V8 Supercars Championship leader Mark Winterbottom has topped the opening practice session for the Castrol Edge Townsville 400.
The Prodrive Ford moved to the top of the order with a 1:13.6s best set with just under five of the 30 minutes remaining.
Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport’s Tim Blanchard made a late run on the soft tyre to end up second ahead of James Courtney and Shane van Gisbergen.
Van Gisbergen completed just six laps in his Tekno Holden before heading to the garage reporting a severe vibration.
Chaz Mostert completed the top five ahead of Scott McLaughlin, Michael Caruso, James Moffat, Nick Percat and Scott Pye.
Winterbottom, who admitted a need to adjust his driving style to better suit the FG X ahead of the weekend, was left pleased with the opening hit-out.
“I pretty much did my qualifying time from last year in practice so we have obviously made gains here which is great,” he said. “Now it is about staying on top of the track condition.
“I’m trying to maximise the strength of the car and people say go drive different but when you have done the same thing for 12 years and its worked (it’s hard to change),” he added.
“The car is really sensitive so I’m just trying to make sure I’m more consistent. I will go and have a look at the data to see if it worked.”
Red Bull Racing meanwhile had a quiet start to its weekend, with Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup 17th and 19th respectively.
The second of the day’s three practice sessions will get underway at 1045 local time.
Result: V8 Supercars Practice 1, Townsville
1 |
Mark Winterbottom |
Pepsi Max Crew |
Ford Falcon FG/X |
01:13.61 |
|
2 |
Tim Blanchard |
Team Cooldrive |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:13.85 |
00:00.23 |
3 |
James Courtney |
Holden Racing Team |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:14.12 |
00:00.51 |
4 |
Shane Van Gisbergen |
Team Darrell Lea STIX |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:14.16 |
00:00.55 |
5 |
Chaz Mostert |
Pepsi Max Crew |
Ford Falcon FG/X |
01:14.22 |
00:00.60 |
6 |
Scott McLaughlin |
Wilson Security Racing GRM |
Volvo S60 |
01:14.26 |
00:00.65 |
7 |
Michael Caruso |
Nissan Motorsport |
Nissan Altima |
01:14.26 |
00:00.65 |
8 |
James Moffat |
Nissan Motorsport |
Nissan Altima |
01:14.34 |
00:00.73 |
9 |
Nick Percat |
Repair Management Aust Racing |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:14.45 |
00:00.84 |
10 |
Scott Pye |
DJR Team Penske |
Ford Falcon FG/X |
01:14.48 |
00:00.87 |
11 |
Garth Tander |
Holden Racing Team |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:14.51 |
00:00.89 |
12 |
David Reynolds |
The Bottle-O Racing Team |
Ford Falcon FG/X |
01:14.56 |
00:00.95 |
13 |
Tim Slade |
Supercheap Auto Racing |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:14.60 |
00:00.98 |
14 |
Will Davison |
Erebus Motorsport V8 |
Mercedes E63 AMG |
01:14.67 |
00:01.06 |
15 |
Fabian Coulthard |
Freightliner Racing |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:14.70 |
00:01.09 |
16 |
Lee Holdsworth |
Walkinshaw Racing |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:14.77 |
00:01.15 |
17 |
Craig Lowndes |
Red Bull Racing Australia |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:14.78 |
00:01.17 |
18 |
Todd Kelly |
Nissan Motorsport |
Nissan Altima |
01:14.80 |
00:01.19 |
19 |
Jamie Whincup |
Red Bull Racing Australia |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:14.80 |
00:01.19 |
20 |
Rick Kelly |
Nissan Motorsport |
Nissan Altima |
01:14.85 |
00:01.24 |
21 |
Andre Heimgartner |
Super Black Racing |
Ford Falcon FG/X |
01:14.97 |
00:01.35 |
22 |
Dale Wood |
GB Galvanizing Racing |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:15.07 |
00:01.46 |
23 |
Ashley Walsh |
Erebus Motorsport V8 |
Mercedes E63 AMG |
01:15.20 |
00:01.59 |
24 |
Jason Bright |
Team BOC |
Holden Commodore VF |
01:15.36 |
00:01.75 |
25 |
David Wall |
Wilson Security Racing GRM |
Volvo S60 |
01:15.65 |
00:02.04 |
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