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