Girolami untouchable in TCR Aus Practice 2
Nestor Girolami
WTCR star Nestor Girolami showed his class to blitz the field in TCR Australia Practice 2 at Sandown.
After topping opening practice, the Argentine touring car ace continued to impress, lapping more than a second faster than his nearest rival on his debut at the Melbourne circuit.
Girolami, driving for Wall Racing, smashed the personal best he set in Practice 1 by 1.5s to end up with a stunning 1:14.16s benchmark.
It proved to be a mammoth 1.4s faster than Liam McAdam (Melbourne Performance Centre, Audi), who punched in a lap in the dying moments to take second spot.
Series leader Will Brown (HMO Customer Racing, Hyundai) was left to settle for third, a further 0.2s back.
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Wall Racing ensured there were two Hondas in the top four with John Martin in fourth, ahead of Kelly Racing’s Andre Heimgartner behind the wheel of an Opel Astra.
Having shown strong pace in the early running, Tony D’Alberto (Wall Racing, Honda) and Russell Ingall (Melbourne Performance Centre, Audi) ended up sixth and seventh.
Meanwhile, Garth Tander (Melbourne Performance Centre, Audi) emerged in the top 10 in eighth after struggling for outright pace in opening practice.
The top 10 was rounded out by Jason Bright (Alliance Autosport, Volkswagen) and title contender Dylan O’Keeffe (Ash Seward Motorsport).
TCR Australia will return to action on Saturday for qualifying at 1015 with Race 1 scheduled for 1310 AEST.
Results: TCR Australia Practice 2, Sandown
| Pos | Num | Driver | Team | Car | Lap | Gap |
| 1 | 38 | Nestor Girolami (ARG) | Wall Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 1:14.1631 | |
| 2 | 97 | Liam McAdam (Qld) | Melbourne Performance Centre | Audi RS 3 | 1:15.6113 | 01.4482 |
| 3 | 24 | John Martin (NSW) | Wall Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 1:15.6686 | 01.5055 |
| 4 | 30 | William Brown (Qld) | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai i30N | 1:15.8172 | 01.6541 |
| 5 | 777 | Andre Heimgartner (NZ) | Kelly Racing | Holden Astra | 1:16.1090 | 01.9459 |
| 6 | 50 | Tony D’Alberto (Vic) | Wall Racing | Honda Civic Type R | 1:16.1236 | 01.9605 |
| 7 | 100 | Russell Ingall (Qld) | Melbourne Performance Centre | Audi RS 3 | 1:16.1416 | 01.9785 |
| 8 | 62 | Bryce Fullwood (NT) | Kelly Racing | Holden Astra | 1:16.1935 | 02.0304 |
| 9 | 3 | Garth Tander (Vic) | Melbourne Performance Centre | Audi RS 3 | 1:16.4175 | 02.2544 |
| 10 | 8 | Jason Bright (Vic) | Taskforce/Melb Performance Cnt | Volkswagon Golf GTI | 1:16.6175 | 02.4544 |
| 11 | 9 | Dylan O’Keeffe (Vic) | Ashley Seward Motorsport | Alfa Romeo Giulietta | 1:16.6387 | 02.4756 |
| 12 | 34 | James Moffat (Vic) | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Renault Megane RS | 1:16.6712 | 02.5081 |
| 13 | 11 | Nathan Morcom (NSW) | HMO Customer Racing | Hyundai i30N | 1:17.0852 | 02.9221 |
| 14 | 33 | Chris Pither (NZ) | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Renault Megane RS | 1:17.2324 | 03.0693 |
| 15 | 2 | Aaron Cameron (Vic) | Melbourne Performance Centre | Volkswagen Golf GTI | 1:17.6857 | 03.5226 |
| 16 | 35 | Alexandra Whitley (Qld) | Melbourne Performance Centre | Volkswagon Golf GTI | 1:19.8405 | 05.6774 |
| 17 | 7 | Jordan Cox (NSW) | Garry Rogers Motorsport | Alfa Romeo Giulietta | 1:20.5523 | 06.3892 |
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