Supercheap Auto wildcard Zane Goddard has set the pace in an all-Triple Eight Race Engineering top three in the co-driver practice session at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500.
After Richie Stanaway and Jamie Whincup had sat first and second for the bulk of Practice 2 in the Red Bull Ampol Racing Camaros, Goddard set the fastest two laps of the session in the final minutes.
With a late red flag causing the hit-out to be cut almost three minutes short, the #888 Chevrolet Camaro ended up on top on a 1:09.3106s, 0.0140s off the Practice 1 benchmark and 0.3376s ahead of Stanaway in Shane van Gisbergen’s #97 Camaro.
2021 Bathurst 1000 winner Lee Holdsworth was the only Ford driver in the top 10, taking fourth on a 1:09.8257s in Chaz Mostert’s #25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang.
The sun was still out when the co-drivers exited pit lane for Practice 2 and, after the first flyers, it was Stanaway edging the man whom he replaced in the #97 Triple Eight entry, Garth Tander (#26 Penrite Mustang), on a 1:10.0616s versus a 1:10.6766s.
Stanaway raised the bar to a 1:09.7897s and a 1:09.6482s on consecutive laps, with Whincup taking up second on a 1:09.7919s in Practice 1 fast man Broc Feeney’s #88 Camaro.
A red flag was called in the sixth minute after Zak Best locked the inside front in James Courtney’s #5 Snowy River Caravans Mustang at Dandenong Road, running into the gravel trap and nudging the tyre wall.
When the session restarted, Matt Stone Racing’s Jayden Ojeda joined the Red Bull Ampol duo in the ‘nines’ when he set a 1:09.9221s and a 1:09.9138s on back-to-back laps in Jack Le Brocq’s #34 Truck Assist Camaro.
However, with the co-drivers unlikely to be taking qualifying duties tomorrow, most, including Ojeda, settled in for some longer running.
With five minutes to go, Holdsworth moved to third with a 1:09.8257s in Car #25, which, like the sister #2 entry, is under investigation for allegedly running an incorrect drop gear ratio in Practice 1.
Goddard then made it an all-Triple Eight top three with a 1:09.6408s and 1:09.3106s in the #888 Supercheap Auto Camaro wildcard, which he is sharing with Craig Lowndes.
A red flag was called in the 28th minute when a witches hat got knocked onto the race track at the esses, with replays suggesting it was Jake Kostecki in the #7 Racer Industries Mustang who plucked it from its mountings on the inside of the corner.
The session did not restart, locking in a top five of Goddard, Stanaway, Whincup, Holdsworth, and Ojeda.
2016 Bathurst 1000 winner Jonathon Webb (#23 Nulon Camaro) was sixth, from Michael Caruso (#18 DeWalt Camaro), Jack Perkins (#9 Coca-Cola Camaro), David Russell (#99 Coca-Cola Camaro), and Jaxon Evans (#4 SCT Logistics Camaro).
Practice 3, an all-in session, starts this afternoon at 15:45 local time/AEST.
CLICK HERE for full Practice 2 results
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