Bates was among those to go on a relatively early green tyre run in Practice 2 at Wanneroo Raceway and produced a 0:55.4149s in the #25 ZB Commodore.
That turned the tables on Eggleston Motorsport, which filled the top three in the day’s earlier 40-minute session and ended up second through fifth in the latter, Jordyn Sinni (#54 ZB Commodore) its best on a 0:55.4799s.
Team-mate Cooper Murray (#88 ZB Commodore) had been quickest out of the blocks with a 0:56.8869s on his first flyer before another Eggleston driver in Cameron Crick (#38 ZB Commodore), who set the pace in Practice 1, clocked a 0:56.4895s and 0:56.4527s on consecutive laps.
Cameron McLeod then punched out three fastest laps in a row – a 0:56.4424s, a 0:56.4172s, and a 0:56.3140s – to put the #92 RM Racing Cars ZB Commodore on top at the end of the opening runs.
However, McLeod’s afternoon quickly came to a premature end when Car #92 developed a power steering leak during his second run, and he was back to the pits for the duration.
Super2 rookie Mason Kelly (#22 Kelly Racing S550 Mustang) then jumped to the top with a 0:56.2215s, before Tickford Racing’s Lochie Dalton (#6 S550 Mustang) moved the marker to a 0:55.8121s.
It became a WAU one-two with just over 10 minutes remaining when Campbell Logan (#2 ZB Commodore) laid down a 0:55.8043s and then Bates reset the fastest lap of the day with that 0:55.4149s.
A full Eggleston assault on the timing screen followed, with that quartet managing to dislodge rookie Logan but not Bates.
Murray went second on a 0:55.7189s before series leader Kai Allen (#1 ZB Commodore) set a 0:55.5311s and Sinni a 0:55.4799s.
Allen was personal-best to the second sector in the final minute of the session but ran wide through Turn 7 and tripped the kerb sensor, meaning that lap and the next one were scrubbed anyway.
The top four was thus Bates, Sinni, Allen, and Murray, with Crick fifth on 0:55.7687s which was slightly slower than he had gone in Practice 1.
Kelly’s Aaron Cameron was first of the Ford contingent with a 0:55.7976s in the #27 S550 Mustang which was good enough for sixth all-told.
The top 10 was rounded out by Logan, Dalton, Brad Vaughan (#5 Tickford S550 Mustang), and Jarrod Hughes (#118 Image Racing ZB Commodore), with McLeod shuffled back to 20th.
Being 15th on combined times, the latter is thus going into Group 1 of qualifying tomorrow, with the split this year being top and bottom 50 percent rather than Super2 and Super3 class.
Qualifying for Race 1 starts on Saturday at 11:00 local time/13:00 AEST.
Results: Practice 2
Pos | Num | Team/Sponsor | Driver | Car | Cls | Fastest lap | Split |
1 | 25 | Walkinshaw Andretti United | Zach Bates | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | 0:55.4149 | |
2 | 54 | Eggleston Motorsport/Car City | Jordyn Sinni | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | 0:55.4799 | 0:00.0650 |
3 | 1 | Eggleston Motorsport/Coca-Cola | Kai Allen | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | 0:55.5311 | 0:00.1162 |
4 | 88 | Eggleston Motorsport | Cooper Murray | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | 0:55.5966 | 0:00.1817 |
5 | 38 | Eggleston Motorsport | Cameron Crick | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | 0:55.7687 | 0:00.3538 |
6 | 27 | Schramm Group Racing | Aaron Cameron | Ford Mustang GT | DS2 | 0:55.7976 | 0:00.3827 |
7 | 2 | Walkinshaw Andretti United | Campbell Logan | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | 0:55.8043 | 0:00.3894 |
8 | 6 | AWC | Lochie Dalton | Ford Mustang GT | DS2 | 0:55.8121 | 0:00.3972 |
9 | 5 | Dormer HVAC Services | Brad Vaughan | Ford Mustang GT | DS2 | 0:55.8252 | 0:00.4103 |
10 | 118 | Image Racing | Jarrod Hughes | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | 0:55.8280 | 0:00.4131 |
11 | 22 | Kelly Racing | Mason Kelly | Ford Mustang GT | DS2 | 0:55.9469 | 0:00.5320 |
12 | 55 | Tickford Racing | Rylan Gray | Ford Mustang GT | DS2 | 0:55.9659 | 0:00.5510 |
13 | 19 | Brad Jones Racing | Elliott Cleary | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | 0:56.0365 | 0:00.6216 |
14 | 17 | Anderson Motorsport | Max Vidau | Ford Mustang GT | DS2 | 0:56.1024 | 0:00.6875 |
15 | 15 | AWCON | Cody Burcher | Nissan Altima | DS3 | 0:56.1807 | 0:00.7658 |
16 | 3 | Spitwater / MWM | Thomas Maxwell | Nissan Altima | DS3 | 0:56.1983 | 0:00.7834 |
17 | 138 | Titan Caravans/ NAPA Autoparts | Jett Johnson | Ford Mustang GT | DS2 | 0:56.2235 | 0:00.8086 |
18 | 9 | Coca-Cola Racing | Cody Gillis | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | 0:56.2287 | 0:00.8138 |
19 | 99 | Erebus Motorsport | Jobe Stewart | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | 0:56.2477 | 0:00.8328 |
20 | 92 | RM Racing Cars/PremiAir Racing | Cameron McLeod | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | 0:56.3140 | 0:00.8991 |
21 | 20 | Gtechniq | Reuben Goodall | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | 0:56.4353 | 0:01.0204 |
22 | 11 | Super Cars Super Heroes / AIM | Ryan Gilroy | Ford Mustang GT | DS2 | 0:56.4435 | 0:01.0286 |
23 | 18 | Cavalier Homes | Matthew Chahda | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | 0:56.6178 | 0:01.2029 |
24 | 33 | Ascot Demolition/Cylinder Head | Callum Walker | Holden Commodore ZB | DS2 | 0:56.7306 | 0:01.3157 |
25 | 4 | Rightway Industrial | Tony Auddino | Holden Commodore VF | DS3 | 0:57.8121 | 0:02.3972 |