McLaughlin quickest, Red Bull HRT duo miss qualifying cut

Scott McLaughlin went fastest in Practice 2 in Sydney but both Red Bull HRT Commodores will have to go into the first part of knockout Armor All Qualifying later today.

The half-hour session was just the second time the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship field had hit the track at this weekend’s Red Rooster Sydney SuperNight 300 event after a 40-minute hit-out the night before.

Neither Jamie Whincup (#1 ZB Commodore) nor Shane van Gisbergen (#97 ZB Commodore) went faster in Practice 2 and finished 16th and 17th on combined times.

“That’s not ideal,” said Whincup when told of the result.

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“We didn’t get a good run in the end there which we would have liked (but) that’s the way it goes. We’ll go in Q1, we’ve still got a good opportunity to qualify somewhere good up the front and then we’ll see what tonight brings.”

Van Gisbergen put the outcome down to a reluctance to use up rubber before tonight’s 300km race.

“We have no tyres,” said the New Zealander.

“That’s the problem with this sport at the moment and we didn’t want to use race tyres. We haven’t dipped into Q1 tyres yet.”

Despite predictions that Practice 1 would be the quicker of the two sessions, McLaughlin’s best in the early afternoon running of 1:28.8369s just edged Mostert’s 1:28.8546s of the night before.

It began in pedestrian fashion with Chaz Mostert’s first flyer at 1:29.7322s standing up as the fastest lap of the session until the 21st minute.

That was when Fabian Coulthard, who was only 19th on Friday night, took the #12 Shell V-Power FGX Falcon to the top with a 1:29.4076s on not quite new tyres and put him sixth on combined practice times.

McLaughlin (#17 DJR Team Penske FGX Falcon) soon usurped his team-mate with a lap second to Mostert’s night time effort, and would subsequently improve to the very fastest time across the two practice sessions.

“It’s different, a lot different this track in the day, that’s for sure,” observed the championship leader.

“It’s funny, it’s like you’re back in your natural habitat. I love the night, not saying anything against it, but it’s nice to push that limit a little bit harder in the day.

“The car is really good, I had so much left in it. I probably lost a good three or four tenths in that last corner there; I’m excited.”

Rick Kelly would have just missed the combined top 10 but instead put himself second-fastest with a last-minute 1:28.8517s in the #15 Castrol Nissan Altima.

Mostert (#55 Supercheap Auto FGX Falcon) was nearly half a second slower than his best of Practice 1, which stood up for third-fastest on combined times.

Coulthard had been bundled back to 11th by the time he was completing his final lap with the chequered flag out, but elevated himself to third for the session and fourth combined, which will force Anton De Pasquale (#99 Penrite ZB Commodore) to go into the first part of qualifying.

Scott Pye (#2 Mobil 1 Boost Mobile ZB Commodore), like Mostert, had to rely on his time under lights to make the top 10 in fifth.

The next three cars of Tim Slade (#14 Freightliner ZB Commodore), James Courtney (#25 WAU ZB Commodore), and Jack Le Brocq (#19 Tekno Autosports ZB Commodore) all improved in the Western Sydney sunshine.

Mark Winterbottom (#5 The Bottle-O FGX Falcon) and James Golding (#34 Wilson Security ZB Commodore), the latter of whom also had to lift in Practice 2, rounded out the combined top 10.

The rest will have to go into the first part of the three-stage knockout qualifying process later in the day.

Among them are Craig Lowndes (#888 Autobarn ZB Commodore) and David Reynolds (#9 Erebus ZB Commodore), who didn’t improve by enough in Practice 2 and finished 14th and 15th for the two sessions overall.

Armor All Qualifying starts this afternoon at 1620 local time/AEST, and Race 21 of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship under lights at 1920.

Results: Practice 2

1	17  Shell V-Power Racing Team	Scott McLaughlin	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:28.8369*SS
2	15  Castrol Racing	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	1:28.8517 SS	00.0148
3	12  Shell V-Power Racing Team	Fabian Coulthard	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:28.9272 SS	00.0903
4	14  Freightliner Racing	Tim Slade	Holden Commodore ZB	1:29.1456 SS	00.3087
5	25  Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing	James Courtney	Holden Commodore ZB	1:29.1789 SS	00.3420
6	19  Tekno Autosport	Jack Le Brocq	Holden Commodore ZB	1:29.2510 SS	00.4141
7	34  Wilson Security Racing GRM	James Golding	Holden Commodore ZB	1:29.3080 SS	00.4711
8	99  Erebus Thermosphere Racing	Anton de Pasquale	Holden Commodore ZB	1:29.3722 SS	00.5353
9	55  Supercheap Auto Racing	Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:29.3742 SS	00.5373
10	23  Drive Racing	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima	1:29.4160 SS	00.5791
11	888  Autobarn Lowndes Racing	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore ZB	1:29.4344 SS	00.5975
12	9  Erebus Penrite Racing	David Reynolds	Holden Commodore ZB	1:29.4356 SS	00.5987
13	8  Team Mrs Mac’s powered by Dare	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore ZB	1:29.6118 SS	00.7749
14	6  Monster Energy Racing	Cameron Waters	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:29.6464 SS	00.8095
15	33  Wilson Security Racing GRM	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore ZB	1:29.6616 SS	00.8247
16	1  Red Bull Holden Racing Team	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore ZB	1:29.7788 SS	00.9419
17	2  Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore ZB	1:29.8268 SS	00.9899
18	5  The Bottle-O Racing Team	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:29.8326 SS	00.9957
19	7  Plus Fitness Racing	Andre Heimgartner	Nissan Altima	1:29.8399 SS	01.0030
20	18  Preston Hire Racing	Lee Holdsworth	Holden Commodore ZB	1:29.8523 SS	01.0154
21	97  Red Bull Holden Racing Team	Shane Van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore ZB	1:30.1280 SS	01.2911
22	78  Team Harvey Norman	Simona De Silvestro	Nissan Altima	1:30.3014 SS	01.4645
23	56  RABBLE.club Racing	Richie Stanaway	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:30.3248 SS	01.4879
24	35  Bigmate Racing	Todd Hazelwood	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:30.4204 SS	01.5835
25	21  Team CoolDrive	Tim Blanchard	Holden Commodore ZB	1:30.4507 SS	01.6138
26	230  Milwaukee Racing	Will Davison	Ford Falcon FG/X	1:30.5836 SS	01.7467

Results Combined Practice 1 and 2

1	17  Shell V-Power Racing Team	Scott McLaughlin	Ford Falcon FG/X	P2  1:28.8369*SS
2	15  Castrol Racing	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	P2  1:28.8517 SS	00.0148
3	55  Supercheap Auto Racing	Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG/X	P1  1:28.8546 SS	00.0177
4	12  Shell V-Power Racing Team	Fabian Coulthard	Ford Falcon FG/X	P2  1:28.9272 SS	00.0903
5	2  Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore ZB	P1  1:29.0593 SS	00.2224
6	14  Freightliner Racing	Tim Slade	Holden Commodore ZB	P2  1:29.1456 SS	00.3087
7	25  Mobil 1 Boost Mobile Racing	James Courtney	Holden Commodore ZB	P2  1:29.1789 SS	00.3420
8	19  Tekno Autosport	Jack Le Brocq	Holden Commodore ZB	P2  1:29.2510 SS	00.4141
9	5  The Bottle-O Racing Team	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG/X	P1  1:29.3060 SS	00.4691
10	34  Wilson Security Racing GRM	James Golding	Holden Commodore ZB	P2  1:29.3080 SS	00.4711
11	99  Erebus Thermosphere Racing	Anton de Pasquale	Holden Commodore ZB	P2  1:29.3722 SS	00.5353
12	8  Team Mrs Mac’s powered by Dare	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore ZB	P1  1:29.4149 SS	00.5780
13	23  Drive Racing	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima	P2  1:29.4160 SS	00.5791
14	888  Autobarn Lowndes Racing	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore ZB	P2  1:29.4344 SS	00.5975
15	9  Erebus Penrite Racing	David Reynolds	Holden Commodore ZB	P2  1:29.4356 SS	00.5987
16	1  Red Bull Holden Racing Team	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore ZB	P1  1:29.4531 SS	00.6162
17	97  Red Bull Holden Racing Team	Shane Van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore ZB	P1  1:29.4786 SS	00.6417
18	6  Monster Energy Racing	Cameron Waters	Ford Falcon FG/X	P1  1:29.5711 SS	00.7342
19	33  Wilson Security Racing GRM	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore ZB	P2  1:29.6616 SS	00.8247
20	7  Plus Fitness Racing	Andre Heimgartner	Nissan Altima	P2  1:29.8399 SS	01.0030
21	18  Preston Hire Racing	Lee Holdsworth	Holden Commodore ZB	P2  1:29.8523 SS	01.0154
22	78  Team Harvey Norman	Simona De Silvestro	Nissan Altima	P1  1:30.0780 SS	01.2411
23	56  RABBLE.club Racing	Richie Stanaway	Ford Falcon FG/X	P2  1:30.3248 SS	01.4879
24	35  Bigmate Racing	Todd Hazelwood	Ford Falcon FG/X	P2  1:30.4204 SS	01.5835
25	21  Team CoolDrive	Tim Blanchard	Holden Commodore ZB	P2  1:30.4507 SS	01.6138
26	230  Milwaukee Racing	Will Davison	Ford Falcon FG/X	P1  1:30.5699 SS	01.7330