Darwin Supercars: Whincup edges McLaughlin in second practice
Jamie Whincup took top spot in the second Supercars practice session at Hidden Valley by just 0.03s over Scott McLaughlin.
Photo by: Edge Photographics
While DJR Team Penske’s McLaughlin that was first to charge into the very low 1m06s as the qualifying simulations started late in the 45-minute session, it was Triple Eight driver Jamie Whincup that ultimately came out on top with a late flyer of his own.
The second session effectively picked up where the first ended, with times dropping straight into the mid-1m06s. Within five minutes Whincup was fastest with a 1m06.616s, followed by David Reynolds on a 1m06.698s.
On the 20-minute mark Reynolds took over at the top with a 1m06.304s, to that point the fastest time of the weekend, eclipsing Rick Kelly’s Practice 1-topping effort.
Form qualifier Scott McLaughlin showed his hand for the first time on 25 minutes, jumping into second with a 1m06.435s. He then went quicker again 10 minutes later, improving to a 1m06.408s to close the gap to Reynolds.
With a little over four minutes to go McLaughlin finally knocked Reynolds off top spot, charging to P1 with a 1m06.070s.
Craig Lowndes practically matched McLaughlin just seconds later with a 1m06.079s, before Whincup went painfully close to breaking into the 1m05s with a 1m06.036s, which wound up being unbeatable.
“The car is good,” said Whincup. “We’re changing it up heaps, we can’t just sit on our hands and cruise around.
“The car is definitely better, we’ve made an improvement after the test day. Hopefully that continues on for the weekend.”
McLaughlin was equally impressed with his car, despite missing out on top spot.
“The cars is nice, I just overdrove it trying to find the limit,” he said. “I overstepped the mark, you know, that’s what practice is all about.
“The car has been fantastic all day in race trim and qualifying trim, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Lowndes stayed in third, while HSV Racing’s Scott Pye overcame an engine drama to pop up in fourth spot right at the end of the session.
Reynolds slipped back to fifth, a mistake on his final run preventing any late improvement, while Nick Percat was sixth in the Brad Jones Racing Commodore.
James Moffat was seventh, Tim Slade improved late to of eighth quickest, while Shane van Gisbergen was just ninth in the other Red Bull Holden.
There were some big names outside of the Top 10, with Mark Winterbottom the best Prodrive Racing entry down in 12th, two spots ahead of teammates Chaz Mostert and Cam Waters.
Fabian Coulthard was in the middle of the Prodrive Fords, finishing up 13th.
Nissan’s fortunes changed dramatically between the sessions as well, Practice 1 pacesetter Rick Kelly the best of the Altima way down in 16th.
| Cla | # | Driver | Car | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 88 |  Jamie Whincup |
Holden Commodore VF | 1'06.0360 | |
| 2 | 17 |  Scott McLaughlin |
Ford Falcon FG-X | 1'06.0705 | 0.0345 |
| 3 | 888 | Craig Lowndes |
Holden Commodore VF | 1'06.0796 | 0.0436 |
| 4 | 2 | Scott Pye |
Holden Commodore VF | 1'06.2419 | 0.2059 |
| 5 | 9 | David Reynolds |
Holden Commodore VF | 1'06.3042 | 0.2682 |
| 6 | 8 | Nick Percat |
Holden Commodore VF | 1'06.3043 | 0.2683 |
| 7 | 34 | James Moffat |
Holden Commodore VF | 1'06.3078 | 0.2718 |
| 8 | 14 | Tim Slade |
Holden Commodore VF | 1'06.3301 | 0.2941 |
| 9 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen |
Holden Commodore VF | 1'06.3500 | 0.3140 |
| 10 | 19 | Will Davison |
Holden Commodore VF | 1'06.3895 | 0.3535 |
| 11 | 18 | Lee Holdsworth |
Holden Commodore VF | 1'06.4067 | 0.3707 |
| 12 | 5 | Mark Winterbottom |
Ford Falcon FG-X | 1'06.4223 | 0.3863 |
| 13 | 12 | Fabian Coulthard |
Ford Falcon FG-X | 1'06.4252 | 0.3892 |
| 14 | 55 | Chaz Mostert |
Ford Falcon FG-X | 1'06.5029 | 0.4669 |
| 15 | 6 | Cameron Waters |
Ford Falcon FG-X | 1'06.5961 | 0.5601 |
| 16 | 15 | Rick Kelly |
Nissan Altima | 1'06.6496 | 0.6136 |
| 17 | 56 | Jason Bright |
Ford Falcon FG-X | 1'06.6882 | 0.6522 |
| 18 | 22 | James Courtney |
Holden Commodore VF | 1'06.7988 | 0.7628 |
| 19 | 99 | Dale Wood |
Holden Commodore VF | 1'06.8362 | 0.8002 |
| 20 | 21 | Tim Blanchard |
Holden Commodore VF | 1'06.8639 | 0.8279 |
| 21 | 7 | Todd Kelly |
Nissan Altima | 1'07.0128 | 0.9768 |
| 22 | 23 | Michael Caruso |
Nissan Altima | 1'07.0306 | 0.9946 |
| 23 | 78 |  Simona de Silvestro |
Nissan Altima | 1'07.0362 | 1.0002 |
| 24 | 62 | Alex Rullo |
Holden Commodore VF | 1'07.1376 | 1.1016 |
| 25 | 33 | Garth Tander |
Holden Commodore VF | 1'07.1395 | 1.1035 |
| 26 | 3 | Cameron McConville |
Holden Commodore VF | 1'07.1484 | 1.1124 |
| 27 | 28 | Jack Le Brocq |
Nissan Altima | 1'07.2349 | 1.1989 |
| 28 | 4 | Macauley Jones |
Holden Commodore VF | 1'07.2685 | 1.2325 |
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