Brown tops final practice by 0.3s, Golding 19th

The session finished with a Red Bull Ampol Racing one-two, Brown on a 1:06.2120s which he set before two offs at Turn 1 and Broc Feeney on a 1:06.5122s.

Tickford Racing’s Cam Waters was another tenth off the pace around Hidden Valley Raceway in third place, with Golding 0.8617s away from top spot in the #31 PremiAir Racing entry.

The 30-minute, Saturday morning session was open to dual objectives for the drivers who have made today’s Top 10 Shootout.

Fastest initially were some of those who qualified for the one-lap dash, with Andre Heimgartner wheeling the #8 R&J Batteries Camaro to a 1:06.8586s on his first flyer.

Once the first runs were done, Waters (#6 Monster Energy Mustang) held sway on a 1:06.6301s from fellow shootout starter Anton De Pasquale (#11 Shell V-Power Mustang) on a 1:06.6331s and Heimgartner on a 1:06.6899s.

Championship leader Brown (#87 Camaro) pushed the benchmark to a 1:06.2120s with a shootout simulation on his second run, moving him 0.4181s clear of the field.

Feeney (#88 Camaro) was then sent for his shootout sim and jumped to second on a 1:06.5122s, still 0.3002s away from #87.

Meanwhile, Brown was off twice at Turn 1, either side of Waters also having an excursion at the end of the kilometre-long pit straight.

There was then a scare for Waters in the lane when he was dropped with a wheel man still screwing the right-front onto the #6 Mustang, although they were able to avoid a major incident.

Brown and Feeney were dispatched on used tyres, after opposing set-up changes, for the final run, with a number of others on new tyres.

Waters and De Pasquale remained third and fourth respectively while Brad Jones Racing’s Bryce Fullwood (#14 Middy’s Camaro), who is not in today’s shootout, climbed to fifth with a 1:06.6406s just before the chequered flag.

Fullwood’s team-mate Heimgartner ended up sixth, from Thomas Randle (#55 Castrol Mustang), Nick Percat (#10 Bendix Camaro), Will Davison (#17 Shell V-Power Mustang), and David Reynolds (#20 Tradie Beer Camaro).

Brodie Kostecki (#1 Erebus Motorsport Camaro) finished 16th, Matt Payne (#19 Penrite Mustang) 17th, and Supercheap Auto wildcard Cooper Murray (#888 Camaro) 18th in the third Triple Eight Race Engineering entry.

Golding (#31 Nulon Camaro) went as quick as a 1:07.0737s and Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert finished up 20th on a 1:07.0746s in the #25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang.

The next session is the Top 10 Shootout for Race 11, from 11:35 local time/12:05 AEST.

Results: Practice 2