Whincup fastest in first co-driver practice at The Bend 500

Dick Johnson Racing’s Todd Hazelwood led the lion’s share of Practice 2 at The Bend Motorsport Park on a 1:51.0830 before bettering that to a 1:50.7957s with three minutes to go.

However, the #38 Ford Mustang was pipped after the chequered flag fell when the #88 Chevrolet Camaro shot to the top of the timesheets with a 1:50.5875s to go 0.2082s faster than Hazelwood.

Grove Racing duo Dale Wood and Garth Tander were third and fourth respectively in the #26 and #19 Mustangs.

Andre Heimgartner’s co-driver Declan Fraser rounded out the top five in the #8 Brad Jones Racing Camaro. Fraser was reportedly battling a thumb injury after getting tangled awkwardly during Thursday driver change practice.

There was an even split of Ford Mustangs and Chevrolet Camaros in the top 10. Jarrod Hughes was among the front-runners for Erebus Motorsport until the late flurry of improvements. He ended the session as the best rookie co-driver.

Lee Holdsworth was seventh (#20 Team 18) ahead of James Moffat (#55 Tickford Racing), Zach Bates (#888 Triple Eight), and Mark Winterbottom (#5 Tickford Racing).

Bates was the best of the wildcards in ninth ahead of Rylan Gray in the #5 Tickford Racing Mustang in 14th. Aaron Seton rounded out the field in 27th, 2.1906s adrift of Whincup.

The 30-minute session ran without much incident.

Moffat pushed the limits at Turn 11. He got loose on the downshift and toured the grass. In the preceding practice, Randle almost suffered the same fate.

Practice 3, an all-in session, concludes Friday’s running at The Bend at 3:55pm ACST.

Results: Repco Supercars Championship AirTouch 500 at The Bend, Practice 2