The third and final practice session of the day at The Bend Motorsport Park delivered plenty of movement on the timesheets as teams and drivers fine-tuned their Enduro Cup preparations.
With three 30-minute sessions squeezed into Friday’s schedule – and two more to come tomorrow morning – the final outing proved the most competitive, with several late charges shaking up the order.
Unlike the earlier co-driver sessions, Practice 3 opened the track to all drivers, giving both full-timers and co-drivers a chance to cycle through their programs.
The session began with Andre Heimgartner setting the early pace, his 1:50.776 putting the #8 BJR Camaro at the top ahead of Thomas Randle, Anton De Pasquale, James Courtney and Brodie Kostecki. Kiwi rookies also made their mark in the opening minutes, with Jaxon Evans, Matt Payne and Heimgartner all inside the top 10 after the first flyers.
Five minutes in, the field paused for a safety car simulation to test new procedures. Under the revised rules, pit lane will now close once the speed limiter is engaged at 80km/h, while “slow zones” may also be deployed to neutralise specific track sections – forcing drivers to re-engage limiters before racing resumes outside the affected area.
Once back under green, De Pasquale lowered the benchmark to a 1:50.717 before a flurry of improvements saw Will Brown climb to fifth and Richie Stanaway to seventh.
Tickford wildcard Lochie Dalton briefly stole the spotlight with a 1:50.547, only to be eclipsed by Nick Percat’s 1:50.120. Ryan Wood then slotted into third, keeping a Kiwi presence near the front.
As the session approached half-distance, teams began cycling through driver changes.
Three New Zealanders sat inside the top 10 at that point – Wood in third, Evans eighth and Heimgartner ninth – while Percat consolidated his advantage with a 1:50.011. Heimgartner responded with a late flyer to climb to fourth before De Pasquale reset the pace with a 1:49.430.
Mechanical dramas sidelined two cars entirely. Dick Johnson Racing continued to wrestle with steering rack issues on Kostecki’s Mustang after earlier alternator troubles, while Team 18 was forced to park David Reynolds’ car as the team hunted for electrical gremlins.
The final 10 minutes saw the order change dramatically. Stanaway vaulted to second before Payne produced his best lap of the session to also hold that position with under a minute remaining. But it was Will Brown who delivered the decisive blow, his 1:48.995 not only the fastest of the day but the only lap under the 1:49 barrier. Broc Feeney ensured a Triple Eight one-two, while Cam Waters put Tickford into third.
Randle and Waters were the best-placed Fords in third and fourth, with De Pasquale the next-best Chevrolet in fifth. Heimgartner finished strongly in seventh, eight-tenths off Brown’s pace, while Stanaway slotted into ninth. Evans ended the session in 17th.
Practice 3 Results:
- Brown/Pye 1:48.995
- Feeney/Whincup +0.321s
- Randle/Moffat +0.383s
- Waters/Winterbottom +0.411s
- De Pasquale/Jones +0.435s
- Payne/Tander +0.609s
- Heimgartner/Fraser +0.798s
- Murray/Stewart +0.839s
- Stanaway/Morris +0.858s
- Fullwood/Vaughan +0.934s
- Allen/Wood +1.009
- Davison/D’Alberto +1.010s
- Le Brocq/Hughes +1.015s
- Percat/Slade +1.016s
- Lowndes/Bates +1.045s
- Dalton/Gray +1.088s
- Evans/Smith +1.101s
- Jones/Boys +1.163s
- Courtney/Perkins +1.164s
- Wood/OJeda +1.205s
- Mostert/Coulthard +1.370s
- Reynolds/Holdsworth +1.431s
- Hill/McLeod +1.466s
- Golding/Russell +1.600s
- Crick/Seton +1.683s
- Kostecki/Hazelwood +2.261s
- Cameron/Best +2.580s
Header Image: Red Bull Ampol Racing
