How a topsy-turvy Townsville shaped Supercars Finals

With just three events remaining in the regular season, the fight for the top 10 has tightened, with multiple drivers swapping positions in a congested midfield.

The biggest mover was Anton De Pasquale, who vaulted from 10th to seventh in the championship standings after his Friday podium and two further strong results across the Townsville weekend. The Team 18 driver now holds a 120-point buffer to the drop zone.

De Pasquale’s rise has helped stabilise what had previously been a shaky campaign, with the 29-year-old now within touching distance of the top five.

Conversely, James Golding continues to slide down the leaderboard.

The PremiAir Racing driver has fallen to 16th in the standings and suffered another weekend to forget in Townsville, including a Saturday retirement due to terminal crash damage following a first-lap incident with the Tickford duo of Cam Waters and Thomas Randle.

The slide followed an already tough time in Perth, where he was wiped out of the final race after controversially colliding with Ryan Wood

“It wasn’t the weekend we wanted here in Townsville,” Golding said.

“We were hoping to improve a lot, but it was a real struggle most of the weekend.

“Sunday was a lot better, so I’m focusing on that. The qualifying session was really tight, but we managed to improve the whole way through.

“The car was a lot nicer to drive, which was a positive. We managed to hold position in the race, we started P14 and finished P13, so we were lucky to finish with reasonable points.

“I’m looking forward to Ipswich and I can’t wait to get there and start again.”

He is now at risk of falling out of Finals Series contention entirely, having not finished inside the top 10 since Symmons Plains.

Who’s on the bubble?

The championship’s midfield remains incredibly tight. Drivers ranked from 10th to 19th are covered by just 277 points, well within striking distance given the 315-point maximum available across any three-race sprint round, and 300 points up for grabs at each enduro.

In addition to De Pasquale’s jump, Walkinshaw Andretti United young gun Ryan Wood also moved up, climbing back into the top 10 from 11th and leapfrogging Cameron Hill for Matt Stone Racing in the process.

Hill now sits 27 points clear of Grove Racing’s Kai Allen, who holds a 33-point buffer over Hill’s teammate Nick Percat.

Bryce Fullwood has quietly continued his strong mid-season run for Brad Jones Racing, rising another two places to 14th, while veterans Will Davison (Dick Johnson Racing) and James Courtney (Blanchard Racing Team) endured more pain and continue to languish down the order in 17th and 18th respectively.

Davison showed glimpses of qualifying pace, but his Saturday race was derailed by contact with Will Brown (Triple Eight), and a loose wheel ended his Sunday. Courtney was running fifth on Saturday before a costly engine failure ended his charge.

David Reynolds, meanwhile, down in 19th, starred with a pole position on Saturday but could only manage 10th in the race. His two other finishes were well outside the top 10, with the Team 18 driver now clinging on to mathematical Finals Series hope.

Sprint Cup permutations

Broc Feeney now has one hand on the Sprint Cup trophy after another commanding weekend in Townsville. Despite only finishing eighth in Friday’s race, he bounced back to win both Saturday and Sunday, extending his lead over Red Bull teammate Brown to 220 points.

With only one Sprint Cup round remaining, Feeney is on the verge of claiming the inaugural trophy, and with it, an automatic berth in the Finals Series, plus a 25-point advantage heading into the Gold Coast 500.

The Ipswich Super440 (August 8-10) will close out the Sprint Cup, before the Enduro Cup returns via The Bend 500 and Bathurst 1000. The Enduro Cup winner — the full-time driver with the most points across both events — will also earn a Finals Series entry.

Supercars Drivers’ Championship (After Race 22 of 34)