Slade fastest on drying Mount Panorama

Lucky 7 Racing’s Tim Slade has emerged on top after a late flurry of fast times in Practice 1 for the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

With the track drying rapidly in the closing minutes, 13 of the top 14 drivers recorded their fastest lap of the session on their final tour.

Slade’s 2:24.23s saw the South Australian just 0.06s clear of Stone Brothers Racing team-mate Shane van Gisbergen, while Jim Beam Racing’s James Moffat was a further 0.32s adrift in third place.

Cameron McConville (Toll Holden Racing Team) and Steven Johnson (Jim Beam Racing) rounded out the top five.

The 29-car field remained on wet tyres throughout the 50 minutes, with the benchmark time slowly being whittled down from the 2:36s bracket as the session progressed.

All teams sent their lead drivers out to complete the opening stanza of the session, which saw Fabian Coulthard (Bundaberg Racing) and Alex Davison (IRWIN Racing) trade the top spot.

Jamie Whincup (TeamVodafone) had also been on the pace early, before handing the wheel to co-driver Andrew Thompson after a wild spin at Murrays Corner.

The Toll HRT employed a similar strategy with car #2, trading Garth Tander for Nick Percat as the halfway mark approached.

Assisted by the improving conditions, Percat soon eclipsed Tander’s best effort before bunkering the factory Commodore in the sand at Hell Corner, bringing out the session’s only red flag.

Several teams took the red flag as an opportunity to install their co-drivers, with Craig Baird, David Russell, Dean Canto, Andrew Jones, Jack Perkins, Nathan Pretty, Cameron Waters and McConville among those to step aboard their respective mounts.

Mark Winterbottom (Orrcon Steel FPR) jumped to the top of the order soon after the green flags flew with 13 minutes to go – his 2:27.16s a testament to the improving conditions.

Moffat, Tander (now back in the Toll HRT entry) and van Gisbergen (who had joined Tony D’Alberto in completing an installation lap only during the opening 20 minutes) all took turns at the top of the sheets in the final 10 minutes, before Slade trumped them all after the chequered flag had fallen.

Practice 2, for co-drivers only, will kick off at 12:55 local time.

See below for the full Practice 1 result

See below for Speedcafe.com’s Bathurst Race Guide