Van Gisbergen edges Heimgartner in Practice 2 at Tasmania

Shane van Gisbergen has gone fastest in Practice 2 for the Ned Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint by a margin of two hundredths of a second over Andre Heimgartner.

Van Gisbergen laid down a 0:50.4473s in his late-session qualifying simulation in the #97 Red Bull Ampol Racing entry, a tenth of a second away from Will Davison’s new practice lap record from earlier in the day when the weather was several degrees cooler at Symmons Plains.

Davison (#17 Shell V-Power Mustang) ended up fourth in Practice 2 for the Repco Supercars Championship field on a 0:50.6426s, behind Andre Heimgartner (#8 R&J Batteries ZB Commodore) in second and Todd Hazelwood (#35 Truck Assist ZB Commodore).

The Practice 1 fast man had been on top again after the initial flyers on a 0:51.1885s, but van Gisbergen (#97 ZB Commodore) held sway at the end of the first runs on a 0:50.6570s.

THE FINAL RACE OF THE 2023 REPCO SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP ON ONE OF THE WORLD’S BEST STREET CIRCUITS.
GO ALL IN AT THE VAILO ADELAIDE 500, CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS

Davison had not long moved the benchmark to a 0:50.6426s when a red flag was called in the 11th minute due to Jake Kostecki stopping on the back straight with a suspected electrical problem in Tickford Racing’s #56 Tradie Mustang.

With the session underway again, Jack Le Brocq (#34 Truck Assist ZB Commodore) moved up to third with just under four minutes remaining, clocking a 0:50.8101s before the rest went for their qualifying simulations.

Le Brocq’s team-mate Hazelwood then reset the fastest lap with a 0:50.6395s, before Heimgartner clocked a 0:50.4675s and then van Gisbergen the 0:50.4473s in the last two minutes before the chequered flag.

Hazelwood improved again, to a 0:50.6055s, as Davison set a new fastest first sector but ultimately broke the beam in a time of 0:50.6681s, two hundredths shy of his personal-best.

David Reynolds (#26 Penrite Mustang) ended up fifth, from Anton De Pasquale (#11 Shell V-Power Mustang), Mark Winterbottom (#18 Irwin Tools ZB Commodore), Broc Feeney (#88 Red Bull Ampol ZB Commodore), championship leader Chaz Mostert (#25 Mobil 1 Optus ZB Commodore), and Tim Slade (#3 CoolDrive Mustang) in 10th.

Nick Percat was 12th again in the #2 Mobil 1 NTI ZB Commodore while Tickford’s best was Cameron Waters (#6 Monster Energy Mustang) in 14th.

Scott Pye had a wild moment in the early minutes when he drove his #20 Seiko 5 ZB Commodore into the infield at Turn 1 and ran through the gravel.

He got as high as seventh-fastest, just after the red flag, and ultimately ended up 20th on the timesheet.

Qualifying for Race 3, a three-part knockout session, is due to get underway at 13:50 local time/AEDT.

Results: Practice 2

Pos	Num	Team/Sponsor	Driver	Car	Fastest lap	Split
1	97	Red Bull Ampol Racing	Shane van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore ZB	0:50.4473
2	8	R&J Batteries Racing	Andre Heimgartner	Holden Commodore ZB	0:50.4675	0:00.0202
3	35	Truck Assist Racing	Todd Hazelwood	Holden Commodore ZB	0:50.6055	0:00.1582
4	17	Shell V-Power Racing Team	Will Davison	Ford Mustang GT	0:50.6426	0:00.1953
5	26	Penrite Racing	David Reynolds	Ford Mustang GT	0:50.6691	0:00.2218
6	11	Shell V-Power Racing Team	Anton De Pasquale	Ford Mustang GT	0:50.6802	0:00.2329
7	18	IRWIN Racing	Mark Winterbottom	Holden Commodore ZB	0:50.6869	0:00.2396
8	88	Red Bull Ampol Racing	Broc Feeney	Holden Commodore ZB	0:50.7177	0:00.2704
9	25	Mobil 1 Optus Racing	Chaz Mostert	Holden Commodore ZB	0:50.7390	0:00.2917
10	3	CoolDrive Auto Parts	Tim Slade	Ford Mustang GT	0:50.7663	0:00.3190
11	14	Middy’s Electrical Racing	Bryce Fullwood	Holden Commodore ZB	0:50.7980	0:00.3507
12	2	Mobil 1 NTI Racing	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore ZB	0:50.7983	0:00.3510
13	34	Truck Assist Racing	Jack Le Brocq	Holden Commodore ZB	0:50.8101	0:00.3628
14	6	Monster Energy Racing	Cameron Waters	Ford Mustang GT	0:50.8764	0:00.4291
15	5	Opposite Lock Racing	James Courtney	Ford Mustang GT	0:50.8804	0:00.4331
16	96	Automotive Superstore	Macauley Jones	Holden Commodore ZB	0:50.8906	0:00.4433
17	99	Boost Mobile Racing by Erebus	Brodie Kostecki	Holden Commodore ZB	0:50.9117	0:00.4644
18	10	Penrite Racing	Lee Holdsworth	Ford Mustang GT	0:50.9592	0:00.5119
19	9	Boost Mobile Racing by Erebus	William Brown	Holden Commodore ZB	0:50.9751	0:00.5278
20	20	Team 18 Racing	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore ZB	0:51.0102	0:00.5629
21	55	Castrol Racing	Thomas Randle	Ford Mustang GT	0:51.0413	0:00.5940
22	76	PremiAir Subway Racing	Garry Jacobson	Holden Commodore ZB	0:51.0602	0:00.6129
23	22	PremiAir Coca Cola Racing	Chris Pither	Holden Commodore ZB	0:51.0668	0:00.6195
24	4	SCT Logistics Racing	Jack Smith	Holden Commodore ZB	0:51.1973	0:00.7500
25	56	Tradie Racing	Jake Kostecki	Ford Mustang GT	0:51.6756	0:01.2283