Gold Coast 600: Walsh explains practice tangle

Walsh ran wide at Turn 12 before being tagged from behind by Luff on the run to Turn 13, the contact tipping the Brad Jones Racing Holden into a spin that ended with front-end contact with the wall.

It was a costly incident for Walsh, the damage severe enough to mean he missed the majority of the 30-minute session – the only dedicated running for co-drivers.

Explaining the clash, Walsh said he was trying to get out of Luff's way.

“I ran wide the corner before,” he said.

“I saw Luffy coming up to the back of me and thought I’d get out of the road.

“I think he’s just misjudged it and tagged the back of me coming out of the corner and it’s sent me into the wall.

“It’s a shame because you don’t get much running here.”

Garth Tander comfortably set the pace in the crucial session, the Triple Eight driver more than three-tenths clear of the field.

His 1m10.663s was the second fastest time so far today, only Jamie Whincup having been quicker in the earlier primary driver session.

James Moffat finished the co-driver session second, followed by DJR Team Penske pair Alex Premat and Tony D'Alberto.

Jack Perkins and Jono Webb were next, as Michael Caruso, Craig Lowndes, Dean Fiore and Will Brown rounded out the Top 10.

Cla	#	Driver		Car	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	97	Shane van Gisbergen Garth Tander		Holden Commodore ZB	18	01'10.663			150.799
2	55	Chaz Mostert James Moffat		Ford Mustang GT	19	01'10.977	00.314	00.314	150.131
3	17	Scott McLaughlin Alexandre Prémat		Ford Mustang GT	20	01'11.138	00.475	00.161	149.791
4	12	Fabian Coulthard Tony D'Alberto		Ford Mustang GT	14	01'11.201	00.537	00.062	149.660
5	22	James Courtney Jack Perkins		Holden Commodore ZB	19	01'11.300	00.636	00.098	149.452
6	19	Jack Le Brocq Jonathon Webb		Holden Commodore ZB	15	01'11.310	00.646	00.010	149.431
7	6	Cameron Waters Michael Caruso		Ford Mustang GT	16	01'11.318	00.654	00.008	149.415
8	888	Jamie Whincup Craig Lowndes		Holden Commodore ZB	18	01'11.321	00.658	00.003	149.407
9	3	Garry Jacobson Dean Fiore		Nissan Altima	18	01'11.334	00.671	00.013	149.380
10	99	Anton De Pasquale Will Brown		Holden Commodore ZB	19	01'11.468	00.805	00.133	149.100
11	7	Andre Heimgartner Bryce Fullwood		Nissan Altima	17	01'11.573	00.909	00.104	148.882
12	2	Scott Pye Warren Luff		Holden Commodore ZB	19	01'11.629	00.965	00.055	148.766
13	9	David Reynolds Luke Youlden		Holden Commodore ZB	20	01'11.639	00.976	00.010	148.744
14	23	Will Davison Alex Davison		Ford Mustang GT	17	01'11.857	01.194	00.218	148.293
15	8	Nick Percat Tim Blanchard		Holden Commodore ZB	21	01'11.869	01.205	00.011	148.269
16	33	Richie Stanaway Chris Pither		Holden Commodore ZB	16	01'11.890	01.226	00.021	148.225
17	15	Rick Kelly Dale Wood		Nissan Altima	16	01'11.922	01.259	00.032	148.159
18	14	Tim Slade Ash Walsh		Holden Commodore ZB	7	01'12.077	01.413	00.154	147.841
19	21	Macauley Jones Dean Canto		Holden Commodore ZB	16	01'12.243	01.579	00.166	147.501
20	5	Lee Holdsworth Thomas Randle		Ford Mustang GT	16	01'12.346	01.683	00.103	147.290
21	78	Simona de Silvestro Alex Rullo		Nissan Altima	14	01'12.425	01.762	00.078	147.130
22	18	Mark Winterbottom Steven Richards		Holden Commodore ZB	15	01'12.447	01.784	00.022	147.085
23	34	James Golding Richard Muscat		Holden Commodore ZB	1	01'12.481	01.818	00.033	147.016
24	35	Todd Hazelwood Jack Smith		Holden Commodore ZB	13	01'12.570	01.906	00.088	146.836
25	56	Brodie Kostecki Jake Kostecki		Holden Commodore ZB	18	01'13.350	02.686	00.779	145.275