Chaz Mostert continued Ford’s strong start to the Plus Fitness Phillip Island 400 with the fastest time in the second of three Friday practice sessions.
The Pepsi Max Falcon shot to the top of the order with just under five of the 20 minutes remaining.
The 1:31.12s lap proved 0.4s quicker than previous fast-man Jamie Whincup and was enough to withstand late hot laps from Jason Bright, Michael Caruso and Mark Winterbottom.
Whincup fell to an eventual fifth in the closing minutes ahead of Garth Tander, Craig Lowndes, Scott Pye, David Wall and Tim Slade.
Shane van Gisbergen enjoyed a cleaner session after his troubled opening hit-out but ended up down in 14th after running off track on his final lap.
Russell Ingall was 16th despite losing time mid-session while the Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport crew attended to a power steering leak.
Jack Perkins and Fabian Coulthard meanwhile escaped an early scrape when the pair made contact at the final corner; the Kiwi nudging the back of the Jeld-Wen Falcon as he attempted to start a hot lap.
Also in trouble was Scott McLaughlin, who ended up 23rd after engine problems plagued his session.
The third and final practice session of the day will commence at 1350 local time.
PRACTICE 2 – Phillip Island
Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
1 | 6 | Chaz Mostert | Ford Pepsi Max Crew | Ford Falcon FG | 1:31.1252 | |
2 | 8 | Jason Bright | Team BOC | Holden Commodore VF | 1:31.4634 | 0:00.3382 |
3 | 36 | Michael Caruso | Norton Hornets | Nissan Altima | 1:31.4939 | 0:00.3687 |
4 | 5 | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Pepsi Max Crew | Ford Falcon FG | 1:31.5439 | 0:00.4187 |
5 | 1 | Jamie Whincup | Red Bull Racing Australia | Holden Commodore VF | 1:31.5567 | 0:00.4315 |
6 | 2 | Garth Tander | Holden Racing Team | Holden Commodore VF | 1:31.6318 | 0:00.5066 |
7 | 888 | Craig Lowndes | Red Bull Racing Australia | Holden Commodore VF | 1:31.7347 | 0:00.6095 |
8 | 16 | Scott Pye | Wilson Security Racing | Ford Falcon FG | 1:31.7763 | 0:00.6511 |
9 | 17 | David Wall | Wilson Security Racing | Ford Falcon FG | 1:31.9111 | 0:00.7859 |
10 | 47 | Tim Slade | Supercheap Auto Racing | Holden Commodore VF | 1:31.9183 | 0:00.7931 |
11 | 360 | James Moffat | Norton Hornets | Nissan Altima | 1:31.9220 | 0:00.7968 |
12 | 18 | Jack Perkins | Team JELD-WEN | Ford Falcon FG | 1:31.9854 | 0:00.8602 |
13 | 15 | Rick Kelly | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Nissan Altima | 1:32.0181 | 0:00.8929 |
14 | 97 | Shane Van Gisbergen | Team Tekno VIP Petfoods | Holden Commodore VF | 1:32.0821 | 0:00.9569 |
15 | 7 | Todd Kelly | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Nissan Altima | 1:32.1263 | 0:01.0011 |
16 | 23 | Russell Ingall | Repair Management Aust Racing | Holden Commodore VF | 1:32.1506 | 0:01.0254 |
17 | 14 | Fabian Coulthard | Lockwood Racing | Holden Commodore VF | 1:32.1878 | 0:01.0626 |
18 | 55 | David Reynolds | The Bottle-O Racing Team | Ford Falcon FG | 1:32.3087 | 0:01.1835 |
19 | 22 | James Courtney | Holden Racing Team | Holden Commodore VF | 1:32.3212 | 0:01.1960 |
20 | 222 | Nick Percat | Walkinshaw Racing | Holden Commodore VF | 1:32.3566 | 0:01.2314 |
21 | 34 | Robert Dahlgren | Valvoline Racing GRM | Volvo S60 | 1:32.4868 | 0:01.3616 |
22 | 21 | Dale Wood | Team Advam/GB | Holden Commodore VF | 1:32.4898 | 0:01.3646 |
23 | 33 | Scott McLaughlin | Valvoline Racing GRM | Volvo S60 | 1:32.6236 | 0:01.4984 |
24 | 9 | Will Davison | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:32.6245 | 0:01.4993 |
25 | 4 | Lee Holdsworth | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:32.6694 | 0:01.5442 |