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David Russell, co-driver of Supercars Championship leader Brodie Kostecki, has set the fastest lap of the Repco Bathurst 1000 weekend so far.
Practice 2 at Mount Panorama was reserved for the co-drivers and Russell laid down a best time of 2:05.6826s in the #99 Coca-Cola Camaro.
The effort was 0.2827s quicker than Will Brown’s benchmark in the sister Erebus Motorsport car in the opening session of the weekend, and 0.6525s clear of anyone else in the day’s latter, hour-long hit-out.
Coincidentally, next-best in Practice 2 and for the event so far was Grove Racing’s Garth Tander, who set the very fastest lap of the 2022 event in the corresponding session and went on to take victory as a Triple Eight Race Engineering co-driver.
Tander survived a scare at The Esses before clocking a 2:06.3351s to put the #26 Penrite Mustang second on the timesheet and edge his replacement in Shane van Gisbergen’s #97 Red Bull Ampol Racing entry, Richie Stanaway, by 0.0491s.
Dick Johnson Racing wildcard Kai Allen took fourth on a 2:06.6152s while all three Triple Eight Camaros finished in the top six, with Zane Goddard setting a 2:06.7650s in the wildcard #888 Supercheap Auto Camaro and Jamie Whincup a 2:06.7823s in Broc Feeney’s #88 Red Bull Ampol Camaro.
As was the case for Practice 1, conditions were cool and windy at Mount Panorama when pit lane opened at 16:50 local time.
Stanaway was relatively pacey on his opening run, clocking a 2:08.0094s on his first lap and a 2:06.3842s next time around, and remained top when a red flag was called just beyond the 10-minute mark.
The reason for the stoppage was an off for Dean Fiore, who locked the inside front in Bryce Fullwood’s #14 Middy’s Camaro at Murray’s Corner, ran into the gravel trap, and hit the tyre wall.
The session resumed with 45 minutes to go, and Russell immediately took over top spot, by a margin of 0.0062s, with a 2:06.3780s in Brodie Kostecki’s #99 Coca-Cola Camaro.
Team-mate Jack Perkins (#9 Coca-Cola Camaro) moved to third on a 2:06.8341s before Russell raised the bar further with that 2:05.6826s on his next lap.
Garry Jacobson had two nervous moments in Thomas Randle’s #55 Tickford Racing Mustang, appearing to glance the wall exiting The Dipper then slithering all but into the barriers at Forrest’s Elbow on a subsequent lap.
In the final quarter of an hour, Tander then got it wrong as he descended from Skyline into The Esses and cut across the grass strip on driver’s left.
Having survived that, he moved up to third on a 2:06.6151s and then second on the aforementioned 2:06.3351s, during which he clocked the quickest first sector.
Rookie Allen, in the #98 Shell V-Power Racing Team Mustang, was the Ford homologation team’s fastest driver of the session.
He moved up to eighth with a 2:07.0319s just prior to the chequered flag and then jumped another four spots in his very last 6.213km.
Alex Davison improved to seventh with a late 2:06.7828s in brother Will’s #17 Mustang, one position up on Shell V-Power Racing Team team-mate Tony D’Alberto.
Perkins and 2021 Bathurst 1000 winner Lee Holdsworth (#25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang) rounded out the top 10.
Practice 3, for all drivers, starts tomorrow at 10:00 local time/AEDT.
CLICK HERE for full Practice 2 results
