Anton De Pasquale has given Chevrolet and Team 18 their second win of the 2026 Supercars season with a convincing victory in the third and final race at Hidden Valley.

After starting from third on the grid, De Pasquale made his first of two pit stops earlier than the other race contenders, undercutting the pole-winning Tickford Ford Mustang of Cam Waters, and even a longer, second pit stop could not prevent De Pasquale from speeding to a winning margin of 1.4298 seconds in a race that finished behind the safety car due to a late problem further back in the field.

Grove Racing's Matt Payne had to twice come from behind to pass Waters on the track, due to a sticking wheel during his second pit stop, and his pursuit of De Pasquale was not aided by instructions from his team to conserve fuel. Payne maintained the gap over the closing laps but even as the leading pair sped away from the opposition, he was never in position to challenge for the win.

“We won it in the pits, which was awesome. The boys stepped up when they had to and the car looked after its tyres,” said De Pasquale after taking his first win since the opening round of the season at Sydney Motorsport Park.

“We are on our own development path and we know where we want to go. You cannot make big gains overnight.

“It looked like Matty [Payne] was really fast and Cam came back to me, and we got them in the stop. And my car was really fast in clean air.”

Payne had to be content with second place and a reduced points lead to series leader Broc Feeney.

“I had a feeling it was going to finish under Safety Car,” he said. “I made a rally good pass in the first stint on Cam, I had my work cut out for me to push right through. I just didn’t quite have the pace. Things were just a little bit out of our control.”

Anton de Pasquale picked up his second win of the season in Darwin

Third place went to Waters. His Mustang did not quite have the speed of the leading pair, and by the of the 70 laps his mirrors were filled by the Triple 8 Ford of Will Brown, who was very solid in the middle of the race. His effort was backed up by teammate Broc Feeney, who conceded the place to Brown with 12 laps remaining, after Brown the last of the top 10 drivers to make his second stop.

“It’s a bit a tough year but it’s good to have a consistent weekend,” said Waters.

“I had a great start and I was trying to have a good race. But we didn’t quite have the tyre life today. We’ll take that into the next round.”

The Triple 8 duo finished ahead of Kai Allen. Saturday’s race winner started outside the top 10, but his Grove Racing Mustang gained an impressive six places during the race, on his way to sixth.

Chaz Mostert was having a better day than on Saturday, making the Top 10 Shoot Out and running seventh until his Walkinshaw TWG Toyota GR Supra suffered a blown engine with six laps to go. Little comfort for the team would be that Ryan Wood moved up a position to seventh with Mostert’s demise.

There were two drivers that did not compete in the race. The effects of Brodie Kostecki’s ongoing virus, plus an apparent back injury, saw him rule himself out on Sunday morning. Endurance co-driver Todd Hazelwood, who was present to drive in the Trans Am races, stepped into the Dick Johnson Racing Ford and finished a solid 12th in his mate’s absence.

Thomas Randle drove his Tickford Racing Ford in Qualifying but the after-effects of his failed cool suit in Saturday’s race led him to withdraw. Mark Winterbottom, who an hour before the race, as a TV commentator, was speculating who might be on standby, was suddenly activated to race for the team for which he is due to drive in this season’s endurance races.

The results mean that Feeney leaves Darwin on 1390 points, just 15 clear of Payne. Kostecki’s absence that Waters’s form have moved the Tickford man to third overall, ahead of Allen. De Pasquale moves to sixth overall.

Supercars Darwin: 20-year-old Kai Allen wins again

Supercars Darwin: Cam Waters takes first win of 2026 as Ford sweeps top five

The Supercars teams will continue their traditional winter northern swing on the streets of Townsville in two weeks’ time.

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