Bates shoots out of the gate

Rapid pace out of the gates has put Zach Bates on top in the first Dunlop Series practice session at Townsville.

All the action was in the first 10 minutes of the 40 minute session with Bates recording his chart-topping 1:14.8631.

This proved to be just 0.0650s clear of championship leader Kai Allen, who was ahead of teammates Cameron Crick and Cooper Murray, who sandwiched Tickford’s Brad Vaughan.

Jack Perkins marked his return to both Super2 and Ford with a solid sixth place.

Just six minutes were possible before the first red flag caused by an unfortunate Max Vidau.

Vidau climbed the Turn 7 kerb well, but could not make the following right hander due to a hammed throttle.

As a result the Anderson Motorsport Mustang speared head on into the tyre barriers.

Drivers only had a maximum of two flying laps before the stoppage and Bates picked up from where he left off from Perth.

The WAU driver led the way with a 1:14.9329, which was just 0.0372s clear of Cameron Crick with  a big gap to Brad Vaughan.

The stoppage gave Brad Jones Racing a chance to solve a misfiring engine for Elliott Cleary.

When the session resumed, Bates found more pace by improving by a tenth to lower the benchmark to a 1:14.8631.

Allen then showed his hand on his seventh lap and came within 0.0650s of the leader, whilst Vaughan and Murray also jumped into the top five.

Burcher went off at Turn 3 but avoided the walls and the session carried on.

Walker also had a couple of wild moments on the exit of Turn 5 and found the grass.

Despite being fast Bates had a close call with Dean Fiore where the pair made door to door contact at the turn 11 hairpin.

Zane Morse is back from injury and had a wild spin at the final corner, losing the rear of his Mustang on corner entry.

The AIM Motorsport driver rotated 180 degrees and just avoided the outside tyres.

Despite the entire field minus Bates, Murray and Vidau being out in the final minutes, there was minimal change on the leaderboard.

The second 40-minute Dunlop Series practice session is at 13.15 AEST.

Image: RACE PROJECT/WAU

Dunlop Series Practice 1 results

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