Clipsal 500 Supercars: McLaughlin puts Penske on top in FP2

The Kiwi stormed to the top of the times just before the midway point, breaking the 1m20s barrier for the first time this weekend with a 1m19.891.

That time would have been good enough for P1 anyway, but McLaughlin improved right at the flag with a 1m19.835s to cover a purple sector from Shane van Gisbergen.

While reigning champion van Gisbergen did go on a charge at the end of the session, it was Rick Kelly who popped up into second. The Nissan driver bounced over the chicane on the first of a two-lap stint at the end, but nailed the second with a 1m19.924s – despite not being overly happy with his own performance.

“I’m surprised at we’re where we are, because I didn’t feel I did a good job,” said Kelly. “It was a shaky lap that second lap [in the stint]. The car is good, I’ve just got to change my approach.”

Van Gisbergen’s late improvement saw him slot into third place, and last of those under the 1m20s bracket, with a 1m19.937s. That left him a tenth clear of Red Bull Holden Racing Team teammate Jamie Whincup, who was fourth quickest after topping this morning’s first session.

Todd Kelly was fifth quickest in his brand new Nissan chassis, while hometown hero Nick Percat jumped to sixth with a 1m20.126s right at the death.

David Reynolds was impressive in the Erebus Commodore, finishing up seventh quickest ahead of Prodrive’s Chaz Mostert and DJR Team Penske’s Fabian Coulthard, while Michael Caruso made it three Nissans in the Top 10.

Craig Lowndes was off the pace again, the Triple Eight drive ending up way down the order in 21st. However the veteran star was unfazed, blaming his poor position on kerb strikes rather than a genuine lack of pace.

“The car feels good,” he said. “We got through our programme, we made our adjustments. We’ll have a look at the data and have a look at where we are, we just have to get through Turn 1 better.”

Simona de Silvestro made in-roads in terms of her relative pace, ending the session 23rd fastest and just 1.2s behind pacesetter McLaughlin.

Teenager Alex Rullo had a tough session, sparking a red flag with a trip into the wall and ending up more than three seconds off the pace.

Cla	#	Driver	Car	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	17	Scott McLaughlin	Ford Falcon FG-X	15	1'19.8355			145.198
2	15	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	18	1'19.9241	0.0886	0.0886	145.037
3	97	Shane van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore VF	16	1'19.9370	0.1015	0.0129	145.014
4	88	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore VF	15	1'20.0363	0.2008	0.0993	144.834
5	7	Todd Kelly	Nissan Altima	15	1'20.1109	0.2754	0.0746	144.699
6	8	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore VF	17	1'20.1266	0.2911	0.0157	144.671
7	9	David Reynolds	Holden Commodore VF	14	1'20.2399	0.4044	0.1133	144.466
8	55	Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG-X	20	1'20.2429	0.4074	0.0030	144.461
9	12	Fabian Coulthard	Ford Falcon FG-X	14	1'20.3479	0.5124	0.1050	144.272
10	23	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima	12	1'20.3820	0.5465	0.0341	144.211
11	5	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG-X	16	1'20.4201	0.5846	0.0381	144.143
12	18	Lee Holdsworth	Holden Commodore VF	16	1'20.4351	0.5996	0.0150	144.116
13	19	Will Davison	Holden Commodore VF	18	1'20.4421	0.6066	0.0070	144.103
14	34	James Moffat	Holden Commodore VF	15	1'20.4423	0.6068	0.0002	144.103
15	14	Tim Slade	Holden Commodore VF	17	1'20.4514	0.6159	0.0091	144.086
16	2	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore VF	17	1'20.4620	0.6265	0.0106	144.068
17	99	Dale Wood	Holden Commodore VF	15	1'20.4953	0.6598	0.0333	144.008
18	33	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore VF	17	1'20.7077	0.8722	0.2124	143.629
19	22	James Courtney	Holden Commodore VF	17	1'20.7251	0.8896	0.0174	143.598
20	56	Jason Bright	Ford Falcon FG-X	18	1'20.7477	0.9122	0.0226	143.558
21	888	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore VF	19	1'20.8602	1.0247	0.1125	143.358
22	6	Cameron Waters	Ford Falcon FG-X	16	1'20.8790	1.0435	0.0188	143.325
23	78	Simona de Silvestro	Nissan Altima	20	1'21.0850	1.2495	0.2060	142.961
24	21	Tim Blanchard	Holden Commodore VF	20	1'21.1148	1.2793	0.0298	142.908
25	3	Taz Douglas	Holden Commodore VF	17	1'21.5241	1.6886	0.4093	142.191
26	62	Alex Rullo	Holden Commodore VF	17	1'23.1366	3.3011	1.6125	139.433