Davison pips McLaughlin in rain-interrupted Practice 1

Will Davison took top spot from Scott McLaughlin as Pukekohe Park Raceway started to dry out at the end of Practice 1 for the ITM Auckland SuperSprint.

Davison completed only six laps in the #23 Milwaukee Mustang but the second last of those moved him into the top 10 and the last to the very top of the timing screen with a 1:02.4451s.

McLaughlin spent much of the rain-interrupted half-hour session holding the fastest lap but his late 1:02.5189s in the #17 Shell V-Power Mustang was ultimately 0.0738s off the pace.

Shane van Gisbergen (#97 Red Bull HRT ZB Commodore), David Reynolds (#9 Penrite ZB Commodore), and Scott Pye (#2 Mobil 1 ZB Commodore) rounded out the top five, while Richie Stanaway was 14th having caused a red flag on the 15-minute mark when he found the wall in the #33 Boost Mobile Racing entry.

An early shower meant that the first 10 minutes were spent largely roading wet tyres, before Kelly Racing’s Garry Jacobson (#3 Rabble.Club Altima) set the first somewhat meaningful slick tyre time of 1:05.8524s.

Jacobson, GRM team-mates Stanaway and James Golding (#34 ZB Commodore), and Simona De Silvestro (#78 Harvey Norman Altima) in another Kelly entry, then spent time at the top as the benchmark was moved at regular intervals.

McLaughlin, whose initial run on slicks yielded only a 1:13.2750s as drops of rain fell, moved back to first position when he clocked a 1:02.9114s just before the halfway point in the #17 Mustang.

Stanaway drew a red flag for debris moments later when he slid off at the final corner and grazed his #33 ZB Commodore on the concrete wall, smashing a foam sign in the process.

There were few meaningful movements on the timing screen in the handful of minutes between the resumption of the session and more light rain.

However, as the sun tried to come out over Pukekohe, van Gisbergen was able to rise to first position with a 1:02.6552s in the final minute and that would prove his best, although he all but matched it on his last lap.

Reynolds came close to toppling van Gisbergen with the chequered flag out with a 1:02.7256s before McLaughlin actually did so, but Davison had the last laugh.

“Just tried to be patient,” explained the pace-setting 23Red Racing driver.

“We don’t have that many slicks today so I didn’t want to take anything out of them in those greasy conditions but I knew if it just stopped raining for a minute you had to be out there to try just and get one lap.

“We did that, we timed it perfectly. We got that one flyer at the end there.

“Not going to tread into it too much but definitely balance of the car felt really good.”

Rounding out the top 10 were Fabian Coulthard (#12 DJR Team Penske Mustang), Lee Holdsworth (#5 The Bottle-O Mustang), Mark Winterbottom (#18 Irwin Tools ZB Commodore), Jacobson, and De Silvestro.

Jamie Whincup was 17th in the #88 Triple Eight ZB Commodore, while Cameron Waters (#6 Monster Energy Mustang) and Chaz Mostert (#55 Supercheap Auto Mustang) completed the top 20 with just a handful of laps to their names.

Those Tickford drivers each only completed a handful of laps, with Mostert’s fastest an unrepresentative three-minute effort on wet tyres, while neither Anton De Pasquale (#99 Erebus ZB Commodore) nor Nick Percat (#8 NZ Safety Blackwoods ZB Commodore) set a time at all.

Practice 2 for the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship field starts this afternoon at 1520 local time/1320 AEST.

Results: Practice 1