Anton De Pasquale is hopeful of landing a seat for the 2022 Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour after completing his maiden Bathurst 6 Hour event.
The Shell V-Power Racing Team Supercars driver campaigned a BMW M4 with Anthony Soole and Adam Burgess on the weekend.
Their ambitions of an outright podium however unravelled early in the piece due to a faulty switch, eventually finishing 28 laps down in 44th.
De Pasquale though did particularly enjoy a late-race stint as track conditions improved with twilight setting in.
“It was cool, but I would rather have been doing high-pressure laps because that means you’re in the race, but it was just a good weekend,” he told Speedcafe.com.
“You find enjoyment in doing those races, they’re really cool.”
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He now has his sights set on securing his place on the Bathurst 12 Hour grid for May 13-15.
This year’s once-around-the-clock event will take on a different feel, with primarily an Australian competitor base, and Pro-Am installed as the premier class.
De Pasquale’s 12 Hour debut came in 2019 as he teamed up with mentor Paul Morris, former IndyCar driver Paul Tracy, and Keith Kassulke in a MARC Ford Mustang II.
The following year he returned to spearhead a Triple Eight Race Engineering Pro-Am entry, sharing a Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Sam and Yasser Shahin, and Nick Foster – although a practice crash meant they never made race start.
The event was cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’d love to be able to do it,” De Pasquale said of the 2022 edition, which falls the weekend before Round 5 of the Repco Supercars Championship at Winton Motor Raceway.
“I mean, it’s obviously getting a little bit late now but it’s a cool event to do, and if you get lucky enough to do it with a good bunch of guys, you have an awesome time and a chance at getting a result which is cool.
“Any time you get to drive cars around Bathurst, let alone GT cars, you take it for sure, so it’s something I want to do.
“The one I did in 2020, we never got to get through the race; I felt like that would have been a good race for us.”
De Pasquale’s 2022 racing activities began with an appearance in the Dubai 24 Hour in January.
The 26-year-old is second in the Supercars Championship standings with four podiums from nine starts.
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