McLaughlin fastest in Practice 2 at Albert Park

Scott McLaughlin usurped Jamie Whincup after the chequered flag to finish fastest in Practice 2 for the Coates Hire Melbourne 400 at Albert Park.

He ended up 0.14s faster than Practice 1 fast man Whincup and a further 0.44s ahead of Shell V-Power Racing team-mate Fabian Coulthard.

McLaughlin finished only 16th in Practice 1 but immediately vaulted well clear of the field on his first run of the day on new tyres, early in the second session.

He took another new set to improve in the final 10 minutes, before going faster again with a 1:55.2982s after the clock had counted down to zero.

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Whincup sat below the DJR Team Penske duo ahead of his final run before a brief spell in the top spot thanks to his final-minute effort.

The Red Bull Holden Racing Team driver was slightly slower but virtually matched his earlier benchmark in setting a 1:55.4399s.

Coulthard was the early pace-setter in the #12 FGX Falcon and improved half a second during his second run to end the half-hour session in third.

Nick Percat (Brad Jones Racing) was a late mover into fourth, ahead of Scott Pye (Walkinshaw Andretti United) and the Nissans of Rick Kelly and Andre Heimgartner, the latter of whom briefly held third with his final effort.

David Reynolds (Erebus Motorsport), Shane van Gisbergen (Triple Eight), and Mark Winterbottom (Tickford Racing) rounded out the top 10.

Van Gisbergen had improved from 19th position before his final run.

Tim Blanchard was 22nd fastest in a Brad Jones Racing Commodore which underwent a gearbox change between sessions.

Qualifying for Races 3 and 4 of the championship take place this afternoon from 1620 local time/AEDT.

Results: Practice 2

Pos	Num	Team/Sponsor	Driver	Car	Fastest lap	Split
1	17	Shell V-Power Racing Team	Scott McLaughlin	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:55.2982
2	1	Red Bull Holden Racing Team	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore ZB	1:55.4399	0:00.1417
3	12	Shell V-Power Racing Team	Fabian Coulthard	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:55.8825	0:00.5843
4	8	Tempur Racing	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore ZB	1:55.9057	0:00.6075
5	2	Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore ZB	1:55.9710	0:00.6728
6	15	Castrol Racing	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	1:56.0961	0:00.7979
7	7	Plus Fitness Racing	Andre Heimgartner	Nissan Altima	1:56.1069	0:00.8087
8	9	Erebus Penrite Racing	David Reynolds	Holden Commodore ZB	1:56.1389	0:00.8407
9	97	Red Bull Holden Racing Team	Shane Van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore ZB	1:56.1655	0:00.8673
10	5	The Bottle-O Racing Team	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:56.1683	0:00.8701
11	888	Autobarn Lowndes Racing	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore ZB	1:56.3038	0:01.0056
12	33	Wilson Security Racing GRM	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore ZB	1:56.3206	0:01.0224
13	14	Freightliner Racing	Tim Slade	Holden Commodore ZB	1:56.3532	0:01.0550
14	6	Monster Energy Racing	Cameron Waters	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:56.3902	0:01.0920
15	55	Supercheap Auto Racing	Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:56.4010	0:01.1028
16	230	Milwaukee Racing	Will Davison	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:56.5276	0:01.2294
17	18	Preston Hire Racing	Lee Holdsworth	Holden Commodore ZB	1:56.5884	0:01.2902
18	25	Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing	James Courtney	Holden Commodore ZB	1:56.7332	0:01.4350
19	99	Erebus Thermosphere Racing	Anton de Pasquale	Holden Commodore ZB	1:56.8792	0:01.5810
20	35	Bigmate Racing	Todd Hazelwood	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:56.9248	0:01.6266
21	78	Team Harvey Norman	Simona De Silvestro	Nissan Altima	1:56.9333	0:01.6351
22	21	CoolDrive Racing	Tim Blanchard	Holden Commodore ZB	1:56.9590	0:01.6608
23	19	Tekno Autosport	Jack Le Brocq	Holden Commodore ZB	1:57.0480	0:01.7498
24	56	Tickford Racing	Richie Stanaway	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:57.2254	0:01.9272
25	34	Wilson Security Racing GRM	James Golding	Holden Commodore ZB	1:58.2245	0:02.9263
26	23	Drive Racing	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima	1:58.8552	0:03.5570