Shootout order set with a fresh face on pole and a legend missing out!
Friday’s track action featured two hour-long practice sessions, before qualifying to set the grid from 11th to 25th, and set the top 10 for the shootout on Saturday. Practice 3 started in pristine conditions with barely any clouds or wind to speak of, and warmer temperatures than Thursday running. Most teams elected to start their co-driver to verify overnight set up changes, with Garth Tander in the #888 Red Bull Triple Eight Commodore setting the early mark with a 2:06.07, just ahead of Lee Holdsworth in the #25 Walkinshaw Andretti United Commodore.
Brodie Kostecki, one of the few main drivers in the car at that point, then jumped to the top with a 2:05.135 in his #99 Erebus Motorsport Commodore, which was the best time for most of the session. Thomas Randle at the seat of the #44 Tickford Racing Mustang slotted into second with a 5.42, before the majority of the main-game drivers went out on track in the last 15 minutes of the session, with the focus largely on race pace.
Shane van Gisbergen in the #888 Red Bull Triple Eight Commodore was the first to set a lap in anger, breaking the 2:05 barrier with a 2:04.9821 with 14 minutes left in the session. He was joined in the 2:04’s by Chaz Mostert in the #25 Walkinshaw Andretti United Commodore, with a 2:04.9941, before Cameron Waters in the #6 Tickford Racing Mustang finished the session with a 2:04.7385 to go top. The top 10 cars were separated by only 0.51 seconds.
Practice 4 was the first ‘hot pit’ session of the weekend, with teams able to refuel, and practice driver and brake changes through the session. Most teams opted to run a practice of the brake change, which will be mandatory during Sunday’s race.
Not only was it a hot pit lane, but it was a hot track; conditions much warmer than the morning meant lap times were not as easy to come by, with a number of drivers having off-track excursions in the early running. Andre Heimgartner ran wide at the Chase in the #7 Kelly Grove Racing Mustang very early on, before Russell Ingall in the #39 Triple Eight Race Engineering wildcard entry only just grazed the wall at Hell Corner.
Will Brown set the early benchmark of a 2:05.174 in the #9 Erebus Motorsport Commodore, but could have very easily been eclipsed by his teammate Brodie Kostecki in the #99. Brodie making a mistake in the final sector when he was on for a mid 2:04, keeping him down the order.
It was only after halfway through the session that the qualifying simulations started to occur and with it, a significant drop in lap times. Mostert in the #25 Walkinshaw Andretti United Commodore was the first to set a representative time, with a 2:04.5 offering a marker to chase. Cameron Waters in the #6 Tickford Racing Mustang and Shane van Gisbergen in the #888 Red Bull Triple Eight Race Engineering Commodore got the closest, before a band of cloud came across the circuit, triggering most of the field onto new tyres.
From there it was a frantic finish as every car put in their qualifying rehearsal. Van Gisbergen jumped to the top with a 2:04.3190, making the use of cloud cover over the mountain and a significant tow down Conrod straight, before Mostert went faster again with a 2:04.2084. His time would stand, with both Anton De Pasquale in the #17 Dick Johnson Racing Mustang and Brodie Kostecki in the #99 Erebus Motorsport Commodore running wide in the last sector while on track to beat Mostert’s time. Kostecki in particular has been struggling in the final sector, with multiple potential fast laps over the weekend chalked off with mistakes at the Chase and Murray’s.
The top 5 was rounded out by Waters, followed by Nick Percat in the #8 Brad Jones Racing Commodore, and Will Davison for Dick Johnson Racing in the #17. The top 14 cars were separated by less than a second, setting up a compelling run for the top 10 shootout in qualifying.
In Qualifying. Will Brown in the #9 Erebus Motorsport Commodore took provisional pole in his first Bathurst qualifying session as a full time driver.
“I grew some balls out there and had a dip! That was bloody awesome. To do a 2:03 around here, I didn’t care if I got pole or not, that’s a pretty wicked time.
“To get provisional pole at Bathurst in my first year, that’s pretty bloody cool.”
Brown set a 2:03.8989 to kick off the frantic final minutes, parking the car in the pits and letting the field chase. Anton De Pasquale in the #17 Dick Johnson Racing Mustang and Chaz Mostert in the #25 Walkinshaw Andretti United Commodore got the closest, with both drivers managing 2:03.9’s to take second and third respectively, with the top 3 separated by only 7 hundredths of a second.
Fourth place went to Tim Slade in the #3 Blanchard Racing Team, leaving it to the final lap of the session to jump into the top 10. Remarkably, Tim’s lap knocked out 7-time champion Jamie Whincup from the shootout in what was his last Supercars Qualifying session.
The top 10 is completed by Cameron Waters (#6, Tickford Racing), Brodie Kostecki (#99, Erebus Motorsports), Shane van Gisbergen (#888, Red Bull Triple Eight Race Engineering), Will Davison (#17 Dick Johnson Racing), Nick Percat (#8 Brad Jones Racing), and Jack Le Brocq (#5 Tickford Mustang). The spread across the top 10 was only 0.5944 of a second, with Le Brocq’s 2:04.4933 only two hundredths of a second ahead of 11th placed Jamie Whincup.
Practice 5 was the last dedicated co-driver session, and kicked off the day in brilliant conditions. Like the other co-driver only session, Lee Holdsworth in the #25 Walkinshaw Andretti United Commodore topped the session, as the only driver in the 2:05’s with a 2:05.6421. Remarkably, Holdsworth set at least 5 laps in the 2:05’s through the session, with the next best driver, James Golding in the #20 Team 18 Commodore, only managing a 2:06.0384. Behind Golding, the next 18 cars were in the 2:06’s, indicating just how tight the pace is throughout the field.
The session was red-flagged at the 11 minute mark to recover the #7 Kelly Grove Mustang with Matt Campbell behind the wheel. Campbell had a moment of oversteer under the tree at Reid Park, brushing the left front wheel on the wall, and braking the suspension. On his way back to the pits, the car suddenly pitched left down Conrod straight, firing the car across the track and heavily into the concrete on the right hand side.
“Coming down the mountain something started to break, started to veer to the right.” Campbell said after the crash. “Obviously from the crash it sheared a brake line or something, and as I’ve gone to the brake pedal it’s gone to the floor, and the pedal box has accelerated too, so I couldn’t stop and started going faster.”
What could have been a short repair for KGR would become a much more involved process, with significant damage on three corners of the car after the hit on Conrod Straight.
There were a few other blips through the session. David Russell at the seat of the #99 Erebus Motorsport Commodore suffered a flat tyre at peak load while braking for The Chase, firing through the gravel and onto the grass verge on the other side. Interestingly, according to the team, the tyre pressure monitor showed no indication of a puncture until the car was already off the circuit. The reason for the failure was later diagnosed as the bolt holding the sensor inside the wheel to the valve of the tyre, resulting in the pressure sensor coming off while still inside the tyre.
Another notable problem was one for the #88 Red Bull Triple Eight Race Engineering Commodore of Craig Lowndes, who struggled with a significant vibration issue through most of the session.
“We changed the transaxle and the propshaft overnight. Through the steering wheel, through the seat of your bum, through the gearbox or gear lever there was no vibration, so you sort of eliminate mechanical grip,” Lowndes said to the broadcasters. “When I was going down [Conrod Straight] the first time, basically the mirrors – it was like I was looking through Skaifey’s [commentator Mark Skaife] glasses! I couldn’t see anything.”
The solution has been to add a spacer to the doors, adding an air gap at the bottom.
“It’s fixed the symptom, but not the problem… We didn’t have the problem yesterday but it’s come into the car today.”
The final practice session of the weekend was the last chance for teams to dial in processes and setups for the race, but also featured the top 10 from yesterday’s qualifying session looking for outright one-lap speed for the afternoon’s shootout session.
Teams spent the first half of the session practising various pit stop processes, including driver changes, brake pad and brake rotor changes, which are compulsory for tomorrow’s race. Look for the brake rotor change to be an important factor in raceability late in tomorrow’s race!
The early lap time was set by Brodie Kostecki in the #99 Erebus Motorsport Commodore, electing to do his shootout simulation early on while others were practicing stops. His lap time of 2:04.704 a fair way away from the outright pace from yesterday’s qualifying, with hotter conditions and a cross-wind down the mountain affecting lap times.
It took until the final 10 minutes of the session for those in today’s shootout to run their simulations. Shane van Gisbergen in the #888 Red Bull Triple Eight Race Engineering Commodore was the first to set a representative time, hitting a 2:04.229. His run was eclipsed by Chaz Mostert in the #25 Walkinshaw Andretti United Commodore, who set a 2:04.1877 with 5 minutes remaining in the session. Van Gisbergen then responded to set the second fastest time, only 0.0117 behind Mostert’s mark.
By the end of the session, the top 10 matched those preparing for the shootout. Brodie Kostecki’s early lap time was good enough to end the session third, followed by Anton De Pasquale in the #11 Dick Johnson Racing Mustang and Kostecki’s teammate Will Brown in the #9 Erebus Motorsport Commodore. De Pasquale commented that his car felt ‘too loose’ on the team radio as he ran wide at the final corner.
The top 10 was completed by Waters (#6 Tickford Racing), Le Brocq (#5 Tickford Racing), Davison (#17 Dick Johnson Racing), Percat (#8 Brad Jones Racing), and Slade (#3 Blanchard Racing), with 9 tenths of a second the gap across the top 10.
After their shunt in Practice 5, the #7 Kelly Grove Racing Mustang of Heimgartner and Campbell managed to get back out on track with approximately 11 minutes on the clock, giving Campbell the opportunity to complete 5 laps. There was also a black and orange flag administered to the #4 Smith/Wall Brad Jones Racing machine, who were required to replace a door after the handle broke off during a driver change.
