Pye snatches nail-biting co-driver session from Fraser
By Thomas Miles
Date posted: 13 September 2024
The heat was on among the co-drivers as less than a tenth covered the top five, but leading the way was Scott Pye in practice 2 at Sandown.
In his first session as a co-driver since 2012, Pye saved it to the very end and produced an impressive 1:08.8398 in the #87 to snatch the session from Fraser in car #8 by 0.07s.
There was nothing in it after a thrilling run to the flag with less than a tenth covering the top five that was completed by Dylan O’Keeffe (car #10) James Moffat (car #6) and Cooper Murray (car #888) while wildcard rookie Brad Vaughan impressed to get into the top 10.
The session got off to a slow start as the Safety Car procedure was tested before the field was released after five minutes.
Holdsworth was the fastest from the opening lap, having set a 1:10.1406 which was a tenth clear of Cooper Murray in the #888.
Although the Triple Eight teammates improved, so did the WAU veteran as the co-drivers were in the 1m9s window as early as their second full-send laps.
Despite Hazelwood pushing hard in the #1 Erebus Camaro, Holdsworth held on by 0.0084s.
After the opening flurry of laps, the leaderboard soon settled down as the co-drivers came to grips with the Sandown circuit.
At the halfway mark rookies Cameron Crick and Brad Vaughan forced themselves into the top 10.
Radio issues at BJR forced Macauley Jones and Jordan Boys to suffer the misfortune of sharing a sweaty helmet together.
After a steady period of logging laps, some cars bolted on fresh rubber to stage qualifying sims.
One of the first was Moffat, who shot from 12th to third, while Declan Fraser made a bigger rise to the top five.
O’Keeffe ended Holdsworth’s session-long grip on P1 with just a minute left by firing a 1:09.0811, which was instantly knocked off by Fraser.
Boys made it a BJR 1-2 for a matter of seconds before O’Keeffe had a second crack at returning to the top and came within a whisker of doing so.
The likes of Moffat, Whincup and Murray pushed hard at the death, but fell within a tenth of Fraser.
However, Pye had the last laugh, nailing a 1:08.8398 to snatch the session.
The co-drivers were fast and clean with Cameron McLeod’s bumpy tour through the Turn 3 run off the only incident.
All drivers will be able to drive in the third and final practice of the day at 15.40 AEST.
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