![\"Team](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Supercars-GoldCoast-Sunday-184-copy-1.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAnton De Pasquale during the Gold Coast 500. Image: InSyde Media<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAnton De Pasquale during the Gold Coast 500. Image: InSyde Media<\/p>\n
Team 18 ended the Saturday race with its cars third and fourth on the road \u2013 David Reynolds<\/a> ahead of Finals contender Anton De Pasquale<\/a>.<\/p>\n The squad had opted against swapping the cars, knowing that Reynolds would be classified second following a five-second time penalty for Matt Payne<\/a>.<\/p>\n De Pasquale subsequently endured a Sunday shocker and only narrowly held onto the last spot above the finals cut-line, denying Toyota driver Ryan Wood<\/a>.<\/p>\n Burgess admitted the non-call on Saturday had been a \u201crisk\u201d that was at the forefront of his mind as Sunday\u2019s drama played out.<\/p>\n \u201cIt did venture through my head a few times; would we be eating humble pie at the end of this race that we didn\u2019t change the order yesterday?\u201d Burgess told Speedcafe.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, I\u2019m not going to lie there. I did think it.\u201d<\/p>\n De Pasquale made the cut-off after two fellow Chevrolet drivers pitted late to take on additional fuel.<\/p>\n Supercars confirmed those cars would not have made it to the finish<\/a> without the extra stop, while GM motorsport boss Simon McNamara denied any claims of collusion.<\/a><\/p>\n General Motors denies Supercars manipulation claims<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Speaking directly after the race, Burgess said his team had suspected the Erebus and PremiAir Camaros may have been under-fuelled.<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t had a chance to talk to them. I don\u2019t know. I think they needed fuel, didn\u2019t they? I don\u2019t know. I really don\u2019t know,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe could see people\u2019s fuel times and they looked like they needed some. So, thankfully they did.\u201d<\/p>\n The suspicion over manufacturer tactics comes during a year in which GM has joined its teams in a data and information sharing alliance.<\/p>\n That essentially consists of an open book of setup information between homologation squad Team 18, Erebus, PremiAir and Matt Stone Racing.<\/p>\n Asked if there was any pre-race discussion about helping each other out, Burgess said: \u201cNo more than normal. No more than the way that we help each other already.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re here to go racing. We appreciate their support throughout the year, and hopefully they appreciate our support back to them during the year.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we didn\u2019t sit down or anything and say, \u2018right, we\u2019re going to do this\u2019. We\u2019ve got to go racing.\u201d<\/p>\n The dramatic finish came after a lowly 21st place qualifying effort for De Pasquale and a clash in the opening metres of the race with Grove Racing\u2019s Kai Allen<\/a> that punctured the car\u2019s right-rear tyre.<\/p>\n That appeared another huge blow to Team 18 just two weeks after it lost the Bathurst 1000 by running out of fuel on the final lap.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just living your worst nightmares again. When you see the tyre ripping the guard apart, you think it\u2019s all over,\u201d Burgess said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut at the end of the day, everyone\u2019s trained and we instilled in them that you\u2019ve just got to keep focus, you\u2019ve got to keep punching on.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen in these races, and that\u2019s what the guys did. That\u2019s what the engineers did. That\u2019s what the pit crew did<\/p>\n \u201cWe managed to get back out in front of the Safety Car, so you didn\u2019t go down a lap, and we just focused on what we needed to do to get him the necessary points.\u201d<\/p>\n