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Townsville Supercars: Mostert fastest in final Friday practice

Chaz Mostert topped the final practice session in Townsville, beating Scott McLaughlin to P1 with a stunning late lap.

Chaz Mostert, Rod Nash Racing Ford

Chaz Mostert, Rod Nash Racing Ford

Daniel Kalisz / Motorsport Images

Chaz Mostert, Rod Nash Racing Ford
Shane van Gisbergen, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden
David Reynolds, Erebus Motorsport Holden
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske Ford
Lee Holdsworth, Team 18 Holden
Tim Slade, Brad Jones Racing Holden
Chaz Mostert, Rod Nash Racing Ford
Fabian Coulthard, Team Penske Ford
Chaz Mostert, Rod Nash Racing Ford

Following a tough last outing in Darwin, Mostert bounced back with a solid qualifying simulation run in the closing minutes of today’s second and final practice session in Townsville. The Prodrive Racing driver’s 1m12.264s was good enough to leave him 0.162ss clear of DJR Team Penske rival Scott McLaughlin.

It was Shane van Gisbergen that jumped out of the gate early with a very quick lap inside the opening couple of minutes, the Kiwi banking a 1m12.638s.

That left him nearly three-tenths clear of Practice 1 pacesetter David Reynolds, although laps from Jason Bright (1m12.860s) and Garth Tander (1m12.910s) closed the gap down to just over two tenths on the seven minutes mark.

The next change at the top came on 16 minutes, McLaughlin making huge gains to go from P22 to P1 with a 1m12.607s, before Mark Winterbottom – who like McLaughlin was outside the Top 10 in Practice 1 – went for some better rubber and jumped to first with a 1m12.536s six minutes later.

That time stood until a red flag with a little under seven minutes to go, sparked by Dale Wood’s stranded Erebus Commodore, which was followed by a pre-qualifying shootout.

McLaughlin and van Gisbergen both improved as soon as the session went green again, with a 1m12.427s and a 1m12.483s, only for both to be trumped by Mostert’s time with three minutes to go.

“The car is night and day better than what it was in Darwin, so credit to the guys for going through all the data after Darwin and trying to assess the mistakes we made the last round or two,” said Mostert.

“It’s not just a team thing, it’s a driver thing – we steer the ship and which direction we want to go down.

“The car felt pretty good, I think there’s still a bit more in it if we can tidy up a few things. But it’s a big relief after Darwin.”

McLaughlin and van Gisbergen were second and third, the latter lucky to survive a spin at Turn 8 right before the red flag, while Winterbottom was shuffled down to fourth.

Jamie Whincup was fifth quickest in his Red Bull Holden, with Reynolds sixth, Lee Holdsworth seventh, and Rick Kelly the best Nissan in eighth.

Holden drivers Will Davison and James Courtney rounded out the Top 10.

The biggest surprise from the session was Fabian Coulthard’s relative lack of the pace, the points leader just 18th quickest.

ClaDriverCarTimeGap
1 55 australia  Chaz Mostert  Ford Falcon FG-X 1'12.2648  
2 17 new_zealand  Scott McLaughlin  Ford Falcon FG-X 1'12.4275 0.1627
3 97 new_zealand  Shane van Gisbergen  Holden Commodore VF 1'12.4832 0.2184
4 5 australia  Mark Winterbottom  Ford Falcon FG-X 1'12.5365 0.2717
5 88 australia  Jamie Whincup  Holden Commodore VF 1'12.5998 0.3350
6 9 australia  David Reynolds  Holden Commodore VF 1'12.6143 0.3495
7 18 australia  Lee Holdsworth  Holden Commodore VF 1'12.6659 0.4011
8 15 australia  Rick Kelly  Nissan Altima 1'12.7109 0.4461
9 19 australia  Will Davison  Holden Commodore VF 1'12.7585 0.4937
10 22 australia  James Courtney  Holden Commodore VF 1'12.7640 0.4992
11 33 australia  Garth Tander  Holden Commodore VF 1'12.7666 0.5018
12 14 australia  Tim Slade  Holden Commodore VF 1'12.7757 0.5109
13 8 australia  Nick Percat  Holden Commodore VF 1'12.8394 0.5746
14 56 australia  Jason Bright  Ford Falcon FG-X 1'12.8609 0.5961
15 7 australia  Todd Kelly  Nissan Altima 1'12.9284 0.6636
16 2 australia  Scott Pye  Holden Commodore VF 1'12.9421 0.6773
17 6 australia  Cameron Waters  Ford Falcon FG-X 1'12.9605 0.6957
18 12 new_zealand  Fabian Coulthard  Ford Falcon FG-X 1'12.9724 0.7076
19 34 australia  James Moffat  Holden Commodore VF 1'12.9759 0.7111
20 21 australia  Tim Blanchard  Holden Commodore VF 1'13.0081 0.7433
21 888 australia  Craig Lowndes  Holden Commodore VF 1'13.0690 0.8042
22 23 australia  Michael Caruso  Nissan Altima 1'13.1988 0.9340
23 99 australia  Dale Wood  Holden Commodore VF 1'13.3198 1.0550
24 78 switzerland  Simona de Silvestro  Nissan Altima 1'13.6058 1.3410
25 3 australia  Aaren Russell  Holden Commodore VF 1'13.6225 1.3577
26 62 australia  Alex Rullo  Holden Commodore VF 1'13.7888 1.5240

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