Mostert quickest in Practice 4 as RBHRT misses top 10

Chaz Mostert was fastest in Supercars Practice 4 at The Bend while both Triple Eight Race Engineering drivers will go into Part 1 of the following Armor All Qualifying session.

Mostert pipped Scott McLaughlin by setting a 1:47.7940s in his #55 Supercheap Auto Mustang, while the championship leader’s best was 1:47.8492s in the #17 Shell V-Power Mustang.

All four full-time Tickford Racing/23Red Racing drivers, both DJR Team Penske drivers, and both Erebus Motorsport drivers made the top 10 to earn a bye to the second part of Qualifying for Race 22 at the OTR SuperSprint, with Mustangs sweeping the top six.

The Red Bull Holden Racing Team’s Jamie Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen, however, were 13th and 24th respectively.

Will Davison (#23 Milwaukee Mustang) rolled out with a 1:48.9027s to start the session and that remained the fastest lap until Andre Heimgartner (#7 Plus Fitness Altima) went to a 1:48.6379s on his second run.

McLaughlin soon went nearly seven tenths of a second clear of the Kelly Racing pilot with a 1:47.9509s just prior to the halfway mark of the 30-minute session before Mostert and Fabian Coulthard each got slightly closer.

Davison got inside three tenths of a second of McLaughlin’s pace before Mostert moved to 0.1872s slower, prior to the final runs.

McLaughlin, reportedly on green P1 tyres, subsequently clocked a 1:47.8492s despite a big two-wheel moment at Turn 10, only for Mostert to undercut him by half a tenth just prior to the chequered flag, on roaded tyres.

“Car feels a bit better than yesterday,” said Mostert.

“It was good to come out of yesterday and to come into today, make a few more changes and still tidy up the car up.

“But pretty happy with the time but I think there’s still old mate next door (McLaughlin) might have a bit more for us so we’ve still got to improve just a little bit more.”

Lee Holdsworth (#5 The Bottle-O Mustang) crept up a spot with the chequered out to sit third, 0.2429s off the pace, while Cameron Waters (#6 Monster Energy Mustang) was fourth having moved up from 10th and into a safe position in the final minute.

Coulthard was fifth in the #12 DJR Team Penske Mustang, ahead of Davison, Heimgartner, and David Reynolds (#9 Penrite ZB Commodore), the latter of whom bumped Whincup out of the top 10 at the time.

Simona De Silvestro improved five positions late in the piece to put her #78 Harvey Norman Altima ninth on the timesheet and deny James Golding direct passage to Part 2 of qualifying.

Golding missed a place in the top 10, which was rounded out by Anton De Pasquale (#99 Erebus ZB Commodore), by less than seventh hundredths of a second, while rookie Garry Jacobson (#3 Rabble.Club Altima) was 12th.

Whincup and van Gisbergen both continued to struggle, with their Triple Eight crews chasing set-up throughout the session but to no avail as the latter ended up 1.8258s off the pace.

“We had a big gain yesterday but haven’t really found a gain today at all unfortunately,” said Whincup.

“Not sure what to say. It’s more of a fundamental rather than, you know, 10 newtons of spring or a couple of clicks on the bar.

“It’s something a bit more major than that, so I think we’ll go hunting.

“If I was the only car out there I would say I nailed that lap and the car was pretty good, and you come in and, boom, everyone else is a second faster. It’s a fundamental (thing).”

Of the wildcards, debutant Thomas Randle (#66 Scandia Mustang) was 16th and Jack Smith (#4 SCT Logistics ZB Commodore) 23rd.

Armor All Qualifying for Race 22 of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship starts this morning at 1050 local time/1120 AEST.

Results: Practice 4