Young guns shine in Ipswich co-driver practice

Dunlop Series stars Jack Le Brocq and James Golding showed the way in the Supercars co-driver practice session at Queensland Raceway.

A 30 minute run for the additional drivers kicked off the day’s action at Ipswich, preceding two 60 minute runs for the regulars.

Steering Cameron Waters’ Prodrive Ford, Le Brocq’s 1:11.04s best was set with just under three minutes remaining.

Preparing for his second Pirtek Enduro Cup campaign after a stint with Erebus Motorsport last year, the 24-year-old is riding a wave of confidence following five straight wins in the Dunlop Series.

“It’s a little bit different with the twin spring in this car (which is banned in the Dunlop Series) but I feel I’m adapting really well,” said Le Brocq.

“These guys (Prodrive) have been awesome helping me understand what I need to do to drive these cars fast.

“There’s still a lot more to come because I’m still getting my head around it.”

James Golding slotted James Moffat’s Volvo into second at the chequered flag, falling 0.2s short of his Dunlop Series rival.

Team-mate David Wall also performed strongly to be sixth in Scott McLaughlin’s car as Garry Rogers Motorsport continues to wait on confirming its final enduro pairings.

“It’s good to be back out in the Volvo again and so much fun on the soft tyre,” smiled Golding, who is also part of GRM’s pit crew.

“There’s so much more grip, you can really fire it into the corners which requires a bit more confidence.”

Scott Pye’s co-driver Tony D’Alberto led much of the session for DJR Team Penske before being bumped to an eventual third.

“We expect the cars to be good here and for the tyre quality I was pretty happy with that,” he said.

“The track is a bit greasy at the moment because the temperature is so high.”

Steven Richards put Craig Lowndes’ Holden fourth while the other two Triple Eight cars sat on the sidelines with Alex Premat and Paul Dumbrell both busy overseas.

Macauley Jones was fifth ahead of Wall and Dean Fiore, who completed a single lap in Dale Wood’s Nissan before jumping aboard the car he’ll share with Michael Caruso.

Garry Jacobson ended up eighth as he substituted for Steve Owen who, like Wood’s co-driver David Russell, is on the way to Spa for next weekend’s 24 Hours.

Lucas Dumbrell fielded Cameron McConville and Alex Rullo in the session, with the former a likely starter alongside Nick Percat for the Sandown 500.

Teenager Rullo ended the session 22nd after escaping a high-speed off at Turn 1.

Result: Virgin Australia Supercars Championship Coates Hire Ipswich Super Sprint Co-driver practice