Shane van Gisbergen’s strong form on the streets of Townsville continued with the Tekno Holden driver again clocking the fastest time in Practice 2.
The 25-year-old improved his 1:14.06s from the first session to a 1:13.95s early in the second hit-out, before ending the session with a string of 10 consecutive laps in the 1:14s bracket.
With teams juggling two sets of pre-marked and one new set of the hard compound tyres today, Van Gisbergen stressed that the true pecking order won’t be made clear until later this afternoon.
“We tweaked up some stuff and it felt much better,” he said of the second session.
“I even did a long run at the end, which gives us a much better idea of the race style tomorrow.
“The next session everyone will be on new tyres I’d say. That will be a telling one but so far so good.”
James Moffat shot to second quickest in his Nissan during the final minutes, with Garth Tander, Lee Holdsworth and Scott McLaughlin making it four marques in the top five.
Will Davison, Michael Caruso, Mark Winterbottom, Tim Slade and Jamie Whincup completed the top 10.
Craig Lowndes was 13th in the second of the Red Bulls after failing to improve his previous best with a ragged final lap.
The red flags had been called after just five minutes due to a mistake from Robert Dahlgren that saw the #34 Volvo tag the wall at Turn 13.
The Swede was able to drive back to the pits, but rear-end damage ensured the car played no further part in the session.
“It didn’t feel that heavy, (but) it’s very, very annoying,” he said of the incident that has cost the rookie vital practice time.
“It just got rear locking. I went a bit too deep under brakes… I was trying in practice but I was trying a bit too hard I think.”
It was also a difficult session for Brad Jones Racing, with Fabian Coulthard and Jason Bright 21st and 25th respectively.
Bright failed to complete a flying lap, with his team working to rectify brake problems ahead of the final 20 minute hit-out from 1250 this afternoon.
See below for full practice 2 results
1 |
Team Tekno VIP Petfoods |
Shane Van Gisbergen |
Holden Commodore VF |
1:13.8517* |
|
2 |
Norton Hornets |
James Moffat |
Nissan Altima |
1:14.0345 |
0:00.1828 |
3 |
Holden Racing Team |
Garth Tander |
Holden Commodore VF |
1:14.0700 |
0:00.2183 |
4 |
Erebus Motorsport V8 |
Lee Holdsworth |
Mercedes E63 AMG |
1:14.1010 |
0:00.2493 |
5 |
Valvoline Racing GRM |
Scott McLaughlin |
Volvo S60 |
1:14.1219 |
0:00.2702 |
6 |
Erebus Motorsport V8 |
Will Davison |
Mercedes E63 AMG |
1:14.1831 |
0:00.3314 |
7 |
Norton Hornets |
Michael Caruso |
Nissan Altima |
1:14.2307 |
0:00.3790 |
8 |
Ford Pepsi Max Crew |
Mark Winterbottom |
Ford Falcon FG |
1:14.2414 |
0:00.3897 |
9 |
Supercheap Auto Racing |
Tim Slade |
Holden Commodore VF |
1:14.2543 |
0:00.4026 |
10 |
Red Bull Racing Australia |
Jamie Whincup |
Holden Commodore VF |
1:14.4567 |
0:00.6050 |
11 |
Walkinshaw Racing |
Nick Percat |
Holden Commodore VF |
1:14.4723 |
0:00.6206 |
12 |
Holden Racing Team |
James Courtney |
Holden Commodore VF |
1:14.4932 |
0:00.6415 |
13 |
Red Bull Racing Australia |
Craig Lowndes |
Holden Commodore VF |
1:14.4932 |
0:00.6415 |
14 |
Jack Daniel’s Racing |
Todd Kelly |
Nissan Altima |
1:14.5055 |
0:00.6538 |
15 |
Repair Management Aust Racing |
Russell Ingall |
Holden Commodore VF |
1:14.7148 |
0:00.8631 |
16 |
Wilson Security Racing |
Scott Pye |
Ford Falcon FG |
1:14.7827 |
0:00.9310 |
17 |
Team Advam/GB |
Dale Wood |
Holden Commodore VF |
1:14.8588 |
0:01.0071 |
18 |
Jack Daniel’s Racing |
Rick Kelly |
Nissan Altima |
1:14.8758 |
0:01.0241 |
19 |
Ford Pepsi Max Crew |
Chaz Mostert |
Ford Falcon FG |
1:14.9762 |
0:01.1245 |
20 |
Wilson Security Racing |
David Wall |
Ford Falcon FG |
1:15.0125 |
0:01.1608 |
21 |
Lockwood Racing |
Fabian Coulthard |
Holden Commodore VF |
1:15.0628 |
0:01.2111 |
22 |
Team JELD-WEN |
Jack Perkins |
Ford Falcon FG |
1:15.1634 |
0:01.3117 |
23 |
The Bottle-O Racing Team |
David Reynolds |
Ford Falcon FG |
1:15.2043 |
0:01.3526 |
24 |
Valvoline Racing GRM |
Robert Dahlgren |
Volvo S60 |
1:15.9208 |
0:02.0691 |
25 |
Team BOC |
Jason Bright |
Holden Commodore VF |
1:27.5897 |
0:13.7380 |