Van Gisbergen tops Supercars Practice 1 in Townsville - Speedcafe

Shane van Gisbergen. Photo: Ross Gibb

Shane van Gisbergen has set the pace in Practice 1 for Event 7 of the Repco Supercar Championships at the NTI Townsville 500.

In a rather clever opening session at the Reid Park Road Circuit, the Red Bull Ampol Racing championship-leading 1:13.6883s in the second lap proved the fastest time of the session.

Kick start was delayed for 20 minutes to fix a loose road plate, before a court containing 25 cars was freed for half an hour of practice.

David Reynolds (#26 Penrite Mustang) was quickest after the first pamphlet at 1:14,1926, before van Gisbergen (#97 ZB Commodore) moved to first place on the next occasion.

With the hard tire compound returning after a series of super or super soft events this year, and the soft event in Townsville, there were many set-up changes made during the session.

However, the screen time barely changes after the first round is over.

Andre Heimgartner jumped from 10th to second fastest with seconds remaining before the checkered flag came out, thanks to 1:13.7857s on Brad Jones Racing’s #8 R&J Batteries ZB Commodore.

The effort saw Scott Pye return to third after the Team 18 driver pushed the #20 Nulon ZB Commodore to 1:13.8927s, with the top five rounded off by the Shell V-Power Racing Team duo of Will Davison (#17 Mustang) and Anton De Pasquale. (#11 Mustang).

Broc Feeney (#88 Red Bull Ampol ZB Commodore) finished sixth, ahead of Reynolds, Todd Hazelwood (#35 Truck Assist ZB Commodore), Tim Slade (#3 CoolDrive Mustang), and Mark Winterbottom (#18 Irwin Tools ZB Commodore) .

Chaz Mostert of Walkinshaw Andretti United was 11th in a time of 1:14.1398 in the #25 Mobil 1 Optus ZB Commodore, while the best of Tickford Racing was Cameron Waters (#6 Monster Energy Mustang) in 13th.

At PremiAir Racing, Chris Pither (#22 Coca-Cola ZB Commodore) beat newcomer James Golding (#31 Subway ZB Commodore) by 1:14.7608s to 1:14.7881s, as they finished 22nd and 23rd.

Exercise 2 is scheduled for 2:50 p.m. local time/AEST.

Result: Exercise 1

Post	number	Team/Sponsor	Driver	Car	Fastest lap	Split
1	97	Red Bull Ampol Race	Shane van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore ZB	1:13.6883
2	8	R&J Baterai Battery Racing	Andre Heimmartner	Holden Commodore ZB	1:13.7857	0:00.0974
3	20	Nulon Racing	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore ZB	1:13.8927	0:00.2044
4	17	V-Power Shell Racing Team	Will Davison	Ford Mustang GT	1:13.9299	0:00.2416
5	11	V-Power Shell Racing Team	Anton De Pasquale	Ford Mustang GT	1:13.9332	0:00.2449
6	88	Red Bull Ampol Race	Broc Feeney	Holden Commodore ZB	1:13.9542	0:00.2659
7	26	Penrite Race	David Reynolds	Ford Mustang GT	1:14.0289	0:00.3406
8	35	Truck Assistance Racing	Todd Hazelwood	Holden Commodore ZB	1:14.0450	0:00.3567
9	3	CoolDrive Auto Parts	Team Slade	Ford Mustang GT	1:14.0830	0:00.3947
10	18	IRWIN Racing	Mark Winterbottom	Holden Commodore ZB	1:14.1035	0:00.4152
11	25	Car 1 Optus Racing	Chaz Mostert	Holden Commodore ZB	1:14.1398	0:00.4515
12	9	Boost Mobile Racing by Erebus	William Brown	Holden Commodore ZB	1:14.1607	0:00.4724
13	6	Monster Energy Racing	Cameron Waters	Ford Mustang GT	1:14.2071	0:00.5188
14	34	Truck Assistance Racing	Jack Le Brocq	Holden Commodore ZB	1:14,2210	0:00.5327
15	99	Boost Mobile Racing by Erebus	Brodie Kostecki	Holden Commodore ZB	1:14.2806	0:00.5923
16	56	Tradie Racing	Jake Kostecki	Ford Mustang GT	1:14.2866	0:00.5983
17	55	Castrol Racing	Thomas Randle	Ford Mustang GT	1:14.4077	0:00.7194
18	5	Snowy River Racing	James Courtney	Ford Mustang GT	1:14.5128	0:00.8245
19	10	Penrite Race	Lee Holdsworth	Ford Mustang GT	1:14.6078	0:00.9195
20	96	Pizza Hut	Macauley Jones	Holden Commodore ZB	1:14,6450	0:00.9567
21	2	Car 1 NTI Racing	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore ZB	1:14.7036	0:01.0153
22	22	PremiumAir Coca Cola Racing	Chris Pither	Holden Commodore ZB	1:14.7608	0:01.0725
23	31	PremiumAir Subway Racing	James Golding	Holden Commodore ZB	1:14.7881	0:01.0998
24	4	SCT Logistics Racing	Jack Smith	Holden Commodore ZB	1:14.8154	0:01.1271
25	14	Middy Electric Racing	Bryce Fullwood	Holden Commodore ZB	1:14.9831	0:01.2948

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