Mark Skaife has made the perfect start to his first V8 Supercars race meeting of 2011 – topping the time sheets in the co-driver only Practice 2 session.
Skaife, who will race in this weekend’s L&H 500 at Phillip Island with TeamVodafone star Craig Lowndes, set a best time of 1:34.39s as the chequered flag fell on the 40 minute session.
John McIntyre was 0.04s adrift in second after a pair of late flyers – signalling a strong recover from Stone Brothers Racing after the SP Tools Falcon failed to complete a flying lap in Practice 1 due to an electrical problem.
Nick Percat (#2 Toll Holden Racing Team) was third fastest, while Jack Perkins (#39 Supercheap Auto Racing) and Greg Ritter (#33 Fujitsu Racing) rounded out the top five.
West Australian Michael Patrizi enjoyed a strong session in Dean Fiore’s WesTrac Falcon. The Carrera Cup front-runner sat atop the time sheets with 10 minutes remaining, before ending the session ninth having failed to improve during his final run.
Andrew Thompson, driving the second of the TeamVodafone Commodores, was 14th at the conclusion of the 40 minutes – 1.41s adrift of Skaife’s benchmark.
V8 Supercars Practice 3 will kick off at 14:10, with all drivers permitted to take part.
CLICK HERE for report and results from Practice 1.
See below for the full Practice 2 times
| 1 | TeamVodafone | C.Lowndes/M.Skaife | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:34.3872 |
| 2 | SP Tools Racing | S.Van Gisbergen/J.McIntyre | Ford Falcon FG | 1:34.4254 |
| 3 | Toll Holden Racing Team | G.Tander/N.Percat | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:34.4304 |
| 4 | Supercheap Auto Racing | R.Ingall/J.Perkins | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:34.5423 |
| 5 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | L.Holdsworth/G.Ritter | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:34.5708 |
| 6 | Toll Holden Racing Team | J.Courtney/C.McConville | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:34.7501 |
| 7 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | P.Dumbrell/D.Canto | Ford Falcon FG | 1:35.0309 |
| 8 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | T.Kelly/David Russell | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:35.1259 |
| 9 | Triple F Racing | D.Fiore/M.Patrizi | Ford Falcon FG | 1:35.2528 |
| 10 | Jim Beam Racing | S.Johnson/D.Besnard | Ford Falcon FG | 1:35.5575 |
| 11 | Bundaberg Racing | F.Coulthard/C.Baird | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:35.5631 |
| 12 | Pepsi Max Crew | G.Murphy/A.Simonsen | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:35.7179 |
| 13 | Wilson Security Racing | T.D’Alberto/D.Wood | Ford Falcon FG | 1:35.7180 |
| 14 | TeamVodafone | J.Whincup/A.Thompson | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:35.7930 |
| 15 | Jim Beam Racing | J.Moffat/M.Halliday | Ford Falcon FG | 1:35.8040 |
| 16 | Irwin Racing | A.Davison/D.Brabham | Ford Falcon FG | 1:35.8609 |
| 17 | Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon | M.Winterbottom/S.Richards | Ford Falcon FG | 1:35.9222 |
| 18 | Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing | K.Reindler/D.Wall | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:35.9980 |
| 19 | Trading Post FPR Falcon | W.Davison/L.Youlden | Ford Falcon FG | 1:36.0166 |
| 20 | Lucky 7 Racing | T.Slade/D.Gaunt | Ford Falcon FG | 1:36.1344 |
| 21 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | R.Kelly/O.Kelly | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:36.1466 |
| 22 | Stratco Racing | D.Reynolds/T.Blanchard | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:36.1484 |
| 23 | Mother Energy Racing Team | J.Webb/R.Lyons | Ford Falcon FG | 1:36.2707 |
| 24 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | M.Caruso/M.Marshall | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:36.4151 |
| 25 | VIP Petfoods | S.Owen/P.Morris | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:36.7997 |
| 26 | Team Boc | J.Bright/A.Jones | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:36.8733 |
| 27 | Jana Living Racing | J.Bargwanna/S.Price | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:36.9035 |
| 28 | Gulf Western Oil Racing | W.Luff/N.Pretty | Holden Commodore VE2 | 1:36.9085 |
For more on the L&H 500, see Speedcafe.com’s V8 Race Guide below
