Sydney Supercars: De Pasquale tops windy first practice
Anton De Pasquale topped the first Supercars session in more than 100 days with the fastest practice time at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Drivers faced blustery conditions at the Eastern Creek circuit, De Pasquale the first to set a representative time with a 1m31.821s on his first run.
Points leader Shane van Gisbergen then took over with a 1m31.184s, that time holding on until the 'happy hour' in the closing moments of the session.
That was when Cam Waters took over the top, the Tickford driver jumping 13 spots with a 1m30.609s.
But he was swiftly pipped by De Pasquale, the Dick Johnson Racing ace's 1m30.281s at the flag leaving him more than three-tenths clear of the field.
Todd Hazelwood was third fastest for Brad Jones Racing, having been a staple near the top of the time throughout the half-hour session.
Mark Winterbottom was a late improver to slot into fourth, while Andre Heimgartner enjoyed a promising debut in his brand new KGR Ford chassis with the fifth quickest time.
Brodie Kostecki was sixth as van Gisbergen, who never improved on his early time, was shuffled back to seventh.
Macauley Jones, Will Davison and Jack Le Brocq rounded out the best 10.
Jamie Whincup and Chaz Mostert were among the big names outside the Top 10, the Holden pair 12th and 16th respectively, while KGR driver Reynolds battled gearbox gremlins on his way to 18th.
Practice continues at 7:30pm local time with a second half-hour hit-out under lights.
| Cla | # | Driver | Car | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 |  Anton De Pasquale | Ford Mustang GT | 11 | 1'30.281 | ||
| 2 | 6 | Cameron Waters | Ford Mustang GT | 11 | 1'30.609 | 0.327 | 0.327 |
| 3 | 14 | Todd Hazelwood | Holden Commodore ZB | 10 | 1'30.671 | 0.390 | 0.062 |
| 4 | 18 | Mark Winterbottom | Holden Commodore ZB | 11 | 1'30.824 | 0.542 | 0.152 |
| 5 | 7 |  Andre Heimgartner | Ford Mustang GT | 10 | 1'30.876 | 0.594 | 0.052 |
| 6 | 99 | Brodie Kostecki | Holden Commodore ZB | 10 | 1'31.026 | 0.744 | 0.150 |
| 7 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore ZB | 12 | 1'31.184 | 0.903 | 0.158 |
| 8 | 96 | Macauley Jones | Holden Commodore ZB | 10 | 1'31.373 | 1.091 | 0.188 |
| 9 | 17 | Will Davison | Ford Mustang GT | 12 | 1'31.454 | 1.172 | 0.081 |
| 10 | 5 | Jack Le Brocq | Ford Mustang GT | 12 | 1'31.454 | 1.172 | 0.000 |
| 11 | 2 | Bryce Fullwood | Holden Commodore ZB | 11 | 1'31.554 | 1.272 | 0.100 |
| 12 | 88 | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore ZB | 11 | 1'31.570 | 1.288 | 0.015 |
| 13 | 9 | Will Brown | Holden Commodore ZB | 11 | 1'31.604 | 1.323 | 0.034 |
| 14 | 19 | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore ZB | 14 | 1'31.697 | 1.416 | 0.092 |
| 15 | 35 | Zane Goddard | Holden Commodore ZB | 11 | 1'31.722 | 1.440 | 0.024 |
| 16 | 25 | Chaz Mostert | Holden Commodore ZB | 10 | 1'31.746 | 1.465 | 0.024 |
| 17 | 8 | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore ZB | 11 | 1'31.797 | 1.516 | 0.050 |
| 18 | 26 | David Reynolds | Ford Mustang GT | 8 | 1'31.882 | 1.600 | 0.084 |
| 19 | 22 | Garry Jacobson | Holden Commodore ZB | 9 | 1'32.019 | 1.738 | 0.137 |
| 20 | 44 | James Courtney | Ford Mustang GT | 12 | 1'32.061 | 1.780 | 0.042 |
| 21 | 20 | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore ZB | 12 | 1'32.164 | 1.883 | 0.103 |
| 22 | 3 | Tim Slade | Ford Mustang GT | 12 | 1'32.712 | 2.430 | 0.547 |
| 23 | 34 | Jake Kostecki | Holden Commodore ZB | 10 | 1'32.900 | 2.618 | 0.187 |
| 24 | 4 | Jack Smith | Holden Commodore ZB | 13 | 1'32.918 | 2.636 | 0.018 |
| View full results | |||||||
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