Walkinshaw Holdens throw down gauntlet in Practice 1
Garth Tander
Walkinshaw Racing has made a blistering start to V8 Supercars’ new Car of the Future era by sweeping the top three places in the opening practice session in Adelaide.
Garth Tander ended the 30 minute session fastest from James Courtney and Russell Ingall, with the trio separated by 0.5s.
Ingall set the early pace prior to a red flag at the eight minute mark to recover the Dick Johnson Racing Falcon of Jonny Reid, which had stopped on the circuit at Turn 5.
Tander and Courtney swapped the top spot upon the resumption of proceedings, with the 2007 champion leaving the benchmark at 1:22.02s with the final lap of his second run. The time is a full second quicker than the best set in the opening session of 2012.
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The two HRT entries then made lengthy pitstops for changes before returning to the track for a single evaluation lap.
The FPR Falcons followed seven Holdens at the top of the time sheets
Shane van Gisbergen made a positive start to his tenure with Tekno Autosports, beating Red Bull Racing Australia duo Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes to the fourth fastest time with a late effort.
Fabian Coulthard was seventh despite a mid-session spin at Turn 9, while Will Davison, Mark Winterbottom and Scott McLaughlin completed the top 10.
Rick Kelly’s Nissan was the best of the new manufacturer entries in 11th, less than a second adrift of Tander in an Altima that appeared particularly uncomfortable over the Adelaide circuits many bumps.
Tim Slade led the Erebus Mercedes charge in 18th ahead of Holdsworth in 20th and German rookie Maro Engel in 27th.
Reid’s car returned to the track late in the session to lap within 0.1s of Engel, with the duo in excess of five seconds off the pace.
The 30 minute hit-out took place in cool but sunny conditions. A top of 27 degrees is expected in Adelaide this afternoon.
Practice 2 will get underway at 1115 local time.
See below for the full Practice 1 result
| 1 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 1:22.0154 | |
| 2 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 1:22.4045 | 0:00.3891 |
| 3 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Russell Ingall | Holden Commodore VF | 1:22.5112 | 0:00.4958 |
| 4 | TEKNO Team VIP | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 1:22.5688 | 0:00.5534 |
| 5 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 1:22.6805 | 0:00.6651 |
| 6 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 1:22.7155 | 0:00.7001 |
| 7 | Lockwood Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VF | 1:22.7794 | 0:00.7640 |
| 8 | Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford | Will Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 1:22.8106 | 0:00.7952 |
| 9 | Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG | 1:22.8405 | 0:00.8251 |
| 10 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Holden Commodore VF | 1:22.9472 | 0:00.9318 |
| 11 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:22.9474 | 0:00.9320 |
| 12 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 1:22.9977 | 0:00.9823 |
| 13 | Jeld-wen FPR Ford | Alex Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 1:23.0625 | 0:01.0471 |
| 14 | Tekno Autosports | Jonathon Webb | Holden Commodore VF | 1:23.0825 | 0:01.0671 |
| 15 | The Bottle-O FPR Ford | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG | 1:23.2940 | 0:01.2786 |
| 16 | Dodo Insurance Racing | Dean Fiore | Holden Commodore VF | 1:23.3756 | 0:01.3602 |
| 17 | Norton 360 Racing | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 1:23.3995 | 0:01.3841 |
| 18 | Heavy Haulage Racing | Tim Slade | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:23.4667 | 0:01.4513 |
| 19 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Alexandre Premat | Holden Commodore VF | 1:23.4889 | 0:01.4735 |
| 20 | Irwin Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:23.5000 | 0:01.4846 |
| 21 | Advam | Tim Blanchard | Ford Falcon FG | 1:23.5414 | 0:01.5260 |
| 22 | Norton 360 Racing | James Moffat | Nissan Altima | 1:23.7402 | 0:01.7248 |
| 23 | e`kol Racing | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore VF | 1:24.1217 | 0:02.1063 |
| 24 | Wilson Security Racing | David Wall | Holden Commodore VF | 1:24.1921 | 0:02.1767 |
| 25 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 1:24.2827 | 0:02.2673 |
| 26 | Team HIFLEX | Tony D’Alberto | Holden Commodore VF | 1:24.4583 | 0:02.4429 |
| 27 | SP Tools Racing | Maro Engel | Mercedes E63 AMG | 1:27.2991 | 0:05.2837 |
| 28 | Wilson Security Racing | Jonny Reid | Ford Falcon FG | 1:27.3868 | 0:05.3714 |
See below for Speedcafe.com’s Clipsal 500 Adelaide Race Guide