Slade fastest in opening Sydney practice

Tim Slade has begun his final weekend with Erebus Motorsport in fine form, topping Practice 1 on the streets of Sydney Olympic Park.

The 28-year-old, who will move to Walkinshaw Racing next season, edged Fujitsu GRM’s Scott McLaughlin for the top spot in the bottom 50 percent and rookies only hit-out by just 0.03s.

McLaughlin had sat atop the order for the majority of the session before Slade set his 1:29.48s best after the chequered flag fell.

Erebus is planning on testing an alternate damper package on Slade’s car today, but ran with its pre-existing units during the opening session.

Slade’s Erebus team-mate Lee Holdsworth was third in Practice 1 ahead of Todd Kelly, Alexandre Premat and James Moffat.

Drivers spent the opening hit-out acclimatising to the challenging circuit layout and aggressive kerbing, which does not feature electronic timing loops this year.

It was a difficult session for Dick Johnson Racing. Tim Blanchard parked his Ford in the Turn 8 escape road with mechanical problems just past the halfway mark, triggering the only red flag.

Blanchard had enjoyed a wild slide through the Turn 5 sweeper moments before the car lost power.

Team-mate Chaz Mostert, meanwhile, did not set a time, with the team reporting a power steering failure.

Nick Percat eased into his first non-endurance V8 Supercars Championship appearance in the Holden Racing Team’s new Commodore, setting his best time on his final lap to place 10th.

A further three 30 minute practice sessions will follow later today.

See below for full Practice 1 results