Perkins fastest in opening Dunlop practice

Jack Perkins has set the fastest time in opening practice for Round 6 of the Dunlop V8 Supercars Series at Bathurst.

Perkins’ 2:09.6744, set on his 11th lap, left him the only driver into the 2:09s, some 0.4620sec clear of fellow Bathurst 1000 co-drivers Dale Wood, Steve Owen, and Ash Walsh.

The son of six-time Great Race winner Larry was the early pace-setter, before being joined in the 10s by the series’ other leading lights after a crash for Aaron Tebb necessitated the first of two red flag periods at the 14-minute mark.

Wood moved to the lead with six minutes remaining, and looked like he had secured early bragging rights when Owen failed to knock his MW Motorsport team-mate off top spot despite bettering his own mark after the flag.

However, Perkins had also set out to set a time in the one-lap dash which ensued after a second brief stoppage, and was fastest to every sector in his Eggleston Motorsport Commodore by some margin.

George Miedecke was the first of those in the 2:11s in fifth, ahead of the other four enduro co-drivers Andrew Jones, Chris Pither, Paul Morris, and Taz Douglas. Aaren Russell rounded out the top ten.

Casey Stoner ended his first competitive session at Mount Panorama in 12th, with the former MotoGP ace’s best time of 2:12.49s set on the first lap of a three-lap run mid-session.

Practice 2 commences at 14:40 AEDT.

See below for the full Practice 1 result