Feeney fastest in action-packed Symmons Practice 1

The opening 30-minute hitout of the weekend was run in sunny but windy conditions, with a tailwind behind the cars into the Turn 4 hairpin appearing to cause havoc.

A string of drivers ran deep at the notorious hairpin, although all were able to escape without becoming stuck in the gravel or clouting the outside wall.

Among the more notable was Taupo winner Matt Payne, who had to reverse his Penrite Mustang out of the tarmac run-off area on consecutive laps.

The top of the timesheet was all about Feeney and Reynolds.

The Team 18 driver topped the early going with 51.3130s before Triple Eight ace Feeney undercut that by 0.0017s with 17 minutes on the clock. Those times remained unbeaten to the end.

Both drivers expressed relief at their Practice 1 pace, with Triple Eight coming off an uncharacteristically poor Taupo and Reynolds enduring a shocking season to date.

“It’s good to not be changing the whole car in one session. We rolled out strong, which was good,” said Feeney.

“We’ve been strong here in the past but we were strong in Taupo [in the past] and didn’t roll out that fast. So to have a good session, it was very productive.

“If let like we learnt a lot. We tinkered away, we’re in a good window. We still need to make it faster but it’s a good way too start.”

Ryan Wood emerged third ahead of Cameron Hill, Andre Heimgartner, Brodie Kostecki, Will Davison, James Golding, Jaxon Evans and Nick Percat.

Feeney and Reynolds’ respective teammates Will Brown and Anton De Pasquale were 12th and 13th, the later escaping a wild off at Turn 1.

They made it 10 Camaros inside the top 13 amid a renewed spotlight on parity following engine mapping changes ratified on Thursday.

Supercars enacts engine parity changes for Tasmania

Ford stars down the order included Cam Waters, Thomas Randle and Chaz Mostert, who were 14th, 15th and 17th respectively, while Payne was even further back in 21st.

Erebus duo Jack Le Brocq and Cooper Murray completed just five laps each. Both Camaros had been fitted with the incorrect drop gear for the circuit, requiring a change under category rules.

A second 30-minute practice session will complete the day’s Supercars running from 3pm local time.

Results: Repco Supercars Championship Tasmania Super440, Symmons Plains