Share Facebook , Twitter , Google Plus , Pinterest , Email

Saturday’s track action at Bathurst featured the final two practice sessions, with practice 5 dedicated to co-drivers only, ahead of the Top 10 Shootout later this afternoon.

The co-driver only Practice 5 saw wet conditions, although not as wet as yesterday’s practice 4. The session gave the chance to the co-drivers to get accustomed to a wet Mount Panorama, with similar conditions expected across the race on Sunday.

The early mark was set by Jamie Whincup in the #88 Triple Eight Race Engineering Commodore, with a 2:27.266, however the session was halted less than 10 minutes in to extract the #56 Tickford Racing Mustang from the tyre barriers at Griffins Bend. Kurt had run wide at Murray’s corner the lap prior, and another front lock up over the bumps sent the #56 hard into the tyres.

Practice 5 is red flagged 🚩

The 56 Mustang is in the tyre bundle at Griffins Bend with K.Kostecki behind the wheel #RepcoSC #Bathurst1000 pic.twitter.com/OHaIxruIWk

Kostecki was extracted from the tyre barrier and returned to the pits under his own power. After a short inspection in the garage, that car was back on track at the resumption of the session.

The next driver to be caught out was Whincup, who had a similar incident at Griffins Bend. Despite bouncing out of the tyres, the car was more significantly scarred, with the #88 spending the rest of the session in the garage undergoing repairs.

The middle part of the session saw impressive pace from Matt Campbell, lowering the mark to a 2:27.168 in the #26 Grove Racing Mustang. His lap came just before another suspension to the session for another significant incident.

Aaron Seton ran wide over Skyline, catching the kerb in the Esses and firing the #34 Matt Stone Racing Commodore into the tyres.

“I just locked the left-hand front going over the Esses,” Seton commented after the session. “Once that’s locked I couldn’t get it unlocked and I was a passenger.”

Seton locks a wheel and puts the MSR 34 Commodore into the tyre bundle. The session has been red flagged #RepcoSC #Bathurst1000 pic.twitter.com/tY0Ahe1oaV

The team confirmed that the car would not be out for Practice 6, with Matt Stone telling Supercars.com that “Tomorrow is the priority.”

Track conditions began to improve as the rain eased, allowing Campbell to drop into the 26’s with a 2:26.859. He was then eclipsed by rookie Declan Fraser in the #888 Triple Eight Race Engineering Commodore, who slotted in a 26.338. Fabian Coulthard in the #25 Walkinshaw Andretti United Commodore then moved the marker to a 26.290, followed closely by Jordan Boys in the #96 Brad Jones Racing Commodore, only 0.003 behind.

The final lap of the session was set by Dale Wood in the #8 Brad Jones Racing Commodore, who went to the top with a 2:26.222 only moments before another red flag brought the session to a premature end – Michael Caruso beached the #18 Team 18 Commodore in the gravel at The Chase with only 4 minutes left.

That left Wood at the top of the standings, ahead of Coulthard and Boys. Fraser and Campbell completed the top 5, while experienced steerers Warren Luff (#2 Walkinshaw Andretti United) and James Moffat (#6 Tickford Racing) were 6th and 7th. The top 10 was completed by Dylan O’Keeffe in the #31 PremiAir Racing Commodore, Zane Goddard in the #5 Tickford Racing Mustang, and Jamie Whincup, despite spending 40 minutes in the garage.

Apart from the #34 and #88, most cars set double-digit laps. However, both the #99 Erebus Motorsport Commodore and the #55 Tickford Racing Mustangs sat out parts of the session, completing only 9 and 7 laps respectively. David Russell was open in saying that the #99 was all set, while Tickford spent time fixing an issue discovered just prior to the session.

Practice 6 saw an almost fully dry track, with half the field electing to start on slick tyres. The rain stayed away, giving teams the chance to simulate race runs on heavy fuel, and practice pit stops, driver changes, and front brake pad/rotor changes, which are compulsory through tomorrow’s race.

The majority of the session was steady, with the track improving to a 2:06.4 at the halfway point, set by Shane Van Gisbergen in the #97 Triple Eight Race Engineering Commodore. The pace started to pick up at the back end, with a few drivers opting to rehearse a shoot-out lap and search for that one lap pace. Will Davison was the first to run a shootout rehearsal, putting the #17 Dick Johnson Racing Mustang to the top with a 2:05.6305 with 10 minutes remaining. Van Gisbergen was next to fire, setting a 2:05.6137, which was immediately eclipsed by Chaz Mostert in the #25 Walkinshaw Andretti United Commodore who set a 2:05.5105 to top the session. Will Davison started another run that was on pace for a 5.5, but that lap was scuppered by a red flag in the dying seconds, just as Davison exited Murray’s Corner.

The cause of the red flag was at the top of the mountain; the Metal Grate took its first victim of the weekend, with Jordan Boys tagging the wall at the top, and parking the #96 Brad Jones Racing Commodore in the gravel trap. The car will require another significant repair, with the Brad Jones Racing crew at the track until 1am overnight repairing that same chassis after the late incident in qualifying yesterday.

The final practice session of the weekend has been red flagged with 20 seconds remaining.

Boys catches water on the way into McPhillamy, hits the wall and falls off into the sand #RepcoSC #Bathurst1000 pic.twitter.com/TvMVEa2sqa

Cameron Waters got a shootout rehearsal in to finish the session 4th in the #6 Tickford Racing Mustang, and the top 5 was completed by David Reynolds in the #26 Grove Racing Mustang. Brodie Kostecki and Lee Holdsworth also put in shootout sims, with Brodie putting the #99 Erebus Motorsport Commodore in 7th, and Holdsworth finishing the session in 9th in the #10 Grove Racing Mustang. Interestingly, Courtney (#5 Tickford Racing), Stanaway (#51 Erebus Motorsport), and Brown (#9 Erebus Motorsport) didn’t complete shootout sims, electing to focus on race set up.

With the shootout likely to be entirely wet, it is difficult to read into any form guide for this afternoon.

Two cars didn’t turn laps in the final practice of the weekend; The #34 Matt Stone Racing Commodore still undergoing repairs after their shunt in practice 5, while the #3 Blanchard Racing Mustang suffered a peculiar problem in the pits just prior to the session, which saw them miss the whole session. Reports are that an air jack malfunction resulted in the system puncturing into the car and damaging componentry as the car was dropped to start the session.

The Top 10 Shootout gets underway at 5pm AEST (UTC+11), to set the grid for the 1000km race tomorrow at 11:15 AEST.

Share Facebook , Twitter , Google Plus , Pinterest , Email

by Graham Goodwin 9 October 2022 0 Comments

by Graham Goodwin 8 October 2022 0 Comments

© 2021 Dailysportscar. All Rights Reserved. Link Digital