Darwin Supercars: Kelly trumps Triple Eight in first practice
A last-gasp green tyre run helped Nissan driver Rick Kelly beat a trio of Triple Eight Holdens to top spot in the first practice session at Hidden Valley.
Photo by: Nissan Motorsports
Despite a sticking throttle, Kelly was able to make the most of some green rubber to fire from outside the Top 20 to number one spot with just 50 seconds of the 45 minute-session remaining.
It was Triple Eight driver Jamie Whincup who was first to break into the 1m06s bracket, knocking early leader James Moffat off top spot with a 1m06.921s on the 21-minute mark.
That time lasted just five minutes, before DJR Team Penske’s Fabian Coulthard took over with a 1m06.771s.
The next major shakeup came after a red flag with a little under five minutes to go. Times tumbled on improved rubber, Shane van Gisbergen to first of the big movers to jump from outside the Top 10 to top spot with a 1m06.606s, teammate Whincup improving to a 1m06.614s at almost the same time to slot into second.
Craig Lowndes then split the Red Bull Holdens with with a 1m06.6111s, before Rick Kelly trumped everyone with a green tyre run that saw him jump from 21st to first with a 1m06.506s, despite the Nissan driver struggling with a throttle issue.
“We ran a new set of tyres, and I don’t think anybody else did,” he said.
“There’s a lot of time in the car still, we’ve only done a couple of runs here today so there is more to come.
“There was a little bit of a throttle drama; at that critical point when you’re trying to crack a bit of throttle it is sticky, and then it breaks through very aggressively. So it wasn’t the cleanest of laps.”
Lowndes ended up second having jumped van Gisbergen with a second lap on his final run, while Chaz Mostert and Lee Holdsworth both improved late to finish up behind the Red Bulls in fifth and sixth.
Coulthard ended up seventh having not improved on his final run despite setting a session-best first sector, followed by Garth Tander, David Reynolds (who also didn’t improve after the red flag), and Cam Waters.
Scott McLaughlin was the most noteworthy omission from the Top 10, the DJR Team Penske driver just 14th fastest.
Jason Bright finished up down in 18th after causing the red flag with a little under five minutes to go. The veteran, making his 19th start at Hidden Valley, fired off at Turn 11, backing into the wall and causing plenty of cosmetic damage to his Prodrive Ford.
Cla | # | Driver | Car | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 15 | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1'06.5061 | |
2 | 888 | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 1'06.5677 | 0.0616 |
3 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 1'06.6065 | 0.1004 |
4 | 88 | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 1'06.6141 | 0.1080 |
5 | 55 | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG-X | 1'06.7543 | 0.2482 |
6 | 18 | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VF | 1'06.7671 | 0.2610 |
7 | 12 | Fabian Coulthard | Ford Falcon FG-X | 1'06.7711 | 0.2650 |
8 | 33 | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 1'06.7744 | 0.2683 |
9 | 9 | David Reynolds | Holden Commodore VF | 1'06.8110 | 0.3049 |
10 | 6 | Cameron Waters | Ford Falcon FG-X | 1'06.8396 | 0.3335 |
11 | 19 | Will Davison | Holden Commodore VF | 1'06.8631 | 0.3570 |
12 | 5 | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG-X | 1'06.9084 | 0.4023 |
13 | 14 | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore VF | 1'06.9500 | 0.4439 |
14 | 17 | Scott McLaughlin | Ford Falcon FG-X | 1'07.0024 | 0.4963 |
15 | 8 | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VF | 1'07.0353 | 0.5292 |
16 | 23 | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 1'07.0732 | 0.5671 |
17 | 34 | James Moffat | Holden Commodore VF | 1'07.1296 | 0.6235 |
18 | 56 | Jason Bright | Ford Falcon FG-X | 1'07.1669 | 0.6608 |
19 | 3 | Cameron McConville | Holden Commodore VF | 1'07.2227 | 0.7166 |
20 | 7 | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1'07.2421 | 0.7360 |
21 | 99 | Dale Wood | Holden Commodore VF | 1'07.2458 | 0.7397 |
22 | 4 | Macauley Jones | Holden Commodore VF | 1'07.3621 | 0.8560 |
23 | 21 | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore VF | 1'07.3920 | 0.8859 |
24 | 22 | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 1'07.4512 | 0.9451 |
25 | 2 | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore VF | 1'07.4580 | 0.9519 |
27 | 62 | Alex Rullo | Holden Commodore VF | 1'07.7512 | 1.2451 |
28 | 78 | Simona de Silvestro | Nissan Altima | 1'07.8917 | 1.3856 |
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