Sydney Supercars: Whincup fastest in second practice

For Whincup there was a stark contrast between the two sessions. Having not done a green tyre run in the first session, he bolted out of the gates on fresh rubber second time around, going quickest with a 1m29.084s on his first run.

That would have been good enough for second on its own, however another green tyre run at the end lowered his best to a 1m28.831, slightly under teammate Shane van Gisbergen's P1 benchmark.

Speaking after the session Whincup said it was a welcome return to the top of the timesheets after a difficult virtual campaign during the break.

"It's great to be back cutting laps," he said. "It's the first time in 12 weeks I haven't been a second and a half off the pace in practice, which is nice. 

"It's really quick, fast sessions here. Straight out of P1, you make a few changes, and then straight into P2. But overall, as far as car #88 is concerned, it feels good. 

"We did a little bit of a race run, it was reasonable, and the car is pretty good over a lap. Everyone will improve for qualifying, so we'll have to keep chipping away."

For the second consecutive session Scott McLaughlin was second fastest, the gap to Whincup 0.15s, with van Gisbergen third.

Lee Holdsworth was best of the Tickford Fords in fourth, as Anton De Pasquale led the way for Erebus once again.

Nick Percat and Chaz Mostert were next, with Kelly Racing pair Andre Heimgartner and Rick Kelly split by Macauley Jones in positions eight to 10.

Second practice results:

Cla	Driver	Car	Time	Gap
1	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore ZB	1'28.831
2	Scott McLaughlin	Ford Mustang GT	1'28.989	0.157
3	Shane van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore ZB	1'29.016	0.185
4	Lee Holdsworth	Ford Mustang GT	1'29.051	0.219
5	Anton De Pasquale	Holden Commodore ZB	1'29.070	0.238
6	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore ZB	1'29.081	0.250
7	Chaz Mostert	Holden Commodore ZB	1'29.272	0.441
8	Andre Heimgartner	Ford Mustang GT	1'29.273	0.441
9	Macauley Jones	Holden Commodore ZB	1'29.313	0.481
10	Rick Kelly	Ford Mustang GT	1'29.394	0.563
11	Fabian Coulthard	Ford Mustang GT	1'29.405	0.574
12	Cameron Waters	Ford Mustang GT	1'29.454	0.623
13	Todd Hazelwood	Holden Commodore ZB	1'29.499	0.668
14	David Reynolds	Holden Commodore ZB	1'29.531	0.700
15	Jack Le Brocq	Ford Mustang GT	1'29.631	0.799
16	Garry Jacobson	Holden Commodore ZB	1'29.638	0.807
17	James Courtney	Ford Mustang GT	1'29.650	0.818
18	Bryce Fullwood	Holden Commodore ZB	1'29.652	0.821
19	Mark Winterbottom	Holden Commodore ZB	1'29.793	0.962
20	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore ZB	1'29.804	0.972
21	Alex Davison	Holden Commodore ZB	1'29.931	1.100
22	Jack Smith	Holden Commodore ZB	1'30.102	1.271
23	Chris Pither	Holden Commodore ZB	1'30.198	1.367
24	Jake Kostecki	Holden Commodore ZB	1'30.576	1.745
View full results