Gold Coast 600: D’Alberto fastest in co-driver practice

D’Alberto, set to make his 100th Supercars start this weekend, led the way early on in the session thanks to a 1m12.432s. But after a mid-session red flag, sparked after Ash Walsh put the #14 BJR Commodore in the wall, the likes of Steve Owen (#55 Prodrive Ford), Alex Premat (#97 Triple Eight Commodore), and Paul Dumbrell (#88 Triple Eight Commodore) shuffled D’Alberto down the order.

But some fresher rubber on the #17 DJR Team Penske Ford saw D’Alberto rocket back to the top with a stunning 1m11.775s three minutes from the top, that time good enough to leave I’m more than two tenths clear at the top.

“We had some good rubber then,” said D’Alberto.

“I think it’s important to put some good tyres on, because we’ve only got the three sessions, and I need to give Scott [Pye] as much feedback as I can for his last session before he has to quali tomorrow.”

Dumbrell ended up second in Jamie Whincup’s car, improving on his penultimate lap with a 1m12.024s. That was good enough to knock teammate Premat down a spot, the Frenchman settling for third.

Dean Fiore was fourth fastest in the #23 Nissan Altima, having snuck into the Top 10 eight minutes from the end before going faster again with a 1m12.252s with three minutes to go.

Steve Owen and Dean Canto were fifth and sixth in their Prodrive Fords, while the two Holden Racing Team Commodores of Warren Luff (#2) and Jack Perkins (#22) were split by David Wall in the #33 Volvo.

Craig Baird kept the #9 Erebus Commodore near the pointy end with the 10th best time.