Pye tops brief Supercars opener at Gold Coast 500 - Auto Action
A brief opening Supercars session at the Gold Coast 500 was fairly inconclusive in terms of getting a good read in damp and windy conditions, with Scott Pye ending Practice 1 on top over Cam Waters.
The first of two half hour practice sessions represented a vital chance at limited track time ahead of tomorrow’s qualifying at the weekend’s two 250 km races on the streets of the Surfers Paradise.
There was a slight rain coming down to start Practice 1 and strong winds on the beach side of the track, with more rain due across the session, meaning any dry line laps available would be vital for data collection, but the session would come to an early end to make on-track time limited, with early issues for some cars meaning there was no track time for some.
Cam Waters was the leading Mustang in second place. Image: Mark Horsburgh
As expected, no one bit initially when the session went green with teams hesitant to run on the wet tyres if they could avoid it, with only a few cars heading out for some tentative laps, with half and half on the wets and slicks.
Reynolds showed problems early when he tried to exit the pits, dropping a heap of oil in the pit lane when a power steering line came loose, whilst Declan Fraser and Thomas Randle also had early issues with power steering pump issues inflicting both Tickford Mustangs, which would keep them both in the sheds.
When the running did get more frequent, Cam Waters was top early with 15 minutes left on the clock, posting a 1:11.882, with Will Davison in P2 driving in the new wildcard chassis that was used by DJR at the Bathurst 1000.
Pye took the mantle from Waters as the rain kept falling over different sections of the track, whilst plenty of drivers were racking up kerb strikes at the 10 minute mark.
A red flag was called due to debris on the track with some damage to the Turn 2 chicane kerbing at the seven minute mark, with practice declared as workers tried to resolve the issue.
Practice 2 gets underway at 4:30 AEDT, with more expected throughout the day.
Kerb dramas brought out an early red flag in the first practice session on the Gold Coast. Image: Mark Horsburgh
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