Formula 4
Nick Rowe claimed pole position for the first and third Formula 4 races of the weekend, topping qualifying by over a tenths of a second from Cameron Shields.
Qualifying followed two practice sessions, the best lap in both set by Zak Best at a 1:12.6 who topped the 11-car field.
In qualifying trim, Rowe went almost half a second faster, with the top five cars all under Best’s practice benchmark.
Rowe’s efforts saw him claim pole position for Race 1 courtesy of his fastest lap, and the Race 3 pole position thanks to also setting the second fastest time of the session.
Formula 4 has two races tomorrow, the first 13-lap encounter at 12:25 before a second race at 14:40.
V8 Utes
Ryal Harris ended the day fastest though his time in the second practice session was more than a second slower than David Sieders managed in first practice.
Sieder’s effort in the first 20-minute session of 1:22.7699 was the fastest recorded by a V8 Ute around Queensland Raceway.
As conditions heated up in the three hours between sessions, times slowed by over a second to leave Harris’ best at just 1:23.8444.
Electrical gremlins for Marcus Zukanovic saw the Falcon driver battling with a car falling into limp mode, while Chris Formosa had a couple of off-track excursions.
The field will go qualifying at 9:40 tomorrow ahead of its first 14-lap race.
Touring Car Masters
The sole Touring Car Masters session of the day was topped by Steve Johnson aboard his Ford Mustang.
The Queenslander set a best of 1:16.7832 to head the 21-car pack, edging out John Bowe by less than 0.02s.
A red flag ended the session early when Darren Beale lost control of his Holden Monaro heading into the final corner, burying the car in the gravel trap after making contact with the tyre barrier.
There was also a spin for Bruce Williams at Turn 4, while Ryan Hansford suffered a suspected differential housing issue that left his Holden Torana crabbing around the circuit.
Touring Car Masters heads back out at 9:10 tomorrow morning for a second practice session before qualifying and the first race of the weekend.
V8 Touring Cars
Jack Smith topped both practice sessions on the opening day, which was interrupted by a number of red flags.
Smith went fastest in the opening session with a 1:11.5164 before lowering that benchmark by 0.3s in the day’s second practice session.
Both featured red flags, Nandi Kiss finding the gravel at Turn 3 and Bradley Neill getting bogged at Turn 2 to draw an early end to proceedings.
Series debutant Anton De Pasqualie set the second quickest time in opening practice, while Tyler Greenbury was second best in Practice 2, 0.6s adrift of Smith.
Thomas Randle improved from tenth fastest in the morning’s hit out to end the day fifth fastest in the Rusty French owned Ford Falcon.
The V8 Touring Car field will be back on track at 10:10 tomorrow morning for qualifying with Race 1 to follow at 14:10.