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USA
Practice report

Darwin Supercars: McLaughlin smashes practice record

Scott McLaughlin decimated the practice lap record during the final pre-qualifying hit-out at Hidden Valley, setting a new benchmark time of 1m05.563s.

Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske Ford

Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske Ford

Daniel Kalisz / Motorsport Images

Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske Ford
Michael Caruso, Nissan Motorsport
David Reynolds, Erebus Motorsport Holden
Craig Lowndes, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden
Fabian Coulthard, Team Penske Ford
Jamie Whincup, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden

With a number of drivers having peppered the 1m05s bracket during second practice yesterday, it was Rick Kelly that finally broke out of the sixes just 10 minutes into this morning’s session with a 1m05.994.

That time didn’t last long at the top, David Reynolds lowering the newly-set record with a 1m05.894s, before Fabian Coulthard took over with a 1m05.831s.

McLaughlin then toppled his teammate with a rapid 1m05.654s, only to go even quicker with a little over five minutes to go with a record-smashing 1m05.563s.

“The track is a little bit cooler than it probably will be in qualifying, so we were quite lucky there,” he said.

“The car was great, and I ran a set of tyres to have a feel for qualifying and it worked out okay.

“It was one green tyre run, but we had a good set left over from yesterday as well. That’s what we did the 1m05.6s on, and then had another crack on the greens.

“It’s enjoyable to drive, that’s for sure.”

Reynolds wound up second fastest with a 1m05.741s, improving on his earlier time right at the flag. That dumped Michael Caruso down to third, the Nissan driver having set a 1m05.809s with a little over 15 minutes to go.

Craig Lowndes was the best-placed Triple Eight Commodore in fourth, ahead of Coulthard (who failed to improve at the end of the session, Jamie Whincup, and Kelly.

Tim Slade made late gains to go eighth quickest, while Shane van Gisbergen was just ninth quickest.

It was a tough session for Prodrive Racing Australia, Chaz Mostert the best-placed PRA Ford in 11th while Mark Winterbottom could manage just 20th.

ClaDriverCarTimeGap
1 17 new_zealand  Scott McLaughlin  Ford Falcon FG-X 1'05.5635  
2 9 australia  David Reynolds  Holden Commodore VF 1'05.7413 0.1778
3 23 australia  Michael Caruso  Nissan Altima 1'05.8097 0.2462
4 888 australia  Craig Lowndes  Holden Commodore VF 1'05.8108 0.2473
5 12 new_zealand  Fabian Coulthard  Ford Falcon FG-X 1'05.8319 0.2684
6 88 australia  Jamie Whincup  Holden Commodore VF 1'05.9647 0.4012
7 15 australia  Rick Kelly  Nissan Altima 1'05.9948 0.4313
8 14 australia  Tim Slade  Holden Commodore VF 1'05.9953 0.4318
9 97 new_zealand  Shane van Gisbergen  Holden Commodore VF 1'06.0647 0.5012
10 34 australia  James Moffat  Holden Commodore VF 1'06.0713 0.5078
11 55 australia  Chaz Mostert  Ford Falcon FG-X 1'06.1008 0.5373
12 22 australia  James Courtney  Holden Commodore VF 1'06.1150 0.5515
13 21 australia  Tim Blanchard  Holden Commodore VF 1'06.1355 0.5720
14 6 australia  Cameron Waters  Ford Falcon FG-X 1'06.1394 0.5759
15 33 australia  Garth Tander  Holden Commodore VF 1'06.2251 0.6616
16 7 australia  Todd Kelly  Nissan Altima 1'06.2424 0.6789
17 18 australia  Lee Holdsworth  Holden Commodore VF 1'06.2616 0.6981
18 8 australia  Nick Percat  Holden Commodore VF 1'06.2861 0.7226
19 2 australia  Scott Pye  Holden Commodore VF 1'06.3863 0.8228
20 5 australia  Mark Winterbottom  Ford Falcon FG-X 1'06.3901 0.8266
21 56 australia  Jason Bright  Ford Falcon FG-X 1'06.4000 0.8365
22 4 australia  Macauley Jones  Holden Commodore VF 1'06.4548 0.8913
23 28 australia  Jack Le Brocq  Nissan Altima 1'06.5724 1.0089
24 62 australia  Alex Rullo  Holden Commodore VF 1'06.6094 1.0459
25 78 switzerland  Simona de Silvestro  Nissan Altima 1'06.6206 1.0571
26 19 australia  Will Davison  Holden Commodore VF 1'06.7426 1.1791
27 99 australia  Dale Wood  Holden Commodore VF 1'06.7671 1.2036
28 3 australia  Cameron McConville  Holden Commodore VF 1'06.8875 1.3240

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