Whincup tops the time sheets in final Newcastle practice

Jamie Whincup
Jamie Whincup

Jamie Whincup has led a tightly contested Practice 2 session at the Coates Hire Newcastle 500, edging out Mustang driver Cameron Waters.

It marks a strong start to the weekend for Whincup, whose Red Bull Holden Racing Team is gunning for the teams’ title against Shell V-Power Racing.

Just 116 points separate the powerhouse squads ahead of the Coates Hire Newcastle 500 season finale, with Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen running one-three in practice.

“My car didn't feel that flash then on good tires, but it's clearly quick," noted Whincup.

“I think our drive is okay, we're just struggling with a bit of turn.

“We'll work on getting them to turn through that change of direction a little bit faster.

A street course by the ocean, just like Surfers
A street course by the ocean, just like Surfers

“If we can do that, I think we'll improve for tomorrow.

Waters was pleased with second, on a track that has previously proven troublesome for Tickford Racing.

“We had a pretty good swing at it between sessions and just kept chipping away at it, which is really good," he said.

"Traditionally it's been a track which hasn't suited our cars and that's probably the best car I've had around here. Hopefully it translates to tomorrow."

The top 23 drivers were split by less than eight tenths in a show of the competitiveness down pitlane.

Scott McLaughlin joined Waters and van Gisbergen in being within a tenth of the pace setting #88 Commodore.

David Reynolds, Mark Winterbottom, James Courtney, Fabian Coulthard, Todd Hazelwood and Lee Holdsworth rounded out the top 10, with Chaz Mostert down in 13th.

Several drivers overstepped the limits in the search for ultimate pace ahead of ARMOR ALL Qualifying at 10:50am Saturday.

Friday Results

POS # DRIVER TEAM BEST LAP LAPS
1 88 Whincup Red Bull Holden Racing Team 1:10.317 17
2 6 C. Waters Monster Energy Racing Team 1:10.323 15
3 97 Van Gisbergen Red Bull Holden Racing Team 1:10.378 15
4 17 McLaughlin Shell V-Power Racing Team 1:10.384 18
5 9 Reynolds Penrite Racing 1:10.424 16
6 18 Winterbottom Irwin Racing 1:10.425 15
7 22 Courtney Mobil 1 Racing 1:10.446 12
8 12 Coulthard Shell V-Power Racing Team 1:10.447 17
9 35 T. Hazelwood Bigmate Racing 1:10.528 14
10 5 Holdsworth The Bottle-O Racing Team 1:10.572 18
11 99 A. de Pasquale Penrite Racing 1:10.574 13
12 8 Percat Timken Racing 1:10.606 17
13 55 Mostert Supercheap Auto Racing 1:10.632 17
14 14 Slade Freightliner Racing 1:10.695 15
15 7 Heimgartner Plus Fitness Racing 1:10.705 15
16 33 R. Stanaway Boost Mobile Racing 1:10.772 13
17 15 R. Kelly Castrol Racing 1:10.824 15
18 23 Davison Milwaukee Racing 1:10.889 14
19 3 G. Jacobson RABBLE.club Racing 1:10.906 17
20 21 M. Jones Team CoolDrive 1:10.920 14
21 2 W. Luff Mobil 1 Racing 1:11.069 18
22 19 J. Le Brocq Truck Assist TEKNO Racing 1:11.102 17
23 78 S. De Silvestro Team Harvey Norman 1:11.102 15
24 34 J. Golding Boost Mobile Racing 1:11.431 15