With a new tyre run at the end of the second 25min session, Gilchrist’s 1m14.4746 around the 2.87km hybrid street/race circuit was the session’s best, and also overall for the day.
The two track sessions were held under cloudy skies with lower ambient and track temperatures, not in the usual warmer North Queensland conditions. Only four drivers of the 25 have previously competed on the Reid Park track.
The Team Porsche NZ / Earl Bamber Motorsport driver is second in the points after two rounds and was a race winner in the previous outing at The Bend.
Second across the sessions was Scott Taylor Motorsport’s Nash Morris, split by 0.27s after he was fastest in Practice 1. Morris contests the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia championship fulltime this year and returns to the second tier series for the first time this year after he contested a partial Porsche Sprint Challenge campaign in 2023.
Series leader Oscar Targett (Grove Racing / EBM) was third overall ahead of McElrea Racing teammates Ayrton Hodson and Caleb Sumich. Jake Santalucia was sixth for Sonic Motor Racing, as he edged ahead of Clay Osborne and Aron Shields (DNA Autosport).
Sonic’s Conor Somers and TekworkX driver Hamish Fitzsimmons completed the top 10 which was covered by 1.06s.
In the Pro-Am class, Brett Boulton led the way ahead of points leader Danny Stutterd and Marc Cini who was fastest in the first session. Brad Carr was 14th outright and led Class-B with Jacque Jarjo second.
Qualifying will take place at 8:05am AEST on Saturday with Race 1 scheduled for 10:50am. Both will both be live broadcast on Fox Sports 506 and Kayo Sports.
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