Best fastest in opening Super2 practice at Newcastle

Zak Best ended the opening Dunlop Super2 Series practice session of the weekend fastest around the streets of Newcastle.

The Ford Mustang driver headed Kai Allen at the end of a 50-minute hit out that was twice interrupted by red flags.

Jack Perkins was third fastest, while Jobe Stewart topped the Super3 pack.

Rookie running

The opening 10 minutes session was restricted to rookies, a total of 16 drivers across both Super2 and Super3.

On the run-up Watt Street, Lochie Dalton ran deep at Turn 2, Cops, parking in the escape road before getting back on track.

The top end of the timesheets was a fruit machine in the early minutes, Ryan Wood emerging fastest after his first flying lap with a 1:17.0933s.

Brad Vaughan went fastest after an aggressive lap which saw him run wide exiting the hairpin towards the end of the lap, getting out into the grey and gently brushing the wall as the rear stepped out in protest.

He managed a 1:16.1687s which was quickly bested by Wood who improved to 1:15.7120s.

The rookie benchmark was lowered further to 1:15.5423s by Cooper Murray.

Aaron Love had been in the lane, the inside wall of one of his left-rear tyre damaged by suspected overuse of the kerbs.

All in

After 10 minutes, the remainder of the field ventured out.

There was a moment for Jason Gomersall who missed his braking marker at Cops, taking to the escape road.

He was followed in by Chris Smerdon, with Gomersall rolling back down the hill towards the race track, colliding with a fence and damaging the rear of the Commodore in the process.

Two-thirds of a lap ahead, Wood punched a brake at Turn 12, pulling out of the left-hander and turning right through the run-off to avoid the wall.

A locked brake for Ryan Gilroy saw the #89 run deep into the first corner, heading into the escape road.

Gomersall was again in the wars when Jay Hanson looked to move past the Commodore driver only for the door to be shut.

Red flag

With 31 minutes remaining, Aaron Seton nosed into the tyres exiting Turn 6 to draw the red flag.

The third-generation racer took too much kerb, sending him wide, burying the nose under the tyre wall.

Under the stoppage, Gomersall’s session came to an end when the team was able to assess the damage to the rear wing on his car.

The damage from rolling into the barrier at Cops had damaged the boot lid that was unable to latch as a result.

Throughout the red flag, the clock continued to tick down, restarting with just over 23 minutes remaining.

Green flag

Once running resumed, Best improved on his earlier effort to record a 1:13.3894s, leaving him 0.6745s quicker than Vaughan.

Jett Johnson sat as the leading Super3 driver, 15th overall with a 1:15.6527s.

With 16 minutes to run, Perkins slotted into second with a 1:13.8056s moments after Gilroy again found the escape road at Turn 1.

Kai Allen then bumped Perkins to slot into second-best with a 1:13.6396s.

Conditions were improving but remained slippery, Zane Morse lucky to stay out of the fence at Turn 6 after getting too much kerbing.

Second interruption

The sessions’ second red flag was called when Vaughan parked his car in the escape road at Cops.

He’d locked the rear wheels, at turn-in to slide long, getting stuck when trying to get the car back on track.

The session did not resume, officials opting to declare it with three minutes remaining.

That left Best at the top of the timesheets from Allen and Perkins, with Jobe Stewart the fastest of the Super3 runners.

The Super2 Series returns to the streets of Newcastle at 12:50 AEDT for another 40 minutes of practice – the category’s final running before qualifying on Saturday morning.

Results: Practice 1

Pos	Num	Team/Sponsor	Driver	Car	Cls	Fastest lap	Split
1	17	Anderson Motorsport	Zak Best	Ford Mustang GT	S2	1:13.3894
2	26	Eggleston Motorsport	Kai Allen	Holden Commodore ZB	S2	1:13.6396	0:00.2502
3	70	Shaw and Partners Racing	Jack Perkins	Holden Commodore ZB	S2	1:13.7438	0:00.3544
4	18	Cavalier Homes	Matthew Chahda	Holden Commodore ZB	S2	1:13.8215	0:00.4321
5	88	Eggleston Motorsport	Cooper Murray	Holden Commodore ZB	S2	1:13.9088	0:00.5194
6	2	Walkinshaw Andretti United	Ryan Wood	Holden Commodore ZB	S2	1:13.9900	0:00.6006
7	5	Dormer HVAC Services	Brad Vaughan	Ford Mustang GT	S2	1:14.0639	0:00.6745
8	25	Walkinshaw Andretti United	Zach Bates	Holden Commodore ZB	S2	1:14.2943	0:00.9049
9	49	Cowbiz	Jay Hanson	Holden Commodore ZB	S2	1:14.3188	0:00.9294
10	38	Eggleston Motorsport	Cameron Crick	Holden Commodore ZB	S2	1:14.3359	0:00.9465
11	78	Petronas Motorsport	Aaron Love	Ford Mustang GT	S2	1:14.4617	0:01.0723
12	54	Eggleston Motorsport	Jordyn Sinni	Holden Commodore ZB	S2	1:14.5744	0:01.1850
13	3	MW Motorsport	Jaylyn Robotham	Ford Mustang GT	S2	1:14.6547	0:01.2653
14	11	Turps Tippers	Zane Morse	Ford Mustang GT	S2	1:14.6739	0:01.2845
15	43	AWC Motorsport	Lachlan Dalton	Holden Commodore ZB	S2	1:14.8522	0:01.4628
16	999	Image Racing	Jobe Stewart	Holden Commodore VF	S3	1:14.9996	0:01.6102
17	92	Ryan McLeod Racing Cars	Cameron McLeod	Nissan Altima	S3	1:15.4755	0:02.0861
18	117	NAPA Auto Parts	Jett Johnson	Nissan Altima	S3	1:15.6527	0:02.2633
19	67	World Gym Racing	Nash Morris	Holden Commodore ZB	S2	1:15.6946	0:02.3052
20	97	Eggleston Motorsport	Matthew McCutcheon	Holden Commodore VF	S3	1:15.8606	0:03.4712
21	89	Bowers Heavy Haulage	Ryan Gilroy	Holden Commodore VF	S3	1:15.8816	0:03.4922
22	22	Kelly Racing	Mason Kelly	Nissan Altima	S3	1:16.0014	0:03.6120
23	6	Steeline	Elly Morrow	Ford Mustang GT	S2	1:16.4417	0:03.0523
24	30	Gomersall Motorsport	Aaron Seton	Holden Commodore ZB	S2	1:16.7468	0:03.3574
25	33	Cylinder Head Warehouse	Callum Walker	Holden Commodore ZB	S2	1:18.1846	0:04.7952
26	39	Matt Stone Racing	Chris Smerdon	Holden Commodore VF	S3	1:18.4025	0:05.0131
27	7	Mocomm Motorsport Comms	Jim Pollicina	Holden Commodore VE2	S3	1:18.8581	0:05.4687
28	219	Masterton Motorsport	James Masterton	Ford Mustang GT	S2	1:19.7011	0:06.3117
29	35	Gomersall Motorsport	Jason Gomersall	Holden Commodore VF	S3	1:24.0887	0:10.6993