorsport Park for its seventh event of 2023.
The Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight takes place July 28-30 and hosts Races 18 and 19 of the current championship.
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