Reynolds tops Supercars Practice 1 at Townsville

David Reynolds has topped Practice 1 for the NTI Townsville 500 by a margin of two tenths over Will Davison.

They were among a seemingly somewhat small number of drivers who were sent on qualifying simulations at the end of the 40-minute hit-out which kicked off Event 6 of the 2021 Repco Supercars Championship.

Davison had wheeled the #17 Shell V-Power Mustang to a 1:12.9986s with the chequered flag out before Reynolds clocked a 1:12.7971s in Kelly Grove Racing’s #26 Penrite Mustang.

Both therefore jumped Todd Hazelwood (#14 Pizza Hut ZB Commodore), who had not long set a 1:13.0078s, with Chaz Mostert (#25 Mobil 1 Appliances Online ZB Commodore) ending up fourth on a 1:13.0257s.

The session began in dry conditions but with the Reid Park Street Circuit still somewhat green after earlier showers.

Anton De Pasquale (#11 Shell V-Power Mustang), Brad Jones Racing’s Hazelwood, and Tickford Racing’s James Courtney (#44 Boost Mobile Mustang) were among the initial pace-setters, before the Red Bull Ampol Racing duo had their first crack.

Shane van Gisbergen, who was back in the pits early for the refuelling practice allowed at what is the first 500km event since February, drove the #97 ZB Commodore to a 1:13.3692s at the start of his opening run proper.

Team-mate Jamie Whincup quickly usurped him with a 1:13.2612s in the #88 ZB Commodore and set a 1:13.1807s next time around.

Cameron Waters (#6 Monster Energy Mustang) was second at the end of the first runs on a 1:13.2639s and van Gisbergen third on a 1:13.3192s, which was how the sharp end of the timing screen remained for some time.

Zane Goddard (#35 Yellow Cover ZB Commodore) jumped from bottom of the pile to fourth with a 1:13.3368s on his third run, and that was the last change to the top five until the end-of-session ‘happy hour’.

“Obviously, that was a decent lap,” said Reynolds.

“I ran a set of [new/er] tyres which most other people probably didn’t.”

On the #26 KGR machine, he added, “We changed a couple of things in our car between Darwin and here so we’ve sped up the steering to try to give me more feel and changed some front-end parts and it’s obviously working.

“The car is really good, we’ve just got to keep it there.”

Behind Reynolds, Davison, Hazelwood, and Mostert on the timesheet was Erebus Motorsport’s Will Brown (#9 Pedders ZB Commodore) on a 1:13.0873s.

Whincup’s early efforts saw him end up sixth, ahead of Waters, Fabian Coulthard (#19 Local Legends ZB Commodore), van Gisbergen, and Goddard.

De Pasquale apparently did not go after a qualifying simulation and finished 18th-fastest on a 1:13.7064s.

Practice 2, another 40-minute session, is due to start at 15:05 local time/AEST.

Results: Practice 1