Ojeda fastest in frenetic first Melbourne Supercars practice

Rookies are allotted an extra set of tyres for the first practice session at each Supercars round, which several drivers made the most of.

Ojeda set a 1:47.8806s to put himself 0.7368s clear of Anton De Pasquale in the #18 Team 18 Chevrolet Camaro, whose 1:48.6174s was set on used tyres.

Dick Johnson Racing rookie Rylan Gray was also quick in the #38 Ford Mustang, making the most of his addition set of tyres to go third fastest on a 1:49.0823s.

“Busy Thursday for us, so always good to start with a bit of speed in the car,” said Ojeda.

“For sure, being a rookie and getting the additional set of tyres help. It’s a massive step in learning these cars, so it’s really appreciated by Supercars.

“Unfamiliar with this configuration. I raced here in Formula 4 in 2019 but other than that a Supercar rookie.

“A little bit to get my head around, especially the grip we had in the Formula 4 compared to these things, especially with how fast this circuit is and these cars with the low downforce just getting to grips with that.”

The session ended with Declan Fraser parking on the chute between Turn 10 and 11 with an electrical issue, which brough out local yellows. Fraser was last of the 24 drivers with 10 laps to his name.

There were early dramas in practice for Cooper Murray, whose #99 Erebus Motorsport Camaro began blowing smoke.

It emerged a power steering failure had spilled oil through the engine bay, and left him stranded in the pit lane as the team remedied the issue.

Murray returned late in the session to set the 19th fastest time after seven laps.

James Golding had an eventful session int he #7 Blanchard Racing Team Mustang. He went off the road at the high-speed Turn 10 and later brushed the Turn 8 wall.

Jackson Walls toured the gravel trap in his #11 Triple Eight Race Engineering Mustang at Turn 14 inside the final two minutes. He ended up 23rd.

The Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit was fairly dusty to begin the day. Supercars effectively acted as track sweepers as the only Porsche Carrera Cup Australia practice was a non-event due to Marcos Flack having a massive crash in the opening minutes of the session.

No representative lap times were set in the Carrera Cup session. The championship will have qualifying at 11:35am AEDT.

Practice 2 for the Repco Supercars Championship at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix gets underway on Thursday at 12:25pm AEDT.

Results: Repco Supercars Championship Melbourne SuperSprint, Practice 1