Best leads Allen in red flagged Super2 practice

Zak Best again headed Kai Allen following a red-flagged shorted second Super2 practice session in Newcastle.Best was the only driver to dip below the 73-second marker in what proved to be an action-packed session.

Mason Kelly struck trouble early before a four-car incident in the final moments ultimately saw officials declare it early.

Seton back on track

Aaron Seton was able to get back out on track after ending Practice 1 with the nose of his Commodore buried in the tyre wall at Turn 6.

Seton completed an installation lap before touring back into the lane as the rest of the field remained on track.

It made for a busy start, Best picking up where he left off to go fastest with a 1:14.2603s initially.

That effort didn’t stand for long as Cooper Murray mustered a 1:13.8769s while Jack Perkins sat third.

Incident packed

Matt Chahda found the fence on the exit of Turn 10, glancing the wall with the right side of the car.

It was enough to force him back into the pits as the top of the timesheets began to change rapidly.

Soon, Mason Kelly limped back into the pits with 32 minutes remaining after he tagged the wall exiting the final corner.

The Nissan driver slid through the right-hander before immediately heading into the lane with the left rear having copped a hefty impact.

Best improved on his early lap to lower the benchmark to 1:13.7503s with Murray sitting second and Perkins third.

It was proving another incident-packed session with Jett Johnson running deep at the hairpin, Aaron Love going long at Cops, and Ryan Gilroy brushing the tyre wall at Turn 1.

Halfway marker

Approaching the halfway point of the 45-minute session the circuit fell quiet with much of the field in the lane.

Having headed back out following a set-up tweak, Perkins locked up into Cops but was able to quickly spin the Commodore around and get going once again.

As he recovered, Allen, nursing a recently broken collar bone, shot fastest with a 1:13.0611s.

That time lasted even as Best logged two purple sectors on his next lap, but lost time in the final third to remain second.

Brad Vaughan then came within touching distance of Allen with a 1:13.1040s.

Drama at the final corner saw Ellie Morrow and Chris Smerdon come a cropper.

Morrow was nose-in at the apex of the corner while the latter was able to three-point turn his way out of trouble at the exit of the corner.

The pair had come together, Smerdon turning in on Morrow who’d moved up the inside to see the pair pirouette.

Late red flag

A rapid lap saw Best got fastest just moments before the red flag was shown when four cars found themselves stuck at Turn 9.

Chahda looked to have made the initial mistake with Johnson left with nowhere to go as he arrived on the scene almost immediately.

Love was next in, locking up and sliding into Johnson comparatively lightly.

Callum Walker was in next but did well to avoid contact with the trio ahead – or the tyre wall.

Johnson was helped out of the car which had notable front end damage after contacting Chahda’s driver’s side door – having to climb out of the passenger door as rescue crews helped him free.

Love’s car had front-end damage but he was able to limp back to the lane, the bar looking the worst of it.

The session did not resume, Best ending fastest with 1:12.8900s from Allen, Brad Vaughan, Jay Robotham, and Zach Bates.

Matthew McCutcheon headed the Super3 field, his best a 1:13.0436s.

The next time the Super2 field heads out on track will be for qualifying at 10:25 AEDT on Saturday morning.

Results: Super2 Series, Newcastle, Practice 2

Pos	Num	Competitor/Team	Driver	Vehicle	Laps	Fastest…Lap	Gap
1	17	Anderson Motorsport	Zak Best	Ford Mustang GT	17	16 1:12.8900*
2	26	Eggleston Motorsport	Kai Allen	Holden Commodore ZB	19	12 1:13.0611	0:00.1711
3	5	Dormer HVAC Services	Brad Vaughan	Ford Mustang GT	16	14 1:13.1040	0:00.2140
4	3	MW Motorsport	Jaylyn Robotham	Ford Mustang GT	18	17 1:13.2889	0:00.3989
5	25	Walkinshaw Andretti United	Zach Bates	Holden Commodore ZB	13	12 1:13.4609	0:00.5709
6	70	Shaw and Partners Racing	Jack Perkins	Holden Commodore ZB	17	13 1:13.5002	0:00.6102
7	88	Eggleston Motorsport	Cooper Murray	Holden Commodore ZB	14	12 1:13.5705	0:00.6805
8	2	Walkinshaw Andretti United	Ryan Wood	Holden Commodore ZB	13	10 1:13.6719	0:00.7819
9	49	Cowbiz	Jay Hanson	Holden Commodore ZB	19	11 1:13.7371	0:00.8471
10	18	Cavalier Homes	Matthew Chahda	Holden Commodore ZB	13	6 1:14.0167	0:01.1267
11	78	Petronas Motorsport	Aaron Love	Ford Mustang GT	16	6 1:14.0246	0:01.1346
12	67	World Gym Racing	Nash Morris	Holden Commodore ZB	16	13 1:14.0288	0:01.1388
13	11	Turps Tippers	Zane Morse	Ford Mustang GT	13	11 1:14.0406	0:01.1506
14	43	AWC Motorsport	Lachlan Dalton	Holden Commodore ZB	17	14 1:14.0464	0:01.1564
15	54	Eggleston Motorsport	Jordyn Sinni	Holden Commodore ZB	16	15 1:14.0722	0:01.1822
16	38	Eggleston Motorsport	Cameron Crick	Holden Commodore ZB	18	5 1:14.1485	0:01.2585
17	30	Gomersall Motorsport	Aaron Seton	Holden Commodore ZB	15	14 1:14.6234	0:01.7334
18	6	Steeline	Elly Morrow	Ford Mustang GT	19	17 1:15.5802	0:02.6902
19	33	Cylinder Head Warehouse	Callum Walker	Holden Commodore ZB	19	10 1:16.5788	0:03.6888
20	219	Masterton Motorsport	James Masterton	Ford Mustang GT	3	1 1:20.9771	0:08.0871

Results: Super3 Series, Newcastle, Practice 2

Pos	Num	Competitor/Team	Driver	Vehicle	Laps	Fastest…Lap	Gap
1	97	Eggleston Motorsport	Matthew McCutcheon	Holden Commodore VF	15	4 1:15.0436*
2	999	Image Racing	Jobe Stewart	Holden Commodore VF	16	4 1:15.0716	0:00.0280
3	92	Ryan McLeod Racing Cars	Cameron McLeod	Nissan Altima	16	10 1:15.1668	0:00.1232
4	117	NAPA Auto Parts	Jett Johnson	Nissan Altima	18	11 1:15.3972	0:00.3536
5	89	Bowers Heavy Haulage	Ryan Gilroy	Holden Commodore VF	9	8 1:15.8372	0:00.7936
6	22	Kelly Racing	Mason Kelly	Nissan Altima	3	1 1:16.5105	0:01.4669
7	39	Matt Stone Racing	Chris Smerdon	Holden Commodore VF	13	11 1:17.3416	0:02.2980
8	35	Gomersall Motorsport	Jason Gomersall	Holden Commodore VF	18	8 1:17.3956	0:02.3520
9	7	Mocomm Motorsport Comms	Jim Pollicina	Holden Commodore VE2	18	17 1:17.6547	0:02.6111