"Proud momma" moment for Supercars team owner after maiden podium
Erebus Motorsport owner Betty Klimenko says she felt like a "proud momma" watching Anton De Pasquale take his first Supercars podium at Phillip Island.
Photo by: Bob Gloyn Photography
Having been robbed of a career-best seventh place finish thanks to a loose bolt last time out in Tasmania, the second-year driver made amends with an impressive third place at the Victorian circuit this afternoon.
The breakthrough podium sparked an emotional reaction in the Erebus garage, team owner Klimenko – who went from watching the race in the garage with De Pasquale's mother to the pitwall for the final lap – saying she felt like "proud momma" when he crossed the line.
"He's made me, I hate to say it, but a really proud momma," she said.
"That's how I feel. His mother was sitting in the back [of the garage], and we were all looking at each other and the tears were coming up.
"You know, he's proved me wrong and he's made me proud."
Klimenko revealed that De Pasquale's mentor and former team boss Paul Morris was also in tears at the end of the race, however De Pasquale reckons he needs to see evidence to believe it.
"Paul, I've been very close with him for the last few years," said De Pasquale.
"We got our first podium and race win here in Super2, so we've mimicked that a little bit now.
"I heard he was crying and a bit speechless, so I'll try and watch it back on TV later and find out."
De Pasquale added that the podium finish will mean his own expectations will be higher when the series continues in Perth at the start of next month.
"It's always hard, when you go good you only like going good after that," he said.
'We've had a pretty good run this year, we generally qualify really well, and the race results are starting to come now. I was going to get two Top 10s in Tassie last week, and obviously a podium here. So we're taking the right steps forward.
"We can't get too ahead of ourselves, we just have to do our thing and hope that the results keep up."
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