Sydney Supercars: Caruso fastest in final practice

The Nissan driver was the best of the late improvers, jumping from well outside the Top 10 to the top with a 1m28.860s on a qualifying sim right on the flag.

The time was good enough to leave Caruso more than two tenths clear of the field.

“The thing I’m happiest about is that it’s consistent,” said Caruso.

“Over the last few months that’s what we haven’t seen from our car. Now the important stuff starts, so hopefully we can do it in the next few sessions.”

Scott McLaughlin was second fastest, the DJR Team Penske driver going quickest with 20 minutes to go with a 1m29.283s, before improving to a 1m29.105s with a green tyre run with 11 minutes to go.

Tim Slade was third quickest, having set his 1m29.326s before the ‘happy hour’ at the end, while Fabian Coulthard was fourth with a 1m29.348s set inside the last 10 minutes.

Mark Winterbottom, Craig Lowndes, and Cam Waters were all late improvers, while Shane van Gisbergen dropped back to eighth having sat third before the qualifying sims started at the end.

Will Davison and David Reynolds rounded out the Top 10.

Cla	#	Driver	Car	Time	Gap
1	23	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima	1'28.8603
2	17	Scott McLaughlin	Ford Falcon FG-X	1'29.1059	0.2456
3	14	Tim Slade	Holden Commodore VF	1'29.3265	0.4662
4	12	Fabian Coulthard	Ford Falcon FG/X	1'29.3489	0.4886
5	5	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG-X	1'29.4132	0.5529
6	888	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore VF	1'29.4724	0.6121
7	6	Cameron Waters	Ford Falcon FG-X	1'29.5089	0.6486
8	97	Shane van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore VF	1'29.5275	0.6672
9	95	Will Davison	Holden Commodore VF	1'29.5728	0.7125
10	9	David Reynolds	Holden Commodore VF	1'29.6023	0.7420
11	8	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore VF	1'29.6270	0.7667
12	21	Tim Blanchard	Holden Commodore VF	1'29.6491	0.7888
13	15	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	1'29.6906	0.8303
14	88	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore VF	1'29.7698	0.9095
15	33	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore VF	1'29.8255	0.9652
16	55	Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG-X	1'29.8456	0.9853
17	56	Jason Bright	Ford Falcon FG-X	1'29.9001	1.0398
18	22	James Courtney	Holden Commodore VF	1'29.9297	1.0694
19	2	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore VF	1'29.9770	1.1167
20	34	James Moffat	Holden Commodore VF	1'29.9951	1.1348
21	7	Todd Kelly	Nissan Altima	1'30.0772	1.2169
22	3	Alex Davison	Holden Commodore VF	1'30.3313	1.4710
23	18	Lee Holdsworth	Holden Commodore VF	1'30.3366	1.4763
24	62	Alex Rullo	Holden Commodore VF	1'30.3825	1.5222
25	99	Dale Wood	Holden Commodore VF	1'30.6199	1.7596
26	78	Simona de Silvestro	Nissan Altima	1'30.7750	1.9147