Barbour commanding in SuperUtes practice

A commanding Elliot Barbour topped both of the ECB SuperUtes Series’ practice sessions on Friday at the Watpac Townsville 400.

The Mitsubishi Triton driver, who is making his debut in the category this weekend filling in for regular Toby Price, set a personal best 1:35.508s time in the opening session.

Ryal Harris (Mazda BT-50) was second-fastest in both 20-minute hit-outs, improving in the latter to reduce his deficit to Barbour from 0.27s to 0.11s on combined times.

The three-time V8 Utes series winner threatened to unseat Barbour but came up short after a small final corner lock-up on what was to be his fastest lap.

New Zealander Tom Alexander (Holden Colorado) finished up third quickest in Practice 2 and the day overall.

Craig Dontas (Mitsubishi Triton) was next-best with a time set during Practice 1, despite suffering from a minor turbo boost issue during the session.

The South Australian native then spent almost the entirety of Practice 2 in pit lane.

Christopher Formosa (Ford Ranger) rounded out the day’s top five, one position ahead of Aaron Cameron.

Cameron was also sidelined for much of the latter session having retreated to pit lane with black smoke trickling out of the rear of his Mazda BT-50 on the out lap.

Next on the combined timesheet were the three Toyota Hiluxes of Ben Walsh, series leader Craig Woods, and Matt MacKelden; followed by 16-year-old Tomas Gasperak (Holden Colorado).

The SuperUtes will hit the track again on Saturday for Armor All qualifying which gets underway at 1025 AEST.

Results: Combined Practice