David Sieders is hopeful of defending his 2010 Bathurst round win in the Auto One V8 Ute Racing Series after topping a wet opening practice session today.
Despite suffering from demister problems during the single 20 minute session, Sieders’ best lap of 3:03.18s saw the Australian Industrial Supplies Falcon BF 0.52s clear of nearest rival Chris Pither (Ice Break Holden).
“It was great to start off where we finished last year,” said Sieders of his day.
“We won’t make any changes to the Ute tonight, we will just dry out the car and work on our demisting problems.”
Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series racer Marcus Zukanovic was third fastest in the 2006 series winner’s one-off return to the class driving the Auto One-backed ‘Wildcard’ entry.
The Falcons of Ryan Hansford (Truckline Racing) and Andrew Fisher (Jesus Racing) were fourth and fifth respectively, while Nathan Pretty (Monster Holden), Kim Jane (Bob Jane T-Marts Holden), Jack Elsegood (Coopers Clear Ford), Gary Baxter (Sage Holden) and Ryal Harris (VIP Ford) rounded out the top 10.
Harris’ team-mate Brad Patton brought out the session’s only red flag when his Falcon stopped with electrical problems at Murrays Corner.
In other supports news, Australian GT saw Peter Hackett (Mercedes AMG SLS GT3) top both sessions.