Sandown 500: Caruso leads practice, Penske and T8 tangle
Michael Caruso kept Nissan on top in the final practice at Sandown, while Fabian Coulthard and Shane van Gisbergen came to blows in tricky conditions.
Michael Caruso, Dean Fiore, Nissan Motorsports
Edge Photographics
There were Nissans at or near the top of the times throughout the frantic 15-minute session, Rick Kelly going quickest midway through, before being joined by brother Todd Kelly shortly afterwards as conditions improved.
Caruso then went on a tear inside the last six minutes, making up 10 spots to go sixth fastest, before slotting into second on his next flyer with a 1m10.774s.
He then finished the job with a 1m.171s in the ever-improving conditions, which put him on top right before James Moffat went off at Turn 4 and brought out the red flag.
The session did briefly go green once Moffat’s Commodore had been recovered, giving the field a single lap to try and go quicker. But while there were some significant improvements, nobody could knock Caruso off top spot.
“The conditions were pretty difficult, because there are still a few wet patches,” said Caruso.
“It was hard to get a real judge on how the car is going to handle for qualifying, but it’s good that our car is good in a majority of conditions.”
Scott McLaughlin found some big gains on the final lap after the red flag, popping up in second with a 1m10.341s.
Rick Kelly didn’t go quicker and was demoted to third, while Brad Jones Racing pair Tim Slade and Nick Percat both went faster to finish fourth and fifth.
Todd Kelly dropped down to sixth thanks to the late improvements, while Cam Waters, Craig Lowndes, James Courtney, and Shane van Gisbergen all found gains on the final lap.
Van Gisbergen was involved in some controversy on that final lap, nudging DJR Team Penske driver into a spin at the final corner.
The Triple Eight star admitted fault on the radio and went to look for Coulthard after the session, while Coulthard was philosophical after finishing the session down in 25th.
“At the end of the day, there’s no rewind button for Shane,” he said. “Just cop it and move on, I’m not too fazed. It’s only practice .
“It is what it is. If he’s going to come down, he’s going to come down. He’s a decent enough person to do that, I’d expect it from him.”
Cla | # | Driver | Car | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | km/h |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 23 | Michael Caruso Dean Fiore |
Nissan Altima | 10 | 1'10.1714 | 159.039 | ||
2 | 17 | Alexandre Prémat Scott McLaughlin |
Ford Falcon FG-X | 11 | 1'10.3419 | 0.1705 | 0.1705 | 158.653 |
3 | 15 | Rick Kelly David Wall |
Nissan Altima | 10 | 1'10.4696 | 0.2982 | 0.1277 | 158.366 |
4 | 75 | Tim Slade Ash Walsh |
Holden Commodore VF | 10 | 1'10.6539 | 0.4825 | 0.1843 | 157.953 |
5 | 8 | Nick Percat Macauley Jones |
Holden Commodore VF | 10 | 1'10.6787 | 0.5073 | 0.0248 | 157.897 |
6 | 7 | Todd Kelly Jack Le Brocq |
Nissan Altima | 11 | 1'10.7311 | 0.5597 | 0.0524 | 157.780 |
7 | 6 | Richie Stanaway Cameron Waters |
Ford Falcon FG-X | 10 | 1'10.7740 | 0.6026 | 0.0429 | 157.685 |
8 | 888 | Steven Richards Craig Lowndes |
Holden Commodore VF | 11 | 1'10.8368 | 0.6654 | 0.0628 | 157.545 |
9 | 22 | James Courtney Jack Perkins |
Holden Commodore VF | 10 | 1'10.8478 | 0.6764 | 0.0110 | 157.520 |
10 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen Matt Campbell |
Holden Commodore VF | 11 | 1'10.8721 | 0.7007 | 0.0243 | 157.466 |
11 | 5 | Mark Winterbottom Dean Canto |
Ford Falcon FG-X | 11 | 1'10.9005 | 0.7291 | 0.0284 | 157.403 |
12 | 9 | David Reynolds Luke Youlden |
Holden Commodore VF | 9 | 1'10.9832 | 0.8118 | 0.0827 | 157.220 |
13 | 34 | James Moffat Richard Muscat |
Holden Commodore VF | 11 | 1'11.0249 | 0.8535 | 0.0417 | 157.127 |
14 | 33 | Garth Tander James Golding |
Holden Commodore VF | 11 | 1'11.0501 | 0.8787 | 0.0252 | 157.072 |
15 | 88 | Jamie Whincup Paul Dumbrell |
Holden Commodore VF | 8 | 1'11.1864 | 1.0150 | 0.1363 | 156.771 |
16 | 18 | Lee Holdsworth Karl Reindler |
Holden Commodore VF | 11 | 1'11.2667 | 1.0953 | 0.0803 | 156.594 |
17 | 19 | Jonathon Webb Will Davison |
Holden Commodore VF | 11 | 1'11.4334 | 1.2620 | 0.1667 | 156.229 |
18 | 2 | Warren Luff Scott Pye |
Holden Commodore VF | 11 | 1'11.4345 | 1.2631 | 0.0011 | 156.227 |
19 | 55 | Steven Owen Chaz Mostert |
Ford Falcon FG-X | 10 | 1'11.5741 | 1.4027 | 0.1396 | 155.922 |
20 | 99 | Dale Wood Chris Pither |
Holden Commodore VF | 10 | 1'11.6679 | 1.4965 | 0.0938 | 155.718 |
21 | 4 | Tim Blanchard Todd Hazelwood |
Holden Commodore VF | 10 | 1'12.1377 | 1.9663 | 0.4698 | 154.704 |
22 | 3 | Aaren Russell Taz Douglas |
Holden Commodore VF | 10 | 1'12.4532 | 2.2818 | 0.3155 | 154.030 |
23 | 56 | Jason Bright Garry Jacobson |
Ford Falcon FG-X | 8 | 1'12.6480 | 2.4766 | 0.1948 | 153.617 |
24 | 78 | Simona de Silvestro David Russell |
Nissan Altima | 10 | 1'12.6802 | 2.5088 | 0.0322 | 153.549 |
25 | 12 | Tony D'Alberto Fabian Coulthard |
Ford Falcon FG/X | 8 | 1'12.8297 | 2.6583 | 0.1495 | 153.234 |
26 | 62 | Alex Davison Alex Rullo |
Holden Commodore VF | 8 | 1'14.1725 | 4.0011 | 1.3428 | 150.460 |
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