
Scott McLaughlin crashes pic: Fox Sports
Scott McLaughlin set the fastest lap before crabbing back to the pits after hitting the wall in Practice 5 for the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.
The 2019 Great Race winner laid down a 2:04.3716s with green tyres, 43 minutes into the hour-long session at Mount Panorama, but came to grief when he went for an apparent qualifying simulation right at the end.
McLaughlin was fastest to the first sector but a snaggy gear change as he came down the mountain caused the back of the #17 Mustang to break free, and the left-rear corner made sizeable contact with the wall just above Forrest’s Elbow before the front was pulled in.
McLaughlin spun into that left-hander and while he was able to drive back to the pits, the Shell V-Power Racing Team machine was obviously bent.
The incident may have also denied several of his rivals a chance to improve on their personal best lap times, leaving championship rookie Bryce Fullwood second at 0.1133s off the pace in the #2 Mobil 1 Middy’s ZB Commodore.
Thursday fast man Cameron Waters did go fastest to the second sector subsequent to McLaughlin’s crash but opted to pit instead of completing the lap, and the #6 Monster Energy Mustang remained fourth on the timesheet, behind the sister Tickford Racing entry of Lee Holdsworth (#5 Truck Assist Mustang).
Jamie Whincup (#888 ZB Commodore) ended up fifth, one spot up on fellow Red Bull Holden Racing Team driver Shane van Gisbergen (#97 ZB Commodore).
When the session began, it was only Nick Percat in the ‘fives’ having driven the #8 R&J Batteries ZB Commodore to a 2:05.9806s.
McLaughlin clocked a 2:05.8809s and then a 2:05.6373s on his subsequent flyers but Waters held sway after his first run proper with a 2:05.5595s.
Chaz Mostert (#25 Mobil 1 Appliances Online ZB Commodore) then closed to 0.0072s off the pace, before McLaughlin raised the bar with a 2:05.3983s despite a somewhat untidy run out of The Chase.
James Courtney (#44 Boost Mobile Mustang) came close to knocking #17 off its perch when he set a 2:05.4422s on his third run, while Mostert did beat it when he punched out a 2:04.7582s just after the half-hour mark.
That lap was reportedly completed on new tyres while McLaughlin and Waters went out with used rubber for their third runs.
The former moved to second with a 2:05.3750s before the latter clocked a 2:04.6758s to take over first position.
Jamie Whincup took greens for his third run and, after giving up one lap due to a moment at Griffins, drove the #888 Triple Eight Race Engineering car to a 2:04.6280s.
McLaughlin went out on new tyres on his fourth run and duly reclaimed first position with a 2:04.3716s, before Holdsworth moved to second with a 2:04.5299s.
Fullwood, the recently re-signed Walkinshaw Andretti United driver, then fired in a 2:04.4849s, bumping Holdsworth to third, from Waters and Whincup, ahead of the final runs.
Only a handful had a chance to then go for really hot laps due to McLaughlin’s crash, leaving that top five unchanged.
Van Gisbergen got in a 2:04.6792s just before that moment to move up to sixth, ahead of Mostert, Alex Davison (#19 Local Legends ZB Commodore), Courtney, and Scott Pye (#20 DeWalt ZB Commodore).
Percat ended up 11th and Jack Le Brocq (#55 Supercheap Auto Mustang) 12th in a session run once again in slightly overcast conditions.
Both of the cars which caused red flags in Practice 4 were back on-track.
Todd Hazelwood putting the #14 Cub Cadet ZB Commodore 15th and Tyler Everingham ended up at the foot of the timesheet in the #40 Valvoline ZB Commodore after their co-drivers had incidents in the preceding hit-out.
Although there were a handful of offs in Practice 5, McLaughlin’s was the only major on-track mishap, while Matt Stone Racing encountered an oil leak in the #35 Yellow Cover ZB Commodore.
The next session for the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship field is Qualifying, at 16:05 local time/AEDT.
Results: Practice 5
Pos |
Num |
Team/Sponsor |
Driver(s) |
Car |
Fastest lap |
Split |
1 |
17 |
Shell V-Power Racing Team |
Scott McLaughlin |
Ford Mustang GT |
2:04.3716 |
|
2 |
2 |
Mobil 1 TM Middy’s Racing |
Bryce Fullwood |
Holden Commodore ZB |
2:04.4849 |
0:00.1133 |
3 |
5 |
Truck Assist Racing |
Lee Holdsworth |
Ford Mustang GT |
2:04.5299 |
0:00.1583 |
4 |
6 |
Monster Energy Racing |
Cameron Waters |
Ford Mustang GT |
2:04.5437 |
0:00.1721 |
5 |
888 |
Red Bull Holden Racing Team |
Jamie Whincup |
Holden Commodore ZB |
2:04.6280 |
0:00.2564 |
6 |
97 |
Red Bull Holden Racing Team |
Shane van Gisbergen |
Holden Commodore ZB |
2:04.6792 |
0:00.3076 |
7 |
25 |
Mobil 1 Appliances Online |
Chaz Mostert |
Holden Commodore ZB |
2:04.7582 |
0:00.3866 |
8 |
19 |
Local Legends Racing |
Alex Davison |
Holden Commodore ZB |
2:04.8075 |
0:00.4359 |
9 |
44 |
Boost Mobile Racing |
James Courtney |
Ford Mustang GT |
2:04.8543 |
0:00.4827 |
10 |
20 |
DEWALT Racing |
Scott Pye |
Holden Commodore ZB |
2:04.9309 |
0:00.5593 |
11 |
8 |
R&J Batteries |
Nick Percat |
Holden Commodore ZB |
2:04.9438 |
0:00.5722 |
12 |
55 |
Supercheap Auto Racing |
Jack Le Brocq |
Ford Mustang GT |
2:05.1590 |
0:00.7874 |
13 |
99 |
Penrite Racing |
Anton De Pasquale |
Holden Commodore ZB |
2:05.2312 |
0:00.8596 |
14 |
7 |
NED Whisky Racing |
Andre Heimgartner |
Ford Mustang GT |
2:05.2912 |
0:00.9196 |
15 |
14 |
Cub Cadet Mowers |
Todd Hazelwood |
Holden Commodore ZB |
2:05.4324 |
0:01.0608 |
16 |
12 |
Shell V-Power Racing Team |
Fabian Coulthard |
Ford Mustang GT |
2:05.4877 |
0:01.1161 |
17 |
15 |
Castrol Racing |
Rick Kelly |
Ford Mustang GT |
2:05.5619 |
0:01.1903 |
18 |
34 |
UNIT Racing |
J.Kostecki/Z.Goddard |
Holden Commodore ZB |
2:05.5973 |
0:01.2257 |
19 |
18 |
IRWIN Racing |
Mark Winterbottom |
Holden Commodore ZB |
2:05.8190 |
0:01.4474 |
20 |
9 |
Penrite Racing |
David Reynolds |
Holden Commodore ZB |
2:05.8702 |
0:01.4986 |
21 |
3 |
Team CoolDrive |
Macauley Jones |
Holden Commodore ZB |
2:06.3173 |
0:01.9457 |
22 |
35 |
Yellow Cover Racing |
Garry Jacobson |
Holden Commodore ZB |
2:06.5916 |
0:02.2200 |
23 |
4 |
SCT Motor Sports |
Jack Smith |
Holden Commodore ZB |
2:06.7636 |
0:02.3920 |
24 |
22 |
Team SYDNEY |
C.Pither/S.Owen |
Holden Commodore ZB |
2:06.8063 |
0:02.4347 |
25 |
40 |
Team Valvoline GRM |
Tyler Everingham |
Holden Commodore ZB |
2:06.9094 |
0:02.5378 |
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