Scott Pye went fastest in this afternoon’s opening practice session of the Gold Coast 500, which was affected by variable weather conditions and kerb strikes, before finishing early due to kerb damage.
Just over 20 minutes of running was completed in the 30-minute session, with a brief downpour on the green flag, seeing teams wait three minutes in their garages before taking to the track, the field split between slick tyres and wets.
David Reynolds, Thomas Randle and Declan Fraser failed to set a lap time after suffering power steering issues in the pit lane.
Reynolds was leaving his box when the Penrite Racing Mustang dispatched power steering fluid, and he pulled to a stop outside the Red Bull garage at the end of the lane before being pushed back to his box.
Will Davison was the early pacesetter, being the first to go under the 1min 11sec barrier, and he was quickly overcome by Pye, Cam Waters, Will Brown and Shane van Gisbergen, who finished in that order, respectively.
Van Gisbergen completed a solid 12 laps to finish fourth, while Andre Heimgartner finished 15 laps to end the session ninth, one place ahead of Matt Payne.
There were several kerb strikes throughout the session as drivers familiarised themselves with the updated track limits after the tyre bundles were removed ahead of the event.
The session would conclude seven minutes early after a piece of the kerb at the opening chicane came loose, the repairs taking significant time and resulting in practice being declared, with few representative times being set.
Supercars returns for the second and final practice of the Gold Coast 500 at 6.30 pm (NZ time) this evening.
Header Image: Team 18
