Hill tops wet-dry Bathurst Super2 practice as Allen loses wheel

Cameron Hill has set the pace in a Triple Eight Race Engineering one-two in Practice 1 for Round 5 of the Dunlop Super2 Series at Bathurst.

Hill got into the 2:09s with the chequered flag out on the 40-minute session on what was a drying Mount Panorama Motor Racing Circuit, with team-mate Declan Fraser next-best on a 2:10.0395s.

Those lap times were set in a five-minute green flag conclusion to proceedings, after Super3 Series leader Kai Allen lost a wheel from his Eggleston Motorsport entry midway through.

Earlier rain had cleared such that the session began with a somewhat dry racing line, and Thomas Maxwell (#3 Nissan Altima) set the fastest initial flyer at 2:26.8334s.

MW Motorsport team-mate Tyler Everingham (#27 Nissan Altima) moved the marker to a 2:24.6002s next time through, before Zak Best (#78 Tickford Racing FGX Falcon) clocked a 2:23.9501s at the start of his first run proper.

The latter then went 2:21.5160s before Jay Hanson (#49 Image Racing VF Commodore) set a 2:21.7528s, but those laps were bettered by a huge margin by Matt Payne’s (#10 Grove Racing Nissan Altima) 2:16.7013s.

Whether that was set on a slick tyre or not was uncertain, although others certainly started to make the change, and Hill (#111 VF Commodore) was next to reset the fastest lap with a 2:15.9684s just prior to the halfway mark.

He had improved further to a 2:14.2339s and was fastest to the first sector when a red flag was called in the 25th minute in response to Allen (#26 VE Commodore) losing his right-front wheel.

It was knocked loose on a kerb exiting The Dipper complex although the root cause appeared to be around the nut itself, with the wheel finally parting company at Forrest’s Elbow and eventually coming to rest midway down Conrod Straight, by which time Allen had safely brought Car #26 to a halt.

The session resumed with just over five minutes remaining, leaving time enough for two more hot laps for most.

Hill immediately laid down a 2:11.0355s and was still quickest with the chequered flag out when he moved to a 2:09.5678s.

Fraser claimed second at a deficit of 0.4717s and Payne ended up third on a 2:11.5106s, from Ryal Harris (#58 Matt Stone Racing VF Commodore) and Angelo Mouzouris (#6 MWM Nissan Altima).

The top 10 was rounded out by Matt McLean (#54 Eggleston VF Commodore), Hanson, Aaron Seton (#30 MSR VF Commodore), Maxwell, and Super2 debutant Reef McCarthy (#999 Image VF Commodore).

Brad Vaughan (#5 Anderson Motorsport FG Falcon) was best of the Super3 class in 16th outright on a 2:18.5145s on his final lap.

Practice 2 starts today at 14:40 local time/AEDT.

Results: Practice 1

Classes: S2 Super2, CH Super3 Championship, SC3 Super3 Cup, HC Super3 Heritage Class