Clipsal 500 Supercars: Red Bulls fastest in opening practice

Whincup jumped to the top midway through his 19 laps, a 1m20.400s good enough to keep the six-time series champion on top despite some late improvements from other drivers.

One of those late improvements was Whincup’s RBHRT teammate Shane van Gisbergen. The Kiwi spent the majority of the session languishing down in the 20s, before making his move inside the last 10 minutes. He first jumped into the Top 10 with a 1m20.792s just 90 seconds before the end of the session, before improving again to second with a 1m20.525s right at the flag.

Rick Kelly ended the session third fastest, the Nissan driver having like Whincup set his best time before the late flurry.

Scott McLaughlin kicked off his Penske career with the fourth best time, but it could have been much better. Having rolled out on new rubber seven minutes from the end, McLaughlin went purple in both the first and second sessions, before mishitting the pedal at the last corner and running wide.

“We had problems with that at the test day too,” said McLaughlin. “I’m just getting used to the pedal box. I’m fine, it’s no dramas. The car is nice, which is great.”

Michael Caruso was fifth in the #23 Nissan, ahead of HSV Racing pair Scott Pye and James Courtney. Prodrive Racing pair Cam Waters and Mark Winterbottom were next, with reigning Clipsal winner Nick Percat rounding out the Top 10.

High-profile rookie Simona de Silvestro finished up 25th, six-tenths down on Jason Bright but more than a second clear of fellow rookie Alex Rullo.

“I really like [the circuit], actually,” said de Silvestro.

“It reminds me a lot of my IndyCar days. I still have to learn how to ride the kerbs, because in these cars you can hammer them, and for me it doesn’t feel normal.

“For the second session we’ll put it more together and hopefully be a little bit quicker.”

Cla	#	Driver	Car	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	88	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore VF	19	1'20.4006			144.178
2	97	Shane van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore VF	19	1'20.5254	0.1248	0.1248	143.954
3	15	Rick Kelly	Nissan Altima	16	1'20.5798	0.1792	0.0544	143.857
4	17	Scott McLaughlin	Ford Falcon FG-X	11	1'20.6519	0.2513	0.0721	143.728
5	23	Michael Caruso	Nissan Altima	18	1'20.6728	0.2722	0.0209	143.691
6	2	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore VF	19	1'20.6773	0.2767	0.0045	143.683
7	22	James Courtney	Holden Commodore VF	16	1'20.7031	0.3025	0.0258	143.637
8	6	Cameron Waters	Ford Falcon FG-X	16	1'20.7328	0.3322	0.0297	143.584
9	5	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Falcon FG-X	17	1'20.7362	0.3356	0.0034	143.578
10	8	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore VF	15	1'20.9206	0.5200	0.1844	143.251
11	9	David Reynolds	Holden Commodore VF	13	1'20.9764	0.5758	0.0558	143.152
12	18	Lee Holdsworth	Holden Commodore VF	18	1'20.9966	0.5960	0.0202	143.117
13	12	Fabian Coulthard	Ford Falcon FG-X	17	1'21.0733	0.6727	0.0767	142.981
14	14	Tim Slade	Holden Commodore VF	17	1'21.0793	0.6787	0.0060	142.971
15	34	James Moffat	Holden Commodore VF	19	1'21.1869	0.7863	0.1076	142.781
16	19	Will Davison	Holden Commodore VF	18	1'21.1910	0.7904	0.0041	142.774
17	55	Chaz Mostert	Ford Falcon FG-X	14	1'21.3458	0.9452	0.1548	142.502
18	21	Tim Blanchard	Holden Commodore VF	17	1'21.3546	0.9540	0.0088	142.487
19	7	Todd Kelly	Nissan Altima	18	1'21.5014	1.1008	0.1468	142.230
20	33	Garth Tander	Holden Commodore VF	17	1'21.5418	1.1412	0.0404	142.160
21	888	Craig Lowndes	Holden Commodore VF	15	1'21.5541	1.1535	0.0123	142.138
22	99	Dale Wood	Holden Commodore VF	14	1'21.9006	1.5000	0.3465	141.537
24	56	Jason Bright	Ford Falcon FG-X	11	1'22.4321	2.0315	0.5315	140.624
25	78	Simona de Silvestro	Nissan Altima	21	1'23.0326	2.6320	0.6005	139.607
26	62	Alex Rullo	Holden Commodore VF	14	1'24.1425	3.7419	1.1099	137.766