Whincup bounces back in second practice

Jamie Whincup recovered from a crash in the day’s opening session to end practice for the Castrol Edge Townsville 400 at the top of the order.

Red Bull team-mate Shane van GIsbergen led the way for the majority of the 40 minutes after being the first to dip into the 1:12s bracket.

The Kiwi’s 1:12.78s stood at the top until just three minutes remained when Whincup put down his 1:12.55s.

Whincup’s crew had been forced into significant repairs between sessions after he clouted the concrete at Turn 3.

“It did a massive amount of damage and the boys basically put a whole new front-end in it,” said Whincup.

“The car is ok, I don’t think anyone really nailed it and we ended up P1.

“The track is slippery, so they’re going to be long races.”

Chaz Mostert and Will Davison squeezed between the Red Bull pair in the dying minutes, backing up their strong performances from earlier in the day.

Practice 1 pace-setter David Reynolds slotted into fifth ahead of Scott McLaughlin, Mark Winterbottom, James Courtney, Michael Caruso and Rick Kelly.

Like the opening session, the start was delayed while track workers attended to a surface break up at the Turn 2 hairpin.

The session ran green for its duration, with a trip down the Turn 2 escape road for Fabian Coulthard after a major lock-up the only notable incident.

Coulthard ended a tough day for DJR Team Penske in 22nd; one place behind team-mate Scott Pye.

The Super Street format sees no additional practice session on Saturday morning, ensuring teams must roll straight into qualifying at 1255 local time.

Result: Virgin Australia Supercars Championship Castrol Edge Townsville 400 Practice 2