Team 18 pulled the right reign strategically, emulating Kai Allen\u2019s winning strategy from Saturday\u2019s race to lead home Matt Payne under Safety Car, while Cam Waters rounded out the podium to secure the overall Darwin Triple Crown.<\/p>\n
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Anton De Pasquale celebrates with Team 18 crew.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Speaking after the win De Pasquale shrugged over recent criticism of the team<\/a> to claim their second win of the year.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had to do a good stop to get in front \u2026 it\u2019s awesome to be back on the podium,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou hear outside noise but we don\u2019t really listen to it \u2013 we run our own development path.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t make good teams overnight \u2013 we\u2019re aware of that.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re working our way and building and building.\u201d<\/p>\n Admitting the late safety car caused by Chaz Mostert\u2019s engine failure with four laps to go \u201cmade me a little bit nervous\u201d, de Pasquale was able to cruise the win without challenge under the yellow flag.<\/p>\n But the same can\u2019t be said for Red Bull Racing\u2019s Broc Feeney who was left fuming by his team\u2019s call<\/a> that couldn\u2019t be undone under safety car.<\/p>\n With teammate Will Brown showing great pace behind, a swap of positions was orchestrated, on the proviso that Brown would give the position back should he be unable to catch Waters. But that never eventuated due to the yellow flag.<\/p>\n \u201cA challenging weekend, one of the most challenging weekends I\u2019ve had in my career, it feels,\u201d Feeney said in a team release.<\/p>\n \u201cProbably a tough pill to swallow, not just because of our results here over the last few years, but we know what we\u2019re capable of doing and, at the moment, we\u2019re not doing that. We\u2019re far from that.<\/p>\n Anton De Pasquale claimed a second win for Team 18 in 2026.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cWe were just on the back foot the whole weekend. There are a couple of things we\u2019ve been working on, but from the get-go, we felt like we were a little bit down on power compared to the other cars out there \u2014 even the same manufacturer, the other Mustangs.<\/p>\n \u201cSo we felt like that\u2019s been a bit of a hurdle all weekend, trying to get on top of that. But also, car pace just hasn\u2019t been there overall.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe unfortunately lost the teams\u2019 championship [lead], which hurts a little bit, but Broc\u2019s still leading the drivers\u2019 championship, so it\u2019s not all doom and gloom. No panic stations. But it was a tough weekend by our standard,\u201d team boss Jamie Whincup said.<\/p>\n \u201cNow I\u2019ve just got to try and calm a few drivers down and group everyone together.\u201d<\/p>\n There was drama even before the race with Brodie Kostecki withdrawing<\/a>, followed by Thomas Randle a short time later.<\/p>\n Randle had battled heat stress due to a failed cool suit on Saturday while Kostecki was battling both illness and a back complaint that saw the star taken to hospital.<\/p>\n