Scott McLaughlin has bounced back from his heavy crash at Pukekohe three weeks ago to top the opening practice session for the V8 Supercars at Barbagallo.
Joining the bottom 50 percent of the championship runners in the opening session due to his rookie status, McLaughlin lapped the 2.4km venue in a best time of 56.7s.
With only one set of pre-marked tyres allowed in the opening session, the fastest times were predictably set early in the going.
David Wall and David Reynolds joined McLaughlin in the 56s bracket to be second and third fastest respectively, with Dean Fiore, Michael Caruso and Alexandre Premat rounding out the top six.
Scott Pye and Chaz Mostert were two that did improve late to be seventh and eighth respectively ahead of Todd Kelly and Maro Engel.
The Erebus outfit spent the opening session tuning its engine upgrades, with Engel’s team-mates Lee Holdsworth and Tim Slade managing just 12th and 15th respectively.
Two 30 minute practice sessions for the full V8 Supercars field are scheduled for 1205 and 1315 local time.
See below for the full Practice 1 result
| 1 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Holden Commodore VF | 0:56.6743 | |
| 2 | Wilson Security Racing | David Wall | Holden Commodore VF | 0:56.8789 | 0:00.2046 |
| 3 | The Bottle-O FPR Ford | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG | 0:56.9747 | 0:00.3004 |
| 4 | Dodo Insurance Racing | Dean Fiore | Holden Commodore VF | 0:57.0892 | 0:00.4149 |
| 5 | Norton 360 Racing | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 0:57.0983 | 0:00.4240 |
| 6 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Alexandre Premat | Holden Commodore VF | 0:57.1689 | 0:00.4946 |
| 7 | ekol Racing | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore VF | 0:57.1935 | 0:00.5192 |
| 8 | Wilson Security Racing | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG | 0:57.6786 | 0:01.0043 |
| 9 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 0:57.6953 | 0:01.0210 |
| 10 | SP Tools Racing | Maro Engel | Mercedes E63 AMG | 0:57.7837 | 0:01.1094 |
| 11 | Team HIFLEX | Tony D’Alberto | Holden Commodore VF | 0:58.1114 | 0:01.4371 |
| 12 | Irwin Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Mercedes E63 AMG | 0:58.2442 | 0:01.5699 |
| 13 | Wilson Security Racing | Tim Blanchard | Ford Falcon FG | 0:58.3211 | 0:01.6468 |
| 14 | Norton 360 Racing | James Moffat | Nissan Altima | 0:58.3686 | 0:01.6943 |
| 15 | HHA Racing | Tim Slade | Mercedes E63 AMG | 0:58.6370 | 0:01.9627 |
