DJR Mustangs on top in Supercars Practice 1 at SMP

Shell V-Power Racing Team drivers Anton De Pasquale and Will Davison have finished first and second respectively in Practice 1 for Supercars’ BP Ultimate Sydney SuperSprint.

De Pasquale clocked a 1:29.4403s to usurp his team-mate by 0.3079s in the qualifying simulations, as rain began to fall over Sydney Motorsport Park towards the end of the 30-minute hit-out.

Erebus Motorsport’s Will Brown (#9 Shaw and Partners ZB Commodore) was less than a hundredth slower again in third position, with Red Bull Ampol Racing’s Jamie Whincup taking fourth all-told.

The Repco Supercars Championship field is back to using the soft tyre only this weekend, and the opening session of Event 10 of the season unfolded in cool conditions, with a strong westerly making for a headwind on into the first corner.

After the first runs, Mark Winterbottom (#18 Irwin Tools ZB Commodore) held sway on a 1:30.3642s from Whincup (#88 ZB Commodore) on a 1:30.3857s and Brodie Kostecki (#99 Boost Mobile ZB Commodore) on the 1:30.4778s which he clocked straight out of the box.

Andre Heimgartner (#7 Ned Mustang) briefly held third for a moment, around halfway into the session, before Brodie Kostecki reclaimed it with a 1:30.4107s, and that was how the top of the order remained until the late green tyre runs.

Cameron Waters jumped to the top in the final four minutes with a 1:30.0413s in the #6 Monster Energy Mustang, before Whincup jumped him with a 1:29.9016s.

The seven-time champion held the ascendancy only for a brief period before Davison (#17 Mustang) came through with the 1:29.7482s which would be his best for the session.

Brown then split them with a 1:29.7573s and De Pasquale (#11 Mustang) clocked the 1:29.4403s just prior to the chequered flag.

“Obviously it’s only Practice 1, everyone’s trying things, we’re trying things, seeing what comes out of it, so we’ll keep trying things through Practice 2, see how it goes,” said the Dick Johnson Racing fast man.

“But, it’s good to have good momentum, obviously our car’s in a pretty good window, so we’re just sort of testing it and seeing what we can do and what we can get away with, so, so far, so good.”

Behind the first four on the timesheet ended up Tim Slade (#3 CoolDrive Mustang), from Chaz Mostert (#25 Mobil 1 Appliances Online ZB Commodore), Waters, Jack Le Brocq (#5 Truck Assist Mustang), Todd Hazelwood (#14 Cub Cadet ZB Commodore), and Heimgartner.

Winterbottom was shuffled all the way back to 13th with the time he set during his first run and championship leader Shane van Gisbergen was only 16th in the #97 Red Bull Ampol ZB Commodore.

However, it appeared that a number of drivers did not go for all-out hot laps at the end of proceedings, perhaps due to the precipitation which was falling over Eastern Creek.

Practice 2, another half-hour session, starts at 12:20 local time/AEDT.

Results: Practice 1