Rapid Reynolds jumps clear

A late attack helped David Reynolds jump clear of his rivals in a clean opening Supercars practice of the Tasmania SuperSprint.

For much of the session, less than a tenth covered the field, but none could match the final stint of Reynolds.

The Team 18 driver’s fastest two laps were enough to take the honours in the hour-long session with his chart-topping 51.1376 a tenth clear of James Golding.

It was an impressive effort considering Reynolds missed the start of the session with engine niggles.

Jack Le Brcoq secured third ahead of Cameron Hill, while Mark Winterbottom made it two Team 18 Camaros in the top five.

Chevrolet locked out positions one to nine with Cameron Waters the leading Ford in 10th, while Chaz Mostert was 14th, but some may have saved their fresh tyres.

The session began under grey skies and cool conditions with an oil spill from the support categories on the run up to the Turn 3 hairpin a danger zone.

Across the first four laps the times kept improving before Waters became the first to record a 51s time and cemented P1 with a 51.4796, which was a tenth clear of Brown and Stanaway.

One driver not involved was Courtney, who was stuck in the garage with power steering issues. His #7 BRT Mustang was eventually seen inside the final 20 minutes.

In his first drive since the announcement he will not be retained by Grove Racing, Stanaway had a speedy start inside the top five and had a moment clipping the dirt on the approach to the hairpin.

Later on in the session the Kiwi bowled a wide after a late lockup and came to a stop just prior to the gravel.

On his ninth lap, Brown managed to eclipse Waters, but only just with just 0.0668s covering the top three that also contained Percat.

At the 21-minute mark the red flag was waved due to debris on the back straight.

Just prior to the stoppage Reynolds made nose-to-tail contact with Heimgartner as the BJR driver entered the lane and suffered some loose bodywork as a result.

The Team 18 driver put the foot down when the session resumed as he climbed up to fourth.

Moments later Reynolds then went all the way to the top of the table, going 0.0048s clear of Brown with a 51.4506.

Mostert had been building up throughout the session and found top gear on his fourth stint.

He put the #25 back into P1, albeit momentarily as Reynolds immediately reclaimed it.

However, Cameron Hill trumped them both with a 51.3142, which was 0.0712s better than the #20.

Stanaway’s struggles continued as he locked up at the fast Turn 1 and even found the gravel on the inside.

The MSR driver’s time at the top was ended by former teammate Le Brocq, who found a further 0.0138s in the Erebus Camaro.

This started a run of fresh-tyre runs that occurred in the final 12 minutes.

Waters looked to be on a flyer, going purple in the first sector, but lost four tenths when he locked up at the end of the back straight.

Golding was able to string his lap together to lower the benchmark to 51.2437 with 0.09s covering the top six.

But the gap was suddenly much bigger with a minute left when Reynolds improved on a newer tyre.

The #20 jumped a tenth clear of the rest of the field at the death.

Kostecki pushed a touch too hard and had a small lockup coming into the hairpin and almost found the gravel.

The reigning champion emerged just outside the top 10.

Teams will gather the data and reload in Practice 2 on Saturday morning.

Image: Mark Horsburgh

Supercars Tasmania SuperSprint Practice 1 results 

Tasmania SuperSprint schedule

Practice 1: Fri 14.20-15.20

Practice 2: Sat 11.05-11.25

Qualifying: Sat 13.00-13.40

Race 17: Sat 16.10 (55 laps)

Practice 3: Sun 10.20-10.40

Qualifying: Sun 12.40-13.30

Race 18: Sun 15.05 (55 laps)

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