Chaz Mostert has clocked the quickest time of the first practice session of the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 – more than two seconds faster than what was set in the first practice session last year.
The Pepsi Max Crew driver recorded a 2min08.07 around Mount Panorama, followed by the Norton Hornet of James Moffat.
Due to the recent track resurfacing of the Mount Panorama circuit, the fastest time of the session was 2.03secs quicker than what was set in last year’s first session, a 2min10.1021 recorded by Craig Lowndes.
With Moffat 0.21secs behind the pace setter, the 22-year-old Mostert still holds some reservations over the car.
“It’s good to come out of practice one and not struggle too much for pace,” he told v8supercars.com.au.
“The new track surface has been a bit tricky for everyone.
“We told our guys what the problems were and they turned it around. But we still have a lot of work to do. Our car is still not perfect, but it’s good to be running up front from the start.”
The session was interrupted when the right-rear tyre of David Wall’s retro Falcon failed on the approach to the Chase, causing the #17 to spin and make contact with the wall.
The incident brought out the red flag, while the Dick Johnson Racing team got to work on both the front and rear of Wall’s car, hoping to return to the track for the second co-driver session.
The incident marks the second time an incident has struck DJR while running a retro style livery at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, with Mostert crashing early in the weekend last year.
The two Holden Racing Team cars of Garth Tander and James Courtney were third and fourth respectively, followed by David Reynolds who held the top spot for a large portion of the session.
Scott McLaughlin took the Volvo S60 to sixth fastest, while Jamie Whincup cracked the top ten to be seventh fastest after spending most of the session at the bottom of the time sheets due to an issue with the tailshaft.
Russel Ingall was eighth, with Todd Kelly/Alex Buncombe and Mark Winterbottom/Steve Owen rounding out the top ten.
Other notable mentions include Craig Lowndes in 12th, followed by fellow Triple-8 engineered Commodore of Shane Van Gisbergen in 13th.
Returning to the track after the horrific accident at Sandown, Lee Holdsworth was 15th, while Super Black wild card entry was 24th in the session, steered by Ant Pedersen.
Other co-drivers to join the session were Oliver Gavin (co-driver of Nick Percat), Tony D’Alberto (co-driver of Tim Slade) and Chris Pither (Dale Wood).
Jack Perkins’ co-driver Cam Waters also steered Car 18 during the session, but sustained damage to the left rear of the Jeldwen Falcon after making contact with the wall at The Cutting.
Click here for full session results.
Stay tuned for the exclusive co-driver only practice session of the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, with the cars hitting the track at 1.15pm.
