Mark Winterbottom fastest ahead of Top 10 shootout

Mark Winterbottom has set the fastest time in Practice 6 as the leading teams completed their final preparations for this afternoon’s Top 10 Shootout at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

The Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon shot to the top of the order by recording a 2:07.74s lap with two of the 50 minutes remaining.

Winterbottom’s effort proved 0.59s faster than the previous benchmark set by team-mate Will Davison, who attempted his own Shootout simulation in the early stages of the session.

Garth Tander waited until after the chequered flag fell to complete his hot lap – a 2:08.11s time good enough to split the factory Fords.

Stone Brothers Racing duo Shane van Gisbergen and Tim Slade were fourth and fifth respectively, with the former setting his best time on the second lap of a green tyre run.

Craig Lowndes, Jonathon Webb, David Reynolds, Russell Ingall and Michael Caruso completed the top 10.

Yesterday’s qualifying pace-setter Jamie Whincup had a quiet session in the #1 TeamVodafone Holden. The three-time Bathurst winner spent the entire 50 minutes in the car, running just the 11th fastest time on his final lap.

The only drama of the session involved the #17 Dick Johnson Racing Falcon, which broke a tailshaft on just its second timed lap. The failure ripped an oil line from underneath the car, ensuring it would not return to the track for the remainder of the session.

The Moffat/Alex Davison entry’s next appearance will come in Sunday’s morning warm-up, where it will be dressed in its Tru-Blu ‘retro’ livery for the first time.

Most crews used the Saturday morning hit-out to practice full racing pitstops, while many also continued to chase more speed and consistency by running through a series of set-up changes.

The session started in overcast by dry conditions following drizzle earlier in the morning, before the sun greeted the circuit 10 minutes in.

“The conditions today are a little bit different to yesterday and we predict that tomorrow is going to be very similar to what just happened then,” noted Winterbottom after the session.

He added of his own car: “Richo jumped in, did his little bit, and then I had a run on the race car feel before we tried a Shootout replica lap at the end. We improved it from yesterday which is great – I’m a lot happier with the car today which is a good sign. We’re peaking at the right time.”

The Top 10 Shootout is scheduled for 1630 local time today, just hours after storms are predicted to hit the Bathurst region.

See below for the full Practice 6 result

See below for Speedcafe.com’s Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 Race Guide.