Rhys McNally produced record pace as he headed the times in practice ahead of the fourth round of the V8 Utes Racing Series on the streets of Townsville.
The Perth driver posted a 1:26.97 in the second practice session at the Reid Park circuit to break the practice lap record.
“It’s great to see we have good pace, we just have to keep it up tomorrow and hopefully we’ll walk away with a pole position,” said McNally.
Nathan Pretty was 0.1s shy of McNally’s Stratco Holden with David Sieders in third, as the Ford runners struggled for outright speed.
Craig Dontas, Adam Marjoram and Hidden Valley winner Gerard McLeod completed a top six lock out for Holden.
Ryan Hansford was the quickest of the Fords in seventh 0.9s adrift of McNally.
Championship leader Ryal Harris and his Matt Stone Ford team-mate George Miedecke were unable to unlock the pace required to challenge the frontrunners, as they ended the day in 10th and 11th respectively.
The pair were both carrying success ballast which hampered their progress.
Meanwhile, former V8 Supercars driver Marcus Marshall was forced to sit out both practice sessions having suffered a clutch issue with Team Kleen Holden.
“I know which way it goes (the track), I’m confident of that, as for confidence in the car I will really need my experience to just get me through,” said Marshall.
“It’s definitely making things a lot harder to get through the weekend, but other than that I’m loving being here and really looking forward to the rest of the weekend.”
Reigning champion Kris Walton encountered a power steering failure in Practice 1, before finishing the final hit-out in 14th position.
The V8 Utes will take part in a 20 minute qualifying session on Saturday at 08:05 with an 11 lap race scheduled to begin at 13:45.
Result: V8 Utes Racing Series Practice 2, Townsville
| 1 | Stratco Racing | Rhys McNally (WA) | Holden Commodore VE | 1:26.96 | |
| 2 | Burbank Racing | Nathan Pretty (VIC) | Holden Commodore VE | 1:27.07 | 00.10 |
| 3 | Mango Credit | David Sieders (NSW) | Holden Commodore VE | 1:27.08 | 00.11 |
| 4 | Just Car Insurance / Kitten Racing | Craig Dontas (SA) | Holden Commodore VE | 1:27.67 | 00.70 |
| 5 | Auto One / Erebus Motorsport | Adam Marjoram (WA) | Holden Commodore VE | 1:27.75 | 00.78 |
| 6 | RYCO 24-7 / Transco MFG | Gerard McLeod (VIC) | Holden Commodore VE | 1:27.89 | 00.93 |
| 7 | Multispares Racing | Ryan Hansford (QLD) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:27.94 | 00.97 |
| 8 | All Purpose Pest Control | Grant Johnson (WA) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:27.98 | 01.02 |
| 9 | JMG Racing | Jeremy Gray (NSW) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:28.01 | 01.05 |
| 10 | Holiday For Life | Ryal Harris (QLD) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:28.23 | 01.26 |
| 11 | iSeek Racing / ees.com | George Miedecke (NSW) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:28.24 | 01.27 |
| 12 | Bob Jane T-Marts / Altenzo Per | Kim Jane (VIC) | Holden Commodore VE | 1:28.38 | 01.41 |
| 13 | Jesus Racing | Andrew Fisher (NSW) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:28.51 | 01.55 |
| 14 | Rentco Racing | Kris Walton (QLD) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:28.56 | 01.60 |
| 15 | Team Kleen Racing / Kleen Group | Adam Beechey (TAS) | Holden Commodore VE | 1:28.70 | 01.73 |
| 16 | Peters Motorsport | Mason Barbera (QLD) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:28.77 | 01.80 |
| 17 | Slideways / Go Karting Australia | Cam Wilson (QLD) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:28.81 | 01.84 |
| 18 | Copyworld Racing | Michael Almond (SA) | Holden Commodore VE | 1:29.06 | 02.09 |
| 19 | Skyreack / Shamick Racing | Leigh Nicolaou (VIC) | Holden Commodore VE | 1:29.15 | 02.18 |
| 20 | Nth QLD Hard Facing | Graham Edwards (QLD) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:29.21 | 02.25 |
| 21 | RED Express / AirRoad | Charlie Kovacs (SA) | Holden Commodore VE | 1:29.27 | 02.30 |
| 22 | Western General Body Works | Danny Buzadzic (VIC) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:29.72 | 02.75 |
| 23 | OAKLANDS BUILT | Bruce Oaklands (NSW) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:30.79 | 03.82 |
| 24 | Moreton Panels | Brendon Tucker (Qld) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:30.91 | 03.95 |
| 25 | Team Kleen Racing / Kleen Group | Andrew Nickolls (NSW) | Holden Commodore VE | 1:31.09 | 04.12 |
| 26 | Gulf Western Oil / Aussie Stop | Richard Mork (NSW) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:31.20 | 04.24 |
| 27 | Australian Conveyor Racing | Noel Edge (SA) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:31.23 | 04.26 |
Result: V8 Utes Racing Series Practice 1, Townsville
| 1 | Mango Credit | David Sieders (NSW) | Holden Commodore VE | 1:27.65 | |
| 2 | RYCO 24-7 / Transco MFG | Gerard McLeod (VIC) | Holden Commodore VE | 1:27.70 | 00.04 |
| 3 | Burbank Racing | Nathan Pretty (VIC) | Holden Commodore VE | 1:27.73 | 00.08 |
| 4 | Stratco Racing | Rhys McNally (WA) | Holden Commodore VE | 1:27.85 | 00.20 |
| 5 | Just Car Insurance / Kitten Racing | Craig Dontas (SA) | Holden Commodore VE | 1:28.03 | 00.37 |
| 6 | iSeek Racing / ees.com | George Miedecke (NSW) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:28.04 | 00.38 |
| 7 | JMG Racing | Jeremy Gray (NSW) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:28.06 | 00.40 |
| 8 | Multispares Racing | Ryan Hansford (QLD) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:28.09 | 00.44 |
| 9 | Holiday For Life | Ryal Harris (QLD) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:28.11 | 00.45 |
| 10 | All Purpose Pest Control | Grant Johnson (WA) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:28.29 | 00.63 |
| 11 | Peters Motorsport | Mason Barbera (QLD) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:28.35 | 00.70 |
| 12 | Rentco Racing | Kris Walton (QLD) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:28.67 | 01.01 |
| 13 | Slideways / Go Karting Austral | Cam Wilson (QLD) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:28.67 | 01.02 |
| 14 | Bob Jane T-Marts / Altenzo | Kim Jane (VIC) | Holden Commodore VE | 1:28.74 | 01.08 |
| 15 | Auto One / Erebus Motorsport | Adam Marjoram (WA) | Holden Commodore VE | 1:28.74 | 01.09 |
| 16 | Jesus Racing | Andrew Fisher (NSW) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:29.27 | 01.61 |
| 17 | Team Kleen Racing / Kleen Group | Adam Beechey (TAS) | Holden Commodore VE | 1:29.31 | 01.66 |
| 18 | Nth QLD Hard Facing | Graham Edwards (QLD) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:29.32 | 01.66 |
| 19 | TBA | TBA | Holden Commodore VE | 1:29.52 | 01.86 |
| 20 | RED Express / AirRoad | Charlie Kovacs (SA) | Holden Commodore VE | 1:29.53 | 01.87 |
| 21 | Western General Body Works | Danny Buzadzic (VIC) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:29.63 | 01.97 |
| 22 | Skyreack / Shamick Racing | Leigh Nicolaou (VIC) | Holden Commodore VE | 1:30.08 | 02.42 |
| 23 | Team Kleen Racing / Kleen Group | Andrew Nickolls (NSW) | Holden Commodore VE | 1:30.89 | 03.23 |
| 24 | OAKLANDS BUILT | Bruce Oaklands (NSW) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:31.33 | 03.67 |
| 25 | Rick Gill Motorcycles | Rick Gill (WA) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:31.37 | 03.71 |
| 26 | Gulf Western Oil / Aussie Stop | Richard Mork (NSW) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:31.82 | 04.17 |
| 27 | Australian Conveyor Racing | Noel Edge (SA) | Ford Falcon FG | 1:31.91 | 04.25 |
| 28 | Cairns Industries | Marcus Marshall | Holden Commodore VE | 1:36.55 | 08.90 |
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