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Edition

Australia
Practice report

Ipswich Supercars: Slade edges Penske Fords in final practice

Tim Slade beat Penske drivers Scott McLaughlin and Fabian Coulthard to top spot in the final pre-qualifying practice session at Queensland Raceway with a record-breaking lap.

 Tim Slade, Brad Jones Racing Holden

Tim Slade, Brad Jones Racing Holden

Daniel Kalisz / Motorsport Images

 Todd Hazelwood, Matt Stone Racing
 Jamie Whincup, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden
 Shane Davies, Nissan Motorsport
 Alex Davison, Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport Holden
 Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske Ford

Slade made huge gains on his final lap of the 45-minute session, firing to the top of the times with a 1m08.976s inside the last minute to both top the session and set a new unofficial lap record.

“It was a fairly productive session for us,” said the Brad Jones Racing driver.

“We ran through a good range of things and found a pretty good direction where yesterday we felt a little but muddled and I wasn’t getting the most out of myself either.

“I wish that was qualifying. I think the conditions are going to change a little bit before qualifying with the temperature so hopefully we can adapt to match that.”

It was McLaughlin who had led the way until Slade’s lap, the Penske driver first going quickest 18 minutes in with a 1m09.214s. He then improved to a 1m09.049s with 15 minutes to go, and was set to go even quicker on his next run with two purple sectors before losing time in the final sector.

McLaughlin’s teammate Coulthard enjoyed a brief spell on top around the 13-minute mark with a 1m09.404s, before settling on third spot with a 1m09.055s set inside the last couple of minutes.

Shane van Gisbergen was the best-placed Triple Eight driver with his 1m09.243s, edging early pacesetter David Reynolds and Team 18 driver Lee Holdsworth.

Nissan drivers Michael Caruso and Rick Kelly were seventh and eighth, while wildcard entry Todd Hazelwood’s impressive 1m09.312s saw him run as high as third, and end up ninth.

Jack Le Brocq was a credible 12th quickest in his wildcard Nissan, beating two of Triple Eight’s drivers with Craig Lowndes in 14th and Jamie Whincup in 16th.

It was a tough session for Prodrive Racing, Friday pacesetter Chaz Mostert the team's best-placed driver in 11th. Cam Waters was 17th, Jason Bright 19th, and Mark Winterbottom way down in 24th.  

ClaDriverCarTimeGap
1 14 australia  Tim Slade  Holden Commodore VF 1'08.9768  
2 17 new_zealand  Scott McLaughlin  Ford Falcon FG-X 1'09.0490 0.0722
3 12 new_zealand  Fabian Coulthard  Ford Falcon FG-X 1'09.0555 0.0787
4 97 new_zealand  Shane van Gisbergen  Holden Commodore VF 1'09.2269 0.2501
5 9 australia  David Reynolds  Holden Commodore VF 1'09.2436 0.2668
6 18 australia  Lee Holdsworth  Holden Commodore VF 1'09.2536 0.2768
7 23 australia  Michael Caruso  Nissan Altima 1'09.2623 0.2855
8 15 australia  Rick Kelly  Nissan Altima 1'09.2733 0.2965
9 36 australia  Todd Hazelwood  Holden Commodore VF 1'09.3122 0.3354
10 8 australia  Nick Percat  Holden Commodore VF 1'09.3458 0.3690
11 55 australia  Chaz Mostert  Ford Falcon FG-X 1'09.4184 0.4416
12 28 australia  Jack Le Brocq  Nissan Altima 1'09.4309 0.4541
13 21 australia  Tim Blanchard  Holden Commodore VF 1'09.4399 0.4631
14 888 australia  Craig Lowndes  Holden Commodore VF 1'09.4693 0.4925
15 26 Shae Davies  Nissan Altima 1'09.5220 0.5452
16 88 australia  Jamie Whincup  Holden Commodore VF 1'09.5275 0.5507
17 6 australia  Cameron Waters  Ford Falcon FG-X 1'09.5552 0.5784
18 19 australia  Will Davison  Holden Commodore VF 1'09.5558 0.5790
19 56 australia  Jason Bright  Ford Falcon FG-X 1'09.5622 0.5854
20 33 australia  Garth Tander  Holden Commodore VF 1'09.5626 0.5858
21 22 australia  James Courtney  Holden Commodore VF 1'09.6699 0.6931
22 7 australia  Todd Kelly  Nissan Altima 1'09.6917 0.7149
23 31 australia  James Golding  Holden Commodore VF 1'09.7173 0.7405
24 5 australia  Mark Winterbottom  Ford Falcon FG-X 1'09.7360 0.7592
25 78 switzerland  Simona de Silvestro  Nissan Altima 1'09.7492 0.7724
26 99 australia  Dale Wood  Holden Commodore VF 1'09.7847 0.8079
27 2 australia  Scott Pye  Holden Commodore VF 1'09.9630 0.9862
28 3 australia  Alex Davison  Holden Commodore VF 1'10.2168 1.2400
29 34 australia  James Moffat  Holden Commodore VF 1'10.2364 1.2596
30 62 australia  Alex Rullo  Holden Commodore VF 1'10.7764 1.7996

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Edition

Australia