McLaughlin sets fastest lap before crashing in Practice 5

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