Mostert flies in opening Gold Coast practice 

Chaz Mostert set the pace in the opening practice session of the Vodafone Gold Coast 600.

The Prodrive Racing Australia driver impressed late in the 30 minute hit out to post a 1:11.05s to shoot to the top of the times.

Mostert times arrived just moments before the session was red flagged with a minute remaining.

Nissan Motorsport’s Simona de Silvestro nudged the tyre barrier at the final corner after misjudging the entry over the kerbs.

There wasn’t enough time to restart the session, which left Michael Caruso in second spot after the Nissan driver clocked a time 0.08s shy of Mostert.

“I think that red flag at the end probably hurt a few people’s different tyre runs,” said Mostert, who shared the car with co-driver Steve Owen.

“We did a bit of a different strategy, we ran our co-drivers at the start to get them comfortable.

“The car felt OK, we’ve still got a lot of work to do. It’s not where we want it, definitely better than years past here, but we’ve got to get our head in the book and make it a bit better.”

Triple Eight’s Shane van Gisbergen ended up third having moved to the top of the times by the halfway mark, while Lee Holdsworth was fourth in the Preston Hire Racing Commodore.

Scott McLaughlin was fifth in the #17 Shell V-Power Racing Falcon after an eventful session that saw him graze the wall at Turn 3.

He was also lucky to avoid the pit wall when he locked up while entering pit lane.

Co-driver Alex Premat enjoyed a brief run out in the car towards the end of Practice 1.

“I hit the wall, a bit of a balls-up that one,” said McLaughlin.

“At the end of the day Saturday is going to be wet so just trying to find a little bit of a confidence booster and that certainly wasn’t it.

“It (the car) was alright, just one of those things, just got to work on it.”

Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 winner David Reynolds was sixth in the Erebus Holden ahead of title contender Jamie Whincup (Red Bull Holden).

The top 10 was completed by James Courtney (Mobil 1 HSV Racing), James Moffat (Garry Rogers Motorsport) and Mark Winterbottom (Prodrive).

Nissan Motorsport’s Rick Kelly spent time in the garage due to an oil overflow issue.

The Supercars co-drivers will be in action for Practice 2, which is scheduled to begin at 1400 local time.

Results: Virgin Australia Supercars Championship, Vodafone Gold Coast 600 Practice 1