Reynolds tops opening Townsville practice

David Reynolds put Erebus Motorsport at the top of the order for the first time this season in opening practice at the Castrol Edge Townsville 400.

Reynolds completed a 1:12.87s as the chequered flag flew to edge out Prodrive’s Chaz Mostert by 0.01s.

The duo were among a handful of drivers to switch to their second set of pre-marked tyres late in the 40 minutes.

Will Davison and Tim Slade also jumped into the top four in the closing minutes ahead of Nissan duo Rick and Todd Kelly.

Holden Racing Team team-mates James Courtney and Garth Tander had led the way for much of the going before being demoted to seventh and eighth respectively.

Reynolds said he had no choice but to make the early move to his second set due to the poor quality of his first.

“The track must be pretty green because it doesn’t feel like there’s a lot of grip out there,” he said.

“I think I had a dodgy set of tyres with the first set, my left-rear was shagged and we kind of had no option but to put another set on.

“Hopefully we can keep it up… we put some new bits in the car over the break that we’re still unsure of, but the times say it’s pretty good.”

Mostert also noted the lack of early track grip.

“We really struggled for grip at the start,” he said.

“I think we’re reasonably close but we’ve still got a bit of work to do with the car.”

The session was punctuated by a single red flag, called to retrieve debris at Turns 2 and 7.

Shane van Gisbergen twice ran wide at Turn 7 and destroyed trackside signage while touring the grass.

Team-mate Jamie Whincup fared worse, making significant contact with the outside wall at the exit of Turn 3 in the closing minutes.

Whincup had been running closely behind Jason Bright when he misjudged the shape of the wall out of the right-hander.

The six-time champion was able to drive back to the pits but took no further part in the session.

Craig Lowndes also made the highlights reel in the third Triple Eight entry with a harmless spin at Turn 2.

Rookie Kurt Kostecki ended the session at the bottom of the order, albeit less than a tenth adrift of next man Aaren Russell.

Result: Virgin Australia Supercars Championship Castrol Edge Townsville 400 Practice 1