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USA
Practice report

Sandown 500: Whincup fastest in morning warm-up

Jamie Whincup led a trio of Triple Eight-built Holdens to top the final pre-race running ahead of the Sandown 500.

Jamie Whincup, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden

Jamie Whincup, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden

Dirk Klynsmith / Motorsport Images

Teams spent most of the 20-minute hit-out focussing on driver changes and pitstop practice, in preparation for this afternoon's opening 500-kay enduro of the season.

There were still some signs of lap speed though, pre-race favourite Jamie Whincup going quickest with a 1m08.408s early in the session before handing over to co-driver Paul Dumbrell.

The sister Triple Eight cars were quick as well, the trio occupying the top three spots for much of the session thanks to Steve Richards in the #888 and Shane van Gisbergen in the #97.

Tekno driver Jack Le Brocq made it four Triple Eight-built cars in the top four with a 1m08.797s with five minutes to go, only for Scott McLaughlin to spoil the T8 party with a 1m08.833s to slot into fourth ahead of van Gisbergen a couple of minutes later.

While still four-tenths off Whincup, McLaughlin was at least pleased with how the car worked on full tanks.

"That was a lot better, on full tanks it feels good across the run," said the Kiwi, who along with co-driver Alex Premat will start today's race from third.

"It was a shorter run than we’ll do, but we’ve made some good improvements.

“We’ve tried all weekend to be amongst [the Holdens] down the chute, but obviously they’re pretty quick in a straightline. We’ve tried to combat that while having a good car in the corners.

“We’ll see how we go today.”

Chaz Mostert was best of the Tickford Fords in sixth, followed by James Courtney and Will Davison.

A pair of Brad Jones Racing Holdens rounded out the Top 10, Nick Percat ninth quickest followed by Tim Blanchard.

Cla # Driver Car Time Gap
1 1 Australia Jamie Whincup
Paul Dumbrell
Holden Commodore ZB 1'08.4080  
2 888 New Zealand Steven Richards
Australia Craig Lowndes
Holden Commodore ZB 1'08.7958 0.3878
3 19 Australia Jonathon Webb
Australia Jack Le Brocq
Holden Commodore ZB 1'08.7976 0.3896
4 17 France Alexandre Prémat
New Zealand Scott McLaughlin
Ford Falcon FG X 1'08.8335 0.4255
5 97 New Zealand Earl Bamber
New Zealand Shane van Gisbergen
Holden Commodore ZB 1'08.8510 0.4430
6 55 Australia Chaz Mostert
Australia James Moffat
Ford Falcon FG X 1'08.8584 0.4504
7 25 Australia James Courtney
Jack Perkins
Holden Commodore ZB 1'08.8807 0.4727
8 230 Australia Alex Davison
Australia Will Davison
Ford Falcon FG X 1'08.9668 0.5588
9 8 Australia Nick Percat
Australia Macauley Jones
Holden Commodore ZB 1'09.0167 0.6087
10 21 Australia Dale Wood
Australia Tim Blanchard
Holden Commodore ZB 1'09.0534 0.6454
11 9 Australia David Reynolds
Australia Luke Youlden
Holden Commodore ZB 1'09.0895 0.6815
12 23 Australia Michael Caruso
Australia Dean Fiore
Nissan Altima 1'09.0933 0.6853
13 33 Australia Garth Tander
New Zealand Chris Pither
Holden Commodore ZB 1'09.1099 0.7019
14 18 Australia Lee Holdsworth
Australia Jason Bright
Holden Commodore ZB 1'09.1281 0.7201
15 2 Australia Warren Luff
Australia Scott Pye
Holden Commodore ZB 1'09.1440 0.7360
16 12 Australia Tony D'Alberto
New Zealand Fabian Coulthard
Ford Falcon FG X 1'09.1680 0.7600
17 5 Australia Mark Winterbottom
Australia Dean Canto
Ford Falcon FG X 1'09.2212 0.8132
18 6 Australia David Russell
Australia Cameron Waters
Ford Falcon FG X 1'09.2975 0.8895
19 34 Australia James Golding
Richard Muscat
Holden Commodore ZB 1'09.3316 0.9236
20 14 Australia Tim Slade
Australia Ash Walsh
Holden Commodore ZB 1'09.4559 1.0479
21 78 Switzerland Simona de Silvestro
Australia Alex Rullo
Nissan Altima 1'09.4606 1.0526
22 15 Australia Rick Kelly
Garry Jacobson
Nissan Altima 1'09.5194 1.1114
23 99 Australia Will Brown
Anton de
Holden Commodore ZB 1'09.5588 1.1508
24 56 New Zealand Richie Stanaway
Australia Steven Owen
Ford Falcon FG X 1'09.5779 1.1699
25 7 New Zealand Andre Heimgartner
Australia Aaren Russell
Nissan Altima 1'09.5985 1.1905
26 35 Australia Bryce Fullwood
Australia Todd Hazelwood
Ford Falcon FG X 1'09.7138 1.3058

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