Erebus Motorsport driver Anton de Pasquale will make his S5000 debut later this month, when the category heads to The Bend Motorsport Park as part of the Shannons Nationals 2019 finale.

 

The Victorian will join Team BRM and pilot the same car that former Formula 1 winner Rubens Barrichello drove at Sandown in September.

 

Watching as a keen spectator during the category’s impressive debut at Sandown, de Pasquale is looking forward to sampling the spectacular machinery for himself.

 

“I was at Sandown for the S5000 debut and as soon as they hit the track, everyone that was there ran to the fence,” de Pasquale said.

 

“I’ve done a bit of open-wheel stuff before, so it will be cool to get back into those types of cars with big horsepower and lots of downforce.”

 

 

The full-time Supercars driver is match fit with stints in the recent Bathurst 1000 and Gold Coast 600 rounds, but any opportunity to drive a car of course is natural to a race driver like de Pasquale.

 

“I’ve been doing a lot of racing in recent weeks, but if I had my way, I’d race every day of the year. It’s the best part of the job, so anytime I can race something, I’m definitely interested,” de Pasquale said.

 

“The S5000s are fast cars and have that distinctive V8 sound, and that is what we like to hear. Noise is the appeal of motor racing. I was jealous watching from the sidelines, but now it’s cool to new involved.

 

“The Bend is a fast flowing circuit. It’s got a great surface, so that style of circuit will suit an aero-style car. I’ve had success there in Supercars too, so I’m sure these cars won’t disappoint.”

 

The Erebus youngster is no stranger to open-wheel racing, having won the 2013 Australia Formula Ford Championship before heading to Europe to compete in two seasons of Formula Renault.

 

Before he came back to Australia to race in the Super2 Series, he comfortably won the Formula Renault 1.6 NEC Championship after claiming nine races.

 

Supercars still has one round remaining in the Pirtek Endurnace Cup after two rounds with the championship to visit Sandown one week before the Shannons Nationals and S5000 wrap up for the year at The Bend.

 

de Pasquale’s Erebus Motorsport Pirtek Endurance Cup co-driver Will Brown has also confirmed his start at The Bend with Eggleston Motorsport. With the Sandown 500 the week before The Bend, the two drivers will go from friend to foe in the space of a week.

 

“It’s very exciting to jump back in S5000. What a showcase of an event it was at Sandown – easily the biggest Shannons Nationals that has ever been held,” Brown added.

 

“The crowd was awesome and they really got around the new S5000 class. I hope that we can see lots of people from South Australia come and check it out at The Bend.

 

“It’s going to be exciting to race against my main driver Anton. We’ve been sharing a car for the last few rounds, so it will be cool to race separate cars in the same race. I reckon it’s going to be game on.”

 

The Shannons Nationals takes place at The Bend Motorsport Park on 15-17 November.

 

 

Fans unable to attend the round can watch via SBS or on the live stream on thenationals.com.au on both Saturday and Sunday.