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Edition

Australia
Practice report

Sandown 500: Brown ends Friday on top despite late spin

Will Brown put Erebus Motorsport on top as Friday running came to a close at the 2018 Sandown 500, despite an off at Dandenong Road at the end of Practice 3.

Will Brown, Erebus Motorsport

Will Brown, Erebus Motorsport

Supercars

The main game Supercars rookie led a tight co-driver session to finish off Friday practice at the Melbourne circuit, a 1m08.623s with five minutes to go leaving him 0.003s clear of the field.

Brown did look to extend the margin on his final run, but a lock up at Dandenong Road saw him slide off into the gravel before executing a full-throttle flick spin to get going again.

"I was going for another lap and, down at Dandenong, I went off and thought we’re going to get stuck here, cause a red flag and not get it,” said the Super2 regular.

“I was pretty scared, it definitely got the heart-rate going but that’s how it is.

“I just can’t thank everyone at Erebus enough, to give me this opportunity, my first enduro and to end the day like this is pretty cool.

“I’m just pumped to be here and in the enduro campaign.”

A man with even less Supercars experience was second quickest, Le Mans winner Earl Bamber putting in an impressive display in the #97 Triple Eight Holden. The Kiwi had gone quickest just seconds before Brown set his time, the margin between the two just three thousandths of a second.

Steve Richards – one of the most experienced co-drivers in the field – was third quickest in the #888 Holden, just 0.006s slower than Brown, while Jack Perkins was also within a tenth of the pace in fourth.

Perkins' teammate Warren Luff was next, followed by Practice 1 pacesetter Paul Dumbrell. Ash Walsh was seventh quickest for Brad Jones Racing, with Alex Rullo the best of the non-Holdens with eighth in the #78 Nissan.

James Moffat was the quickest Ford in the field thanks to his ninth in the #55 Tickford car, followed by best of the Penskes Tony D'Alberto.

Third practice results:

Cla # Driver Car Time Gap
1 99 Australia Will Brown 
Anton de 
Holden Commodore ZB 1'08.6230  
2 97 New Zealand Earl Bamber 
New Zealand Shane van Gisbergen 
Holden Commodore ZB 1'08.6262 0.0032
3 888 New Zealand Steven Richards 
Australia Craig Lowndes 
Holden Commodore ZB 1'08.6292 0.0062
4 25 Australia James Courtney 
Jack Perkins 
Holden Commodore ZB 1'08.7110 0.0880
5 2 Australia Warren Luff 
Australia Scott Pye 
Holden Commodore ZB 1'08.7223 0.0993
6 1 Australia Jamie Whincup 
Paul Dumbrell 
Holden Commodore ZB 1'08.7552 0.1322
7 14 Australia Tim Slade 
Australia Ash Walsh 
Holden Commodore ZB 1'08.7795 0.1565
8 78 Switzerland Simona de Silvestro 
Australia Alex Rullo 
Nissan Altima 1'08.8002 0.1772
9 55 Australia Chaz Mostert 
Australia James Moffat 
Ford Falcon FG X 1'08.8231 0.2001
10 12 Australia Tony D'Alberto 
New Zealand Fabian Coulthard 
Ford Falcon FG X 1'08.9782 0.3552
11 8 Australia Nick Percat 
Australia Macauley Jones 
Holden Commodore ZB 1'08.9868 0.3638
12 6 Australia David Russell 
Australia Cameron Waters 
Ford Falcon FG X 1'09.0035 0.3805
13 23 Australia Michael Caruso 
Australia Dean Fiore 
Nissan Altima 1'09.0519 0.4289
14 56 New Zealand Richie Stanaway 
Australia Steven Owen 
Ford Falcon FG X 1'09.0677 0.4447
15 9 Australia David Reynolds 
Australia Luke Youlden 
Holden Commodore ZB 1'09.1355 0.5125
16 15 Australia Rick Kelly 
Garry Jacobson 
Nissan Altima 1'09.1403 0.5173
17 19 Australia Jonathon Webb 
Australia Jack Le Brocq 
Holden Commodore ZB 1'09.1837 0.5607
18 21 Australia Dale Wood 
Australia Tim Blanchard 
Holden Commodore ZB 1'09.2214 0.5984
19 7 New Zealand Andre Heimgartner 
Australia Aaren Russell 
Nissan Altima 1'09.2878 0.6648
20 230 Australia Alex Davison 
Australia Will Davison 
Ford Falcon FG X 1'09.3572 0.7342
21 34 Australia James Golding 
Richard Muscat 
Holden Commodore ZB 1'09.3767 0.7537
22 5 Australia Mark Winterbottom 
Australia Dean Canto 
Ford Falcon FG X 1'09.4161 0.7931
23 17 France Alexandre Prémat 
New Zealand Scott McLaughlin 
Ford Falcon FG X 1'09.4361 0.8131
24 33 Australia Garth Tander 
New Zealand Chris Pither 
Holden Commodore ZB 1'09.6401 1.0171
25 18 Australia Lee Holdsworth 
Australia Jason Bright 
Holden Commodore ZB 1'09.8445 1.2215
26 35 Australia Bryce Fullwood 
Australia Todd Hazelwood 
Ford Falcon FG X 1'10.0900 1.4670

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Edition

Australia