Cameron leads Mustang charge in Bend opener
By Thomas Miles
Date posted: 12 September 2025
The revised aero on the Fords has started strongly as rookie Aaron Cameron took a tricky opening Supercars practice of the AirTouch 500 at The Bend.
Cameron recorded a 1:50.0617, which was just enough to shade Thomas Randle by 0.0283s at Shell V-Power Motorsport Park.
They led a Ford sweep of the top five, which also included Brodie Kostecki, Mark Winterbottom, and Matt Payne, with Cameron Hill leading the Camaros.
The sudden arrival of an unexpected shower meant there were no late changers in the leaderboard, but drivers impressively stayed on the black stuff.
Fresh from his Sprint Cup dominance, Feeney picked up from where he left off by recording a 1:51.0469.
This kept the #88 at the top until Kostecki was the first to record a 1m50s time.
This did not last long as it was quickly eclipsed by Hill and Payne.
Payne’s 1:50.7354 managed to last across the first half of the session with a slender 0.0220s margin.
Being the first session in two years at The Bend, drivers got reaccustomed to the layout.
Bates was the first to spear off, touring the paddock at the northern end of the circuit, while Brown locked up and went off at the first turn.
The pace picked up in the second half of the session as Randle fired a 1:50.0900, a massive six and a half tenths up on the rest.
What made the margin more impressive was Randle’s wild moment getting crossed up at Turn 11.
The likes of Kostecki and Waters trimmed the deficit down to three tenths as Mustangs filled seven of the top eight.
Leading the charge was Cameron, who snuck 0.0283s ahead of Randle.
The arrival of an unexpected shower inside the final seven minutes created some headaches for teams.
It was extremely untimely as teams threw in their co-drivers for their first laps around The Bend.
In tricky conditions on slicks, teams had to tiptoe carefully, and everyone did well to stay out of trouble.
This also ensured Cameron’s lap was unchallenged to give BRT an early boost.
Practice 2 is a co-drivers only session at 13.30 ACST.
Practice 1 results
Pos Driver Time
1: A. Cameron/Z. Best 1:50.0617
2: T. Randle/Z. Best +0.0283
3: B. Kostecki/T. Hazelwood +0.3358
4: C. Waters/M. Winterbottom +0.5105
5: M. Payne/G. Tander +0.6737
6: C. Hill/C. McLeod +0.6957
7: J. Courtney/J. Perkins +0.7056
8: D. Reynolds/L. Holdsworth +0.7420
9: C. Mostert/F. Coulthard +0.9097
10: J. LeBrocq/J. Hughes +0.9113
11: R. Wood/J. Ojeda +0.9144
12: B. Feeney/J. Whincup +0.9852
13: J. Evans/J. Smith +1.0329
14: A. De Pasquale/H. Jones +1.0567
15: W. Davison/T. D’Alberto +1.1181
16: N. Percat/T. Slade +1.3060
17: A. Heimgartner/D. Fraser +1.3355
18: W. Brown/S. Pye +1.3822
19: K. Allen/D. Wood +1.3879
20: J. Golding/D. Russell +1.4663
21: L. Dalton/R. Gray +1.4743
22: C. Murray/J. Stewart +1.7180
23: M. Jones/J. Boys +1.7455
24: R. Stanaway/N. Morris +2.0475
25: C. Crick/A. Seton +2.0529
26: B. Fullwood/B. Vaughan +2.6122
27: Z. Bates/C. Lowndes +3.4499
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