Triple Eight recruit Will Brown has made an instant impression at his new team after topping practice on the opening day at the Bathurst 500 to launch the Red Bull squad’s post Shane van Gisbergen era.
On a strong day for Triple Eight after his teammate Broc Feeney earlier set the top time in the first session on track, Brown showed why he was targeted to replace van Gisbergen when he produced the fastest time of the day in a rain-hit session at Mount Panorama.
After a late red flag when Will Davison ran off the track, Brown emerged on top amid a flurry of late flying laps with his 2:07.55 effort around the mountain, while Feeney backed up to finish third fastest.
Defending Supercars champion Brodie Kostecki’s stand-in for the opening round, Todd Hazelwood, made the most of his call-up for the title winning Erebus Motorsport squad to finish second fastest in Friday’s final session.
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Brown defected from Erebus to join rivals Triple Eight and fill triple Supercars champion van Gisbergen’s seat following the Kiwi star’s move to race NASCAR in the United States.
The 25-year-old and Feeney will form the youngest pairing on the grid in what team boss Jamie Whincup has described as the most exciting driver line-up in the field.
Brown, fifth in last year’s championship, said it had been a strong start at his new team.
“I felt good on my lap,” Brown said after practice.
“It definitely feels different (at a new team). It’s a pretty big change this year coming across to Red Bull Ampol (Racing) and I have noticed that. But it’s been really cool.
“I think I have the tools I need to succeed this year and I think it’s cool working with Broc and it’s been a good start for the year.”
Hazelwood was called on to fill Kostecki’s seat for the opening round after the champion’s falling out with Erebus and could be there for much longer amid the unresolved saga.
He said he was determined to make the most of the opportunity he had been presented with.
“Just taking every lap and every opportunity that I have got in front of me and grabbing it with both hands,” Hazelwood said.
“I’m really fortunate to be strapped into a car that’s more than capable, the team is more than capable and really fortunate to have some fantastic engineers and mechanics that have provided me with a fantastic chassis.
“I felt really comfortable both in the wet and the dry and I wasn’t taking too many risks or anything like that. We all know how tough it is to put a lap around here at the best of times, so when you can do it confidently and comfortably in both conditions, it’s a shot in the arm full of confidence.
“I’m just trying to put my best foot forward and do the best job. Now, wherever that lands me, I don’t know.”
Grove Racing’s Matt Payne was the top Ford Mustang in fourth, while Matt Stone Racing’s Nick Percat rounded out the top five.
It was a dramatic start to the final practice session after rain hit Mount Panorama not long before the drivers hit the track.
The session was red-flagged after just six minutes when Anton De Pasquale and David Reynolds became casualties of a slippery track at the bottom of the Chase.
De Pasquale was the first to skid off into the gravel before Reynolds followed him off at the same part of the track, spinning his Camaro into the wall.
The session was stopped for almost 15 minutes while the cars were retrieved.
Reynolds, driving for new squad Team 18, recovered to finish 12th in the session, just ahead of De Pasquale.
Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Ryan Wood was the top rookie, finishing 11th fastest.
While Hazelwood pushed his car up into the top two, Brown’s replacement at Erebus, Jack Le Brocq, was back in 22nd after earlier engine issues in the opening session.
If the off-season had not been dramatic enough for champions Erebus motorsport with the Kostecki fall-out, the team hit trouble on the opening lap of the first practice session.
Le Brocq had barely got the car on track when he was forced to quickly park his Camaro at the Cutting after a sudden drop in oil pressure.
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Le Brocq had to get a tow back to the pits and he spent the rest of the session in the garage.
The squad was then forced to replace the engine in Le Brocq’s car in between the first and second practice sessions.
Setting the pace in the opening session, Feeney said he immediately felt sharp on the track after plenty of laps of the circuit last weekend in the Bathurst 12 Hour.
“It’s been a good day, felt good rolling out of the gate,”
“It was a solid P1 and that (second) session then it was such weird conditions … I probably didn’t expect to be here towards the end of the session, but I’m pumped, the car has rolled out real strong and I’m certainly looking forward to tomorrow.”
There is qualifying, a top-10 shootout and a 250km race ahead of the drivers on Saturday.
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