Tasmania Supercars: Kostecki leads chilly first practice

Low single-digit temperatures greeted the field for the first of two half-hour practice sessions at the Launceston circuit.

Most of the early movement came on the very first runs, Cam Waters bursting out of the blocks with a 51.257s.

That time would remain as the benchmark until much later in the session as the field settled into longer runs.

As usual the turn 4 hairpin proved problematic for a number of drivers, Kostecki the first to overshoot the braking marker and need to make a three-point turn.

The likes of Andre Heimgartner, Scott Pye and Bryce Fullwood would later do the same.

It wasn't until the final minute that the Waters time was bettered as a number of drivers switched to green tyres.

The best of the late improver was Kostecki who jumped more than a tenth clear of the field with a 51.014s.

"I learnt how to find reverse in the session," joked the Erebus driver. "The car feels pretty balanced. I'm not sure how many guys ran greens, but it's a good start to the [weekend] here in Tassie."

James Courtney ended up second fastest with a 51.163s while Todd Hazelwood made up 18 spots on his final lap to end up third.

Will Davison jumped Waters on his final lap, while Waters, who didn't improve on that early time, was shuffled back to fifth.

Will Brown was sixth fastest in his Erebus Camaro ahead of Shane van Gisbergen and Mark Winterbottom.

Jack Smith was ninth for Brad Jones Racing with Broc Feeney 10th.

Practice continues with the second 30-minute session at 10:55am local time.

Tasmania SuperSprint practice 1 results

Cla	#	Driver	Car	Time	Gap	Interval
1	99	Brodie Kostecki	Chevrolet	51.0147
2	5	James Courtney	Ford Mustang GT	51.1632	0.1485	0.1485
3	3	Todd Hazelwood	Ford Mustang GT	51.1942	0.1795	0.0310
4	17	Will Davison	Ford Mustang GT	51.2071	0.1924	0.0129
5	6	Cameron Waters	Ford Mustang GT	51.2577	0.2430	0.0506
6	9	Will Brown	Chevrolet	51.2643	0.2496	0.0066
7	97	Shane van Gisbergen	Chevrolet	51.4341	0.4194	0.1698
8	18	Mark Winterbottom	Chevrolet	51.4402	0.4255	0.0061
9	4	Jack Smith	Chevrolet	51.4686	0.4539	0.0284
10	88	Broc Feeney	Chevrolet	51.4815	0.4668	0.0129
11	8	Andre Heimgartner	Chevrolet	51.4923	0.4776	0.0108
12	55	Thomas Randle	Ford Mustang GT	51.5367	0.5220	0.0444
13	26	David Reynolds	Ford Mustang GT	51.5831	0.5684	0.0464
14	11	Anton De Pasquale	Ford Mustang GT	51.5838	0.5691	0.0007
15	34	Jack Le Brocq	Chevrolet	51.5926	0.5779	0.0088
16	2	Nick Percat	Ford Mustang GT	51.6237	0.6090	0.0311
17	20	Scott Pye	Chevrolet	51.6259	0.6112	0.0022
18	25	Chaz Mostert	Ford Mustang GT	51.6965	0.6818	0.0706
19	56	Declan Fraser	Ford Mustang GT	51.6981	0.6834	0.0016
20	19	Matthew Payne	Ford Mustang GT	51.7192	0.7045	0.0211
21	35	Cameron Hill	Chevrolet	51.7392	0.7245	0.0200
22	23	Tim Slade	Chevrolet	51.9377	0.9230	0.1985
23	14	Bryce Fullwood	Chevrolet	51.9714	0.9567	0.0337
24	31	James Golding	Chevrolet	52.0417	1.0270	0.0703
25	96	Macauley Jones	Chevrolet	52.4370	1.4223	0.3953
View full results