The Bend Supercars: Heimgartner tops second practice
Andre Heimgartner topped a second weather-affected Supercars practice session at The Bend Motorsport Park.
Conditions steadily improved across the half-hour session as the likes of Tim Slade, Chaz Mostert and Macauley Jones all enjoyed stints at the top of the times.
Heimgartner made his first appearance in P1 just after the half-way point in the session after switching to slick tyres, before being shuffled down the order as the track got faster.
The Kelly Grove Racing driver then went for a green tyre run in the closing minutes, a late shower of rain not enough to stop him from reclaiming top spot with a 1m49.241s
"We went out on greens really late," said Heimgartner.
"The car was good, I knew I could do the time. I could gave gone a bit faster again but I made couple of small mistakes that cost a few tenths.
"But I'm really happy. The car this weekend, we continued it on from where we were last year. So I really know what I've got under me, which is half the battle. In those conditions you want to know what you've got."
Jamie Whincup, who was second fastest, said he was surprised at how quickly the track was drying in between those showers.
“Today has been about rain – the track starts to dry and it rains again," said the seven-time series champion.
"It’s probably going to continue for the rest of the day as well, but in both conditions my car is reasonable.
"It’s going to be who goes at the right time with the right tyres for qualifying but if we can get that right, I think we should be close.
“The track is quite smooth and it’s not that hot here, so traditionally that means it would dry slow, but actually once you get no rain for a bit it actually dries quicker than you’d expect. So we’re monitoring that and hopefully we get the right tyres on at the right time.”
Will Davison and David Reynolds were third and fourth fastest respectively ahead of Chaz Mostert and James Courtney.
Todd Hazelwood was seventh, series leader Shane van Gisbergen eighth, Brodie Kostecki ninth and Bryce Fullwood 10th.
| Cla | # | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 |
 Andre Heimgartner
|
Ford Mustang GT | 1'49.241 | ||
| 2 | 88 |
 Jamie Whincup
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 1'49.404 | 0.162 | 0.162 |
| 3 | 17 |
Will Davison
|
Ford Mustang GT | 1'49.489 | 0.247 | 0.084 |
| 4 | 26 |
David Reynolds
|
Ford Mustang GT | 1'49.656 | 0.414 | 0.167 |
| 5 | 25 |
Chaz Mostert
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 1'49.658 | 0.416 | 0.002 |
| 6 | 44 |
James Courtney
|
Ford Mustang GT | 1'49.681 | 0.439 | 0.022 |
| 7 | 14 |
Todd Hazelwood
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 1'49.720 | 0.478 | 0.038 |
| 8 | 97 |
Shane van Gisbergen
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 1'49.740 | 0.498 | 0.020 |
| 9 | 99 |
Brodie Kostecki
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 1'49.774 | 0.532 | 0.034 |
| 10 | 2 |
Bryce Fullwood
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 1'49.993 | 0.751 | 0.218 |
| 11 | 3 |
Tim Slade
|
Ford Mustang GT | 1'50.002 | 0.760 | 0.009 |
| 12 | 9 |
Will Brown
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 1'50.006 | 0.764 | 0.003 |
| 13 | 20 |
Scott Pye
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 1'50.018 | 0.776 | 0.012 |
| 14 | 8 |
Nick Percat
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 1'50.098 | 0.856 | 0.079 |
| 15 | 19 |
Fabian Coulthard
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 1'50.178 | 0.936 | 0.080 |
| 16 | 35 |
Zane Goddard
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 1'50.247 | 1.005 | 0.069 |
| 17 | 5 |
Jack Le Brocq
|
Ford Mustang GT | 1'50.270 | 1.028 | 0.023 |
| 18 | 55 |
Thomas Randle
|
Ford Mustang GT | 1'50.278 | 1.036 | 0.008 |
| 19 | 4 |
Jack Smith
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 1'50.454 | 1.212 | 0.176 |
| 20 | 18 |
Mark Winterbottom
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 1'50.475 | 1.233 | 0.020 |
| 21 | 96 |
Macauley Jones
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 1'50.503 | 1.261 | 0.028 |
| 22 | 6 |
Cameron Waters
|
Ford Mustang GT | 1'50.894 | 1.652 | 0.391 |
| 23 | 22 |
Garry Jacobson
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 1'51.131 | 1.889 | 0.237 |
| 24 | 27 |
Kurt Kostecki
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 1'51.136 | 1.894 | 0.005 |
| 25 | 11 |
Anton De Pasquale
|
Ford Mustang GT | 1'51.330 | 2.088 | 0.193 |
| 26 | 34 |
Jake Kostecki
|
Holden Commodore ZB | 1'52.963 | 3.721 | 1.633 |
| View full results | ||||||
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