Red Bull Ampol Racing’s Broc Feeney has set the fastest lap in Practice 1 for the Penrite Oil Sandown 500.
Feeney clocked a 1:09.2966s just prior to the halfway mark of the 30-minute session in the #88 Chevrolet Camaro before eventually handing over to co-driver Jamie Whincup, a five-time Sandown 500 winner, for the final minutes.
Championship leader Brodie Kostecki went close to usurping Car #88 but came up just 0.0078s shy, meaning Erebus Motorsport’s #99 Coca-Cola Camaro was classified second in the opening session of the weekend for the Repco Supercars Championship field.
PremiAir Racing’s James Golding (#31 Nulon Camaro) claimed third and Brad Jones Racing’s Macauley Jones (#96 Pizza Hut Camaro) took fourth, with Tickford Racing’s Cameron Waters (#6 Monster Energy Mustang) best of the Ford contingent in fifth on a 1:09.3694s.
It was predominantly primary drivers who rolled out under sunny southeast Melbourne skies when pit lane at Sandown International Motor Raceway opened at 10:45 local time.
Jones was quickest after the first flyers on a 1:10.4106s in the #96 Pizza Hut Camaro before Nulon Racing’s Tim Slade took over top spot with a 1:09.6988s in the #23 Camaro.
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Slade further raised the bar to a 1:09.4036s on his third flyer, before Jones reclaimed the ascendancy with a 1:09.3327s and Shane van Gisbergen slotted into second with a 1:09.3701s at the end of the first run for the #97 Red Bull Ampol Camaro.
Van Gisbergen’s Triple Eight Race Engineering team-mate Feeney went quickest with a 1:09.2966s during his second run, and Golding moved to second with a 1:09.3240s on his third run.
The gap from first to second was 0.0274s with that effort and it became even tighter at 0.0078s when Kostecki split those two with a 1:09.3044s with five minutes to go.
Most teams installed co-drivers for the final runs, and there was no advance on the very fastest pace of the session.
The top three all told was thus Feeney/Whincup, Brodie Kostecki/David Russell, and Golding/Dylan O’Keeffe, from Jones/Jordan Boys and Waters/James Moffat.
Van Gisbergen/Richie Stanaway ended up sixth, from Will Brown/Jack Perkins (#9 Coca-Cola Camaro), Slade/Jonathon Webb, Mark Winterbottom/Michael Caruso (#18 DeWalt Camaro), and Matt Payne/Kevin Estre (#19 Penrite Mustang).
There were a handful of straight-line moments through the esses complex which marks the end of the back straight but the session ran uninterrupted.
For reference, the fastest lap in Practice 1 at the 2022 Sandown SuperSprint event was a 1:07.8087s by the Shell V-Power Racing Team’s Will Davison.
Practice 2, for co-drivers only, starts at 12:40 local time/AEST.
CLICK HERE for full Practice 1 results
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