TOWNSVILLE SUPERCARS SUPPORT WRAP – FRIDAY
Jack Le Brocq set the pace in Dunlop Super2 practice – Photo: Dirk Klynsmith
DUNLOP SUPER2
Jack Le Brocq had topped Practice for this weekend’s Dunlop Super2 races in Townsville.
‘JLB’ celebrated his 25th birthday in style, lapping in 1m14.7366s, 0.06s clear of Todd Hazelwood.
Third fastest was Macauley Jones. After a tough season the BJR driver had issues to deal with throughout the session, but came good right at the end with a time of 1m14.8062s. Shae Davies put two MW Motorsport Nissans in the top four with a lap of 1m14.8343s.
Richard Muscat, Anton de Pasquale, Garry Jacobson, Bryce Fullwood, Will Brown and Paul Dumbrell rounded out the top 10.
The Super2 drivers face Qualifying on Saturday at midday, followed by a 21-lap Race 1 at 1455.
AUSTRALIAN GT
Kelvin van der Linde fastest for Audi in Townsville – Photo: Dirk Klynsmith
The Australian GT Championship only had the one Practice session today, with South African Kelvin van der Linde being fastest in the Audi R8 LMS GT3 that he will share with Geoff Emery.
A 1m13.1550s lap put the Audi 0.5832s ahead of fellow Audi runners Ash Walsh and new teammate Duvashen Padayachee. Glen Wood took third in the M Motorsport Lamborghini Gallardo R-EX ahead of championship leader Liam Talbot in the Walkinshaw Porsche 911 GT3R and Fraser Ross in the McElrea Racing run McLaren 650s GT3.
The first of two Qualifying sessions take place at 8:30am AEST.
V8 UTES
Ryal Harris led both V8 Utes practice sessions – Photo: Dirk Klynsmith
After the announcement and display of the new SuperUtes venture, 12 V8 Utes competitors took to the streets of Townsville.
Multiple champion Ryal Harris led both practice sessions today, setting a 1m28.2824s around Reid Park, as Kim Jane was the best of the rest in his Commodore, 0.5139s in arrears.
Third was Craig Dontas, who makes his return to the class and sat second behind Harris in the faster opening session.
Harris set a 1m27.3065s lap in the morning session and will be confident heading into tomorrow’s Qualifying session, which takes place at 9am AEST.
TOYOTA 86s
Cameron Hill leads the Toyota 86 field after Townsville practice – Photo: Rhys Vandersyde
Cameron Hill and opening round winner Jimmy Vernon look to be the drivers to beat heading into the three race weekend.
The margin between the lead pair was 0.2401s in the second Practice session, while Aaron Seton was just behind Vernon.
Ben Grice followed as the top 10 were separated by just under 1s. The top Professional guest driver was Dean Canto, who placed sixth, 0.7289 off Hill’s fastest lap of 1m30.7175s.
Qualifying is after V8 Utes Qualifying at 9:30am AEST.
AUSSIE RACING CARS
Kel Tresider fastest ahead of Aussie Race Car qualifying – Photo: Rhys Vandersyde
Kel Tresider was the driver to catch during today’s one and only Practice session and Qualifying for the first of four races across the weekend.
Tresider led from Peter Carr in both sessions, with the margin in Qualifying a scant 0.0435s between the pair.
Championship leader, James Duckworth was third in each session and was 0.4255s off Tresider’s lap time of 1m25.0190.
The opening race takes place at 8am AEST tomorrow morning.
Make sure you follow Auto Action on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for all the latest updates across the Supercars round in Townsville this weekend. We’ll also have a full wrap of all the weekends action in the next issue of Auto Action magazine on sale Thursday.
