Despite the residue of oil on the main straight and through Turn 1, Bart Mawer put together a sizzling lap to go a full second quicker than on Friday in the RP968 Porche 968 and reset the benchmark to 1:17.860 at Sydney Motorsport Park on Saturday morning.

Live: World Time Attack from Sydney Motorsport Park

“The first half of the lap was pretty sketchy, but we made up for in the second half,” Mawer said, even though the first two sectors were an improvement on yesterday’s best at the Yokohama World Time Attack.

“But I didn’t think there was a 17 there.”

The time represents a new best-ever officially time lap, plus a new record for the event, and his elation was evident as he and his team celebrated the enormity of the effort.

But their excitement turned sour when, after climbing on top of the car, Mawer injured his ankle when he jumped down.

Mawer hobbled to the post-race interviews in the garage before he was attended to by medical staff.

While he didn’t have any fractures, he has the ankle on ice and is awaiting medical clearance. He remained hopeful that he will continue later in the day.

In the meantime, his nearest Pro rival Tim Slade in the Tanuki S13 will take no further part after the Nissan Silvia S13 lost a front wheel in the Pro Am session with Wayne Lee driving.

It happened towards the braking area at Turn 2 with the car spearing off and backing in the tyre barrier. The wheel was seen bouncing over the outer perimeter and heading towards the Ferrers Road and the Western Sydney Wetlands.

The Premier Racing Supercar driver will continue with his second drive, in the Xtreme GTR Nissan Skyline GTR, which is the leader in the Open Class and fourth outright.