Stanaway shines in wet practice 

Out of contract Grove Racing Kiwi Richie Stanaway has reminded the Supercars field of his wet weather skills by snatching Practice 2 in Tasmania. 

In docile conditions at a wet Symmons Plains, Stanaway took fastest-time honours with his very last lap – a 54.4551.

He denied fellow 2017 Sandown 500 winner Cameron Waters by just 0.0520s, while Chaz Mostert was also within a tenth away. Youngsters Bryce Fullwood and Ryan Wood completed the top five.

Teams only had 20 minutes to come to grips with the extremely wet conditions and there was plenty of action.

A beached Wood brought out a red flag, while Aaron Love had a wild spin and the likes of Will Brown and Mark Winterbottom went off.

Brown was the pioneer and went off straight away at Turn 6 at the end of the back straight.

Teammate Feeney stayed on the road and led the way by a full half a second over Kostecki.

The #88 improved each lap as did Kostecki as they were the only drivers in the 56s window after three laps.

Brown recovered from his early off to put himself near the top as the likes of De Pasquale, Feeney and Fullwood took turns in P1 as the times tumbled into the 55s region.

Wood had pushed himself up into the top four, but found the limit at the hairpin and skated into the sand trap.

With the #2 stuck in the kitty litter, the reds were required after six minutes of action.

When the session resumed with 13 minutes left De Pasquale was on top with a 55.3698, a tenth ahead of Heimgartner and Feeney, while Waters and Payne were both three tenths away.

It only took another three minutes for another driver to be caught out by the treacherous conditions.

Rookie Love just ran slightly off line coming out of the final corner and lost the rear, which sent him into not just one, but four spins.

With Love finding himself facing the pit wall roughly around the start finish line, he found himself in an extremely awkward position and had some close calls with a Grove Racing Mustang as he tried to reverse out of trouble.

Despite double yellow flags being waved, Feeney still recorded a new session best of 55.2809.

When Love eventually recovered, both Waters, Brown and Stanaway found more time to record a 55 flat.

Mostert was the first to dip into the 54s window, only for Feeney to go three tenths faster.

The WAU driver soon responded to edge ahead by the barest of margins, 0.0004s before Brown went a further 0.0187s clear.

Wood set a purple first sector but lost time as he made the same mistake as Love at the final corner, but caught it by the skin of his teeth.

Winterbottom could not stop himself from skating off at the end of Turn 6.

More time was found in the final three minutes with Mostert leading a WAU 1-2 as Wood joined him before Waters trumped the teammates.

However, it was Stanaway, who had the final say, nailing a 54.4551 as the chequered flag was waved. Fullwood also made a late move into the top four.

Teams now have plenty to unpack on how to soaked conditions ahead of the three-part qualifying in the afternoon.

Supercars Tasmania SuperSprint Practice 2 results

Tasmania SuperSprint schedule

Practice 1: 1: D. Reynolds 51.1376 2: J. Golding +0.1061 3: J. Le Brocq +0.1628

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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