De Pasquale Completes GM Driver Evaluation in US

Anton De Pasquale, the Team 18 star, has just wrapped up a short but intense trip to the United States. Following the Perth Super440 round, he flew straight to North Carolina to take part in a GM academy program run by Wise Optimization. The program was designed to assess various aspects of a driver's performance behind the wheel, combining physical fitness testing, simulator work, and a range of exercises focused on driver development.

This move mirrors Matt Payne's earlier testing with Wise Optimization this year, as the Grove Racing driver aimed for a NASCAR seat, though that was blocked by Ford. While there are no announced plans to hand De Pasquale a NASCAR opportunity, the Victorian did attend the weekend's race at Richmond.

“It has been a really cool trip and a great opportunity to experience the Wise Optimization program and then the NASCAR race in Richmond,” said De Pasquale. “Josh (Wise) and Scott (Speed) have been awesome. We've worked through fitness training, simulator sessions and several different driving exercises, all focused on helping me become a better driver and learning how they approach driver development over here.”

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During his US trip, De Pasquale toured the GM Technical Centre and several Chevrolet NASCAR team workshops. He watched Saturday night's NASCAR Cup Series race with Trackhouse Racing, which fields Shane van Gisbergen in one of its Camaros. “The GM Technical Centre is an amazing facility,” he said. “The scale of the facility and the technology available to support GM's racing programs is insane, and it was great to meet some of the people working behind the scenes.”

De Pasquale expressed gratitude to GM and Chevrolet Racing for the opportunity. “It's been a really valuable experience, and I've learned plenty that I can take back to Australia. Richmond was a cool way to finish the trip. I caught up with Shane before the race and then watched it unfold in the Trackhouse team pit box,” he added.

De Pasquale is set to arrive back in Australia on Tuesday ahead of the weekend's Ipswich Super440. With a strong run of results recently, he hopes to carry that momentum into the weekend. “We've had a strong run of results recently, so hopefully we can carry that momentum into the weekend,” he concluded.