Davison on top again in Practice 3 at Bathurst 1000

Will Davison has put the #17 Shell V-Power Racing Team Mustang on top for the second time in three sessions at the Repco Bathurst 1000.

Davison lapped as quickly as a 2:04.2077s in the final few minutes of Practice 3 before handing his car over to brother Alex to finish the hour-long session.

Cameron Waters earned second for Tickford Racing with a 2:04.4070s in the #6 Monster Energy Mustang although it was not a completely tidy session for the 2020 pole-sitter, who had a minor excursion up the Murray’s Corner run-off area just past the halfway mark.

Brodie Kostecki took third with a 2:04.5084s in the #99 Boost Mobile ZB Commodore, ahead of Tim Slade in the #3 CoolDrive Mustang on a 2:04.5916s and 2021 race winner Chaz Mostert in the #25 Mobil 1 Optus ZB Commodore on a 2:04.6170s.

Shane van Gisbergen had a messy session with at least two notable lock-ups, one of which put him off the road at The Chase, and the #97 Red Bull Ampol ZB Commodore was classified 10th all-told on a 2:05.0372s.

Despite adverse weather forecasts and grey clouds hanging overhead, the track was dry as a mixture of primary drivers and co-drivers rolled out for the hour-long session.

Given refuelling was allowed, pit stop practice was underway in earnest from the off, including driver and brake rotor changes, while tyre pressures would become a key point of experimentation.

Meanwhile, Dick Johnson Racing’s Will Davison set the fastest first flyer, a 2:06.0653s, before Erebus Motorsport’s Brodie Kostecki moved the marker to a 2:04.8355s on his second lap and a 2:04.7930s just past the 15-minute mark.

Waters was top when he set a 2:04.5734s in the 20th minute but that time soon looked under threat from van Gisbergen until the 2020 race winner had a slight lock-up into Murray’s Corner.

Mostert moved to third on a 2:04.8891s in the 34th minute before van Gisbergen set a new fastest first sector in the 42nd minute, only to bail out just as he was about to trip the second sector at Forrest’s Elbow.

He went hard again next time around and was fastest to the second sector before a lock-up and off at The Chase.

Not too far behind on the track, Waters had been bettering van Gisbergen’s splits to Sectors 1 and 2 before establishing a new benchmark of 2:04.4070s and Will Davison soon improved to second on a 2:04.6546s.

The Blanchard Racing Team entry had experienced an unspecified “mishap”, in Slade’s words, during mid-session brake change practice before he jumped to fourth with a 2:04.8186s as the hit-out moved into the final 10 minutes.

With just over five minutes remaining, Will Davison was back on top when he clocked a 2:04.2077s and was fastest again to the first sector on the following lap before he caught Zane Goddard (#5 Snowy River Caravans Mustang) at Forrest’s Elbow.

As that was going on, Brodie Kostecki had improved his time but not his position when he set a 2:04.5084s despite a slightly loose run through Murray’s.

With the chequered flag out, Mostert moved up one spot to fourth, only to have it taken back off him by Slade, with the top 10 rounded out by Will Brown (#9 Boost Mobile ZB Commodore), Andre Heimgartner (#8 R&J Batteries ZB Commodore), Anton De Pasquale (#100 Shell V-Power Mustang), Thomas Randle (#55 Castrol Mustang), and van Gisbergen.

The #888 Supercheap Auto ZB Commodore of wildcards Craig Lowndes/Declan Fraser ended up 14th, three positions ahead of Triple Eight Race Engineering team-mates Broc Feeney/Jamie Whincup in the #88 Red Bull Ampol ZB Commodore.

Will Davison’s time was faster than he had gone in Practice 1, but still slower than Garth Tander’s 2:04.1359s in the #97 ZB Commodore in Practice 2.

Practice 4, another all-in session, gets underway today at 13:00 local time/AEDT before Qualifying in the late-afternoon.

Results: Practice 3 All drivers