Van Gisbergen fastest in Practice 2 at Gold Coast 500

Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Shane van Gisbergen has set the pace after the two practice sessions at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500.

It was an untidy start to Practice 2 for both of the Red Bull Ampol Racing drivers, with van Gisbergen touring the Turn 11 run-off area and Broc Feeney spinning the #88 Camaro at the Hairpin in the first 10 minutes.

By the end of the half-hour hit-out, however, the former held sway on a 1:10.6673s in a battle-scarred the #97 Camaro, 0.1975s clear of Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert in the #25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang which had also scraped the barriers.

Matt Stone Racing’s Jack Le Brocq rounded out the top three in the #34 Truck Assist Camaro, with championship leader Brodie Kostecki (#99 Coca-Cola Camaro) 12th.

THE FINAL RACE OF THE 2023 REPCO SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP ON ONE OF THE WORLD’S BEST STREET CIRCUITS.
GO ALL IN AT THE VAILO ADELAIDE 500, CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS

After more rain between sessions, the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit was mostly dry on-line but unnervingly damp elsewhere when the field rolled out of pit lane at 15:30 local time.

James Golding (#31 Nulon Camaro) set the early pace on a 1:13.8781s before Will Davison (#17 Shell V-Power Mustang) moved the marker to a 1:12.6891s then Golding to a 1:12.0367s and Cameron Waters (#6 Tickford Racing Mustang) to a 1:11.5307s.

Waters further improved to a 1:11.2054s later in his first run before Practice 1 pace-setter Scott Pye (#20 Hino Camaro) clocked a 1:11.0777s once the second runs began.

Amid reports of drizzle in pit lane and some teams fitting ‘green’ tyres, possibly in a bid to beat the weather, Waters reclaimed top spot with a 1:10.9746s in the 18th minute.

Van Gisbergen then jumped to the top from 11th with a 1:10.6673s, while Davison was spotted circulating with a pitot tube on his Ford Mustang which is fielded by Blue Oval homologation team, Dick Johnson Racing.

The rain held off and while van Gisbergen was done in terms of his best pace, others were improving in the final minutes.

Pye made a mess of the front chicane but then regrouped to find a few hundredths of a second in setting a 1:11.0116s before the chequered flag came out, after which Mostert climbed to second on a 1:10.8648s.

Pye subsequently got back up to third with a 1:10:9720s before he was usurped by Le Brocq on a 1:10.9596s.

Behind those two ended up Waters in fifth, from team-mate James Courtney (#5 Mustang), Brad Jones Racing’s Andre Heimgartner (#8 R&J Batteries Camaro), Erebus Motorsport’s Will Brown (#9 Coca-Cola Camaro), Golding, and Thomas Randle (#55 Tickford Mustang) in 10th.

Kostecki’s best lap for the session was a 1:11.4090s, with Feeney one position behind on a 1:11.4379s.

Qualifying for Race 25 starts tomorrow at 11:35 local time/12:35 AEDT.

CLICK HERE for full Practice 2 results