Supercars: Whincup marks return by going quickest in Sandown practice
Supercars hall of fame inductee Jamie Whincup has gone behind the wheel again and led a Red Bull Ampol Racing one-two in a Sandown practice session for the Bathurst 1000 co-drivers.
The session was the year’s first and only for co-drivers ahead of October’s Repco Bathurst 1000.
The seven-time Supercars champion led home Garth Tander, who steered Shane van Gisbergen’s car. Fabian Coulthard ran third aboard Chaz Mostert’s Walkinshaw Andretti United Commodore.
Tony D’Alberto and James Moffat rounded out the top five, with Alex Davison sixth ahead of Zak Best. Dale Wood, Jack Perkins and Jordan Boys rounded out the top 10.
Supercars’ great Craig Lowndes steered Jack Smith’s SCT Commodore for the session and took the opportunity to cross live to commentators during the session.
It marked the first time since 2004 that Lowndes had driven a non-Triple Eight car in a competitive session.
Drivers from Whincup in first to Lowndes in 20th were covered by 0.94s.
Earlier in the day, Will Davison was quickest in opening practice ahead of Chaz Mostert and Anton De Pasquale.
Main game drivers will return to the track for Practice 3 on Saturday at 10:20am local time.
The Penrite Oil Sandown SuperSprint will play host to Races 24, 25 and 26 of season 2022.
The event will be broadcast exclusively live on Fox Sports 506 and streamed live on Kayo. Highlights broadcast on the Seven Network.
Friday Practice 2 Results
| POS | NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | TIME | GAP | LAPS |
| 1 | 88 | Whincup | Red Bull Holden Racing Team | 1:08.231 | +0.000 | 18 |
| 2 | 97 | Tander | Red Bull Holden Racing Team | 1:08.514 | +0.283 | 17 |
| 3 | 25 | Coulthard | Walkinshaw Andretti United | 1:08.519 | +0.288 | 17 |
| 4 | 11 | T. D’Alberto | Shell V-Power Racing Team | 1:08.626 | +0.395 | 19 |
| 5 | 6 | Moffat | Tickford Racing 1 | 1:08.655 | +0.424 | 18 |
| 6 | 17 | A. Davison | Shell V-Power Racing Team | 1:08.660 | +0.429 | 19 |
| 7 | 55 | Z. Best | Tickford Racing 2 | 1:08.700 | +0.470 | 17 |
| 8 | 8 | Wood | Brad Jones Racing | 1:08.745 | +0.515 | 11 |
| 9 | 9 | J. Perkins | Penrite Racing – Erebus | 1:08.770 | +0.540 | 19 |
| 10 | 96 | J. Boys | Brad Jones Racing | 1:08.790 | +0.559 | 17 |
| 11 | 99 | D. Russell | Penrite Racing – Erebus | 1:08.811 | +0.580 | 19 |
| 12 | 18 | Caruso | Team 18 | 1:08.825 | +0.594 | 18 |
| 13 | 56 | K. Kostecki | Tickford Racing 2 | 1:08.892 | +0.661 | 20 |
| 14 | 500 | M. Payne | Penrite Racing | 1:08.960 | +0.729 | 17 |
| 15 | 34 | A. Seton | Matt Stone Racing | 1:09.030 | +0.799 | 20 |
| 16 | 3 | Blanchard | CoolDrive Racing | 1:09.074 | +0.843 | 19 |
| 17 | 22 | C. Hill | PremiAir Coca Cola Racing | 1:09.127 | +0.896 | 20 |
| 18 | 31 | D. O’Keeffe | PremiAir Subway Racing | 1:09.138 | +0.907 | 18 |
| 19 | 5 | Z. Goddard | Tickford Racing 1 | 1:09.169 | +0.938 | 24 |
| 20 | 4 | Lowndes | SCT Motor Sports | 1:09.173 | +0.942 | 19 |
| 21 | 35 | J. Ojeda | Matt Stone Racing | 1:09.281 | +1.050 | 20 |
| 22 | 2 | W. Luff | Walkinshaw Andretti United | 1:09.296 | +1.065 | 15 |
| 23 | 14 | D. Fiore | Brad Jones Racing | 1:09.397 | +1.166 | 20 |
| 24 | 20 | T. Everingham | Team 18 | 1:09.416 | +1.186 | 20 |