Shane van Gisbergen. Picture: Ross Gibb
Shane van Gisbergen has set the pace in Practice 1 for Event 7 of the Repco Supercars Championship at the NTI Townsville 500.
In a fairly cagey opening session at the Reid Park Street Circuit, the championship-leading Red Bull Ampol Racing driver’s 1:13.6883s on his second flying lap proved the quickest time of the session.
The start of the hit-out was delayed by 20 minutes in order to fix a loose road plate, before the 25-car field was released for half an hour of practice.
David Reynolds (#26 Penrite Mustang) was quickest after the first flyers on a 1:14.1926s, before van Gisbergen (#97 ZB Commodore) moved into first position next time through.
With a return to the hard compound of tire after a string of super or super soft events this year, and soft events at Townsville, there were plenty of set-up changes undertaken during the session.
However, the timing screen barely changed once the first runs were done.
Andre Heimgartner jumped from 10th- to second-quickest with seconds left before the checkered flag came out, courtesy of a 1:13.7857s in Brad Jones Racing’s #8 R&J Batteries ZB Commodore.
That effort shuffled Scott Pye back to third after the Team 18 driver had wheeled the #20 Nulon ZB Commodore to a 1:13.8927s, with the top five rounded out by Shell V-Power Racing Team duo of Will Davison (#17 Mustang) and Anton De Pasquale (#11 Mustang).
Broc Feeney (#88 Red Bull Ampol ZB Commodore) took sixth, ahead of Reynolds, Todd Hazelwood (#35 Truck Assist ZB Commodore), Tim Slade (#3 CoolDrive Mustang), and Mark Winterbottom (#18 Irwin Tools ZB Commodore).
Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert was 11th on a 1:14.1398s in the #25 Mobil 1 Optus ZB Commodore, while Tickford Racing’s best was Cameron Waters (#6 Monster Energy Mustang) in 13th.
At PremiAir Racing, Chris Pither (#22 Coca-Cola ZB Commodore) pipped new arrival James Golding (#31 Subway ZB Commodore) with a 1:14.7608s to a 1:14.7881s, as they ended up 22nd and 23rd respectively.
Practice 2 is scheduled for 14:50 local time/AEST.
Results: Practice 1
| position | number | Team/Sponsor | drivers | cars | Fastest lap | Split |
| 1 | 97 | Red Bull Ampole Racing | Shane van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:13.6883 | |
| 2 | 8th | R&J Batteries Racing | Andre Heimgartner | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:13.7857 | 0:00.0974 |
| 3 | 20 | Nulon Racing | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:13.8927 | 0:00.2044 |
| 4 | 17 | Shell V-Power Racing Team | Will Davison | Ford Mustang GT | 1:13.9299 | 0:00.2416 |
| 5 | 11 | Shell V-Power Racing Team | Anton De Pasquale | Ford Mustang GT | 1:13.9332 | 0:00.2449 |
| 6 | 88 | Red Bull Ampole Racing | Broc Feeney | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:13.9542 | 0:00.2659 |
| 7 | 26 | Penrite Racing | David Reynolds | Ford Mustang GT | 1:14.0289 | 0:00.3406 |
| 8th | 35 | Truck Assist Racing | Todd Hazelwood | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:14.0450 | 0:00.3567 |
| 9 | 3 | CoolDrive Auto Parts | Tim Slade | Ford Mustang GT | 1:14.0830 | 0:00.3947 |
| 10 | 18 | IRWIN Racing | Mark Winterbottom | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:14.1035 | 0:00.4152 |
| 11 | 25 | Mobile 1 Optus Racing | Chaz Mostert | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:14.1398 | 0:00.4515 |
| 12 | 9 | Boost Mobile Racing by Erebus | William Brown | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:14.1607 | 0:00.4724 |
| 13 | 6 | Monster Energy Racing | Cameron Waters | Ford Mustang GT | 1:14.2071 | 0:00.5188 |
| 14 | 34 | Truck Assist Racing | Jack Le Brocq | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:14.2210 | 0:00.5327 |
| 15 | 99 | Boost Mobile Racing by Erebus | Brodie Kostecki | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:14.2806 | 0:00.5923 |
| 16 | 56 | Tradition Racing | Jake Kostecki | Ford Mustang GT | 1:14.2866 | 0:00.5983 |
| 17 | 55 | Castrol Racing | Thomas Randle | Ford Mustang GT | 1:14.4077 | 0:00.7194 |
| 18 | 5 | Snowy River Racing | James Courtney | Ford Mustang GT | 1:14.5128 | 0:00.8245 |
| 19 | 10 | Penrite Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Ford Mustang GT | 1:14.6078 | 0:00.9195 |
| 20 | 96 | Pizza Hut | Macauley Jones | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:14.6450 | 0:00.9567 |
| 21 | 2 | Mobil 1 NTI Racing | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:14.7036 | 0:01.0153 |
| 22 | 22 | PremiAir Coca Cola Racing | Chris Pither | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:14.7608 | 0:01.0725 |
| 23 | 31 | Premium Air Subway Racing | James Golding | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:14.7881 | 0:01.0998 |
| 24 | 4 | SCT Logistics Racing | JackSmith | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:14.8154 | 0:01.1271 |
| 25 | 14 | Middy’s Electrical Racing | Bryce Fullwood | Holden Commodore ZB | 1:14.9831 | 0:01.2948 |