Sydney Supercars: De Pasquale leads the way in practice
Anton De Pasquale picked up where he left off last week at Sydney Motorsport Park by comfortably topping first practice.
Coming off the back of three poles and two wins last week, the Dick Johnson Racing ace was once again the class of the field to kick off the second Sydney SuperNight.
He was untouchable across the half-hour practice session, going quickest on his first run with a 1m30.584s.
De Pasquale then improved on his final run, dipping under the 1m30s mark with a 1m29.880s that left him over six-tenths clear of the field.
"It'a a very different track to what we rolled out on last week," he said. "It's a second and a half slower straight up.
"But [the car] feels okay. We made a couple of little changes, fine-tuned it, but it's still in the same window we rolled out here a week ago."
Best of the rest was De Pasquale's Race 3 rival from last week Will Brown. The Erebus driver jumped to second on his final run with a 1m30.527s, which left him four-hundredths ahead of fellow late improver Jack Le Brocq.
Brodie Kostecki capped off a solid session with Erebus with the four quickest time ahead of Tim Slade.
Will Davison and James Courtney were next, followed by best-placed Triple Eight driver Jamie Whincup, who didn't improve late in the session.
Chaz Mostert and Cam Waters rounded out the Top 10, while series leader Shane van Gisbergen was left languishing down in 15th after triggering track limits on his final lap.
Thomas Randle was best of the wildcards in 20th, four spots clear of fellow one-off starter Kurt Kostecki.
Fabian Coulthard, meanwhile, didn't get much running in thanks to an engine problem. He spent the first part of the session in the garage as Team Sydney worked on the car, and once on track he didn't get far before coming to a stop at Turn 4.
That sparked the only stoppage of the session.
At the very back of the field was super sub Luke Youlden, who is standing in for the sidelined David Reynolds.
The 20-year veteran, who is quite remarkably making his first solo start this weekend, was left to rue a track limits breach on a very rare green tyre run.
"I can't even remember [when I last ran greens]," said the Bathurst-winning endurance specialist. "It's fair to say I didn't get the most out of them, my lap got deleted on greens.
"I'm just working on technique through that session, there's still a little bit to go. But I feel good, comfortable. Looking forward to the next session."
| Cla | # | Driver | Car | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 |  Anton De Pasquale | Ford Mustang GT | 14 | 1'29.880 | ||
| 2 | 9 | Will Brown | Holden Commodore ZB | 11 | 1'30.527 | 0.646 | 0.646 |
| 3 | 5 | Jack Le Brocq | Ford Mustang GT | 13 | 1'30.564 | 0.683 | 0.036 |
| 4 | 99 | Brodie Kostecki | Holden Commodore ZB | 11 | 1'30.600 | 0.719 | 0.036 |
| 5 | 3 | Tim Slade | Ford Mustang GT | 10 | 1'30.605 | 0.724 | 0.004 |
| 6 | 17 | Will Davison | Ford Mustang GT | 11 | 1'30.616 | 0.735 | 0.011 |
| 7 | 44 | James Courtney | Ford Mustang GT | 12 | 1'30.786 | 0.905 | 0.170 |
| 8 | 88 | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore ZB | 11 | 1'30.801 | 0.920 | 0.014 |
| 9 | 25 | Chaz Mostert | Holden Commodore ZB | 10 | 1'30.816 | 0.935 | 0.014 |
| 10 | 6 | Cameron Waters | Ford Mustang GT | 13 | 1'30.863 | 0.983 | 0.047 |
| 11 | 7 |  Andre Heimgartner | Ford Mustang GT | 11 | 1'30.882 | 1.002 | 0.019 |
| 12 | 8 | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore ZB | 14 | 1'30.895 | 1.014 | 0.012 |
| 13 | 22 | Garry Jacobson | Holden Commodore ZB | 11 | 1'30.935 | 1.055 | 0.040 |
| 14 | 14 | Todd Hazelwood | Holden Commodore ZB | 12 | 1'31.004 | 1.123 | 0.068 |
| 15 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore ZB | 13 | 1'31.026 | 1.145 | 0.021 |
| 16 | 96 | Macauley Jones | Holden Commodore ZB | 11 | 1'31.139 | 1.258 | 0.113 |
| 17 | 34 | Jake Kostecki | Holden Commodore ZB | 11 | 1'31.163 | 1.282 | 0.023 |
| 18 | 35 | Zane Goddard | Holden Commodore ZB | 12 | 1'31.169 | 1.289 | 0.006 |
| 19 | 20 | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore ZB | 13 | 1'31.181 | 1.300 | 0.011 |
| 20 | 55 | Thomas Randle | Ford Mustang GT | 11 | 1'31.258 | 1.378 | 0.077 |
| 21 | 18 | Mark Winterbottom | Holden Commodore ZB | 9 | 1'31.353 | 1.472 | 0.094 |
| 22 | 19 | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore ZB | 5 | 1'31.627 | 1.746 | 0.274 |
| 23 | 2 | Bryce Fullwood | Holden Commodore ZB | 7 | 1'31.888 | 2.008 | 0.261 |
| 24 | 27 | Kurt Kostecki | Holden Commodore ZB | 12 | 1'32.203 | 2.322 | 0.314 |
| 25 | 4 | Jack Smith | Holden Commodore ZB | 12 | 1'32.539 | 2.659 | 0.336 |
| 26 | 26 | Luke Youlden | Ford Mustang GT | 13 | 1'32.762 | 2.882 | 0.222 |
| View full results | |||||||
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