Symmons Plains Supercars: Whincup tops first practice
Jamie Whincup put on a record-breaking show to top the opening practice session inTasmania.
Jamie Whincup, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden
Triple Eight Race Engineering
The Red Bull Holden driver was mired in the midfield until he bolted on a new set of super soft tyres with a few minutes to go. He jumped straight to the top with a 51.18s, before improving to a 50.94s on his second lap, a new unofficial lap record.
DJR Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin and Whincup’s RBHRT teammate Shane van Gisbergen both grabbed new boots and went for late improvements as well, the pair slotting into second and third respectively. Mclaughlin even made a gain on his second lap, which came right on the flag, but still fell 0.14s short of Whincup.
Van Gisbergen, meanwhile, was another tenth back from McLaughlin, with HSV Racing driver Scott Pye slotting into fourth with a green tyre run of his own.
That late movement shuffled Fabian Coulthard, who had been quickest with 10 minutes to run, back to fifth, ahead of Chaz Mostert – who survived a big sideways moment at the last corner – and Will Davison.
Lee Holdsworth was eighth quickest, a decent turnaround after missing most of the Australian GP weekend following that nasty tangle with Nick Percat, while Mark Winterbottom and Tim Slade rounded out the Top 10.
It was a tough session for the factory Nissan squad, Todd Kelly the best-placed Altima down in 14th.
Craig Lowndes struggled too, the Triple Eight driver just 22nd fastest after battling a power steering leak.
Cla | # | Driver | Car | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 88 | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 50.9455 | |
2 | 17 | Scott McLaughlin | Ford Falcon FG-X | 51.0883 | 0.1428 |
3 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 51.2017 | 0.2562 |
4 | 2 | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore VF | 51.3238 | 0.3783 |
5 | 12 | Fabian Coulthard | Ford Falcon FG-X | 51.3901 | 0.4446 |
6 | 55 | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG-X | 51.4040 | 0.4585 |
7 | 19 | Will Davison | Holden Commodore VF | 51.5085 | 0.5630 |
8 | 18 | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VF | 51.5152 | 0.5697 |
9 | 5 | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG-X | 51.5475 | 0.6020 |
10 | 14 | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore VF | 51.6596 | 0.7141 |
11 | 8 | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VF | 51.6663 | 0.7208 |
12 | 56 | Jason Bright | Ford Falcon FG-X | 51.7188 | 0.7733 |
13 | 34 | James Moffat | Holden Commodore VF | 51.7361 | 0.7906 |
14 | 7 | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 51.7816 | 0.8361 |
15 | 99 | Dale Wood | Holden Commodore VF | 51.7894 | 0.8439 |
16 | 15 | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 51.7901 | 0.8446 |
17 | 33 | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 51.8200 | 0.8745 |
18 | 23 | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 51.8973 | 0.9518 |
19 | 6 | Cameron Waters | Ford Falcon FG-X | 51.9558 | 1.0103 |
20 | 9 | David Reynolds | Holden Commodore VF | 52.1246 | 1.1791 |
21 | 22 | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 52.2804 | 1.3349 |
22 | 888 | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 52.2866 | 1.3411 |
23 | 3 | Taz Douglas | Holden Commodore VF | 52.3298 | 1.3843 |
24 | 78 | Simona de Silvestro | Nissan Altima | 52.5368 | 1.5913 |
25 | 62 | Alex Rullo | Holden Commodore VF | 52.8862 | 1.9407 |
26 | 21 | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore VF | 53.0955 | 2.1500 |
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments