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