Lee Holdsworth has continued Walkinshaw Andretti United’s run of pace at the Repco Bathurst 1000, leading the co-driver practice session with an impressive 2:05.225.
James Moffat and Alex Davison completed the top three, in a top 10 full of interesting performances. Red Bull runners Garth Tander and Craig Lowndes ended up fourth and sixth, and Bathurst 1000 rookie Zak Best ended a credible eighth in the Tickford entry he will share with Jack LeBrocq on Sunday.
It was a mostly quiet session, but it unfortunately ended with a red flag; Chris Pither crashing heavily at Forrest Elbow. Thankfully the Kiwi was able to get out of the car unassisted and uninjured.
While the first practice session of the weekend was completely dry, the second kicked off with a passing shower. The conditions were scattered, with rain appearing in pit-lane as well as in sections at the top of the mountain.
The co-driver exclusive session would give valuable, dedicated miles to drivers in need ahead of the rest of the weekend’s festivities.
The co-driver field’s pace hovered in the low 2:07s, some two seconds adrift of the lead drivers in the slightly greasy conditions, until Holdsworth produced the first ‘six’; a 2:06.906.
Tony D’Alberto briefly eclipsed Holdsworth with a six of his own, before Holdsworth returned to the top with an even quicker 2:06.786. This was a bit of a theme for a while. Tander briefly topped Holdsworth, before Holdsworth stole the lead back again at the 47-minute mark with a 2:06.771.
Holdsworth pressed on with his pace, too, eventually further lowering the benchmark to a 2:06.401.
Holdsworth’s time was eventually beaten by Erebus Motorsport’s David Russell, via a 2:06.357. His time survived at the top as the session hit halfway; Russell leading Holdsworth, Warren Luff in the sister Walkinshaw Andretti United entry, Tander, Jack Perkins, Tony D’Alberto, and Alex Davison in seventh.
Parked behind Davison in the order was Best, co-driver to LeBrocq. His pace was very impressive, with the Super2 driver lining up as the only Bathurst 1000 rookie on the grid. Matt Campbell (co-driver to Andre Heimgartner) and Dean Fiore rounded out the top 10 with 30 minutes remaining.
After being largely absent in the opening half of the session, Lowndes was next zoom to the top. He pipped Russell’s time at the 24-minute mark, with a 2:06.164. James Moffat also improved, although only to fourth place.
With 20 minutes to go there wasn’t much change. Half the grid had peeled off the track into pit-lane, and those on-track it appeared were practicing doing longer runs. Among the few to post a quick time was Thomas Randle, jumping from 19th to fifth.
After jumping to second on the cusp of the last 10 minutes, Tander was able to trim a few tenths off his time to nip Lowndes with a 2:06.094. They were both then edged by Alex Davison; the older Davison brother throwing down a competitive 2:06.0815, edging closer and closer to doing a ‘five’.
As the final 10 minutes arrived, Moffat toppled Davison with the first five of the session; a 2:05.603. Holdsworth was next, returning to the top with a ripping 2:05.225. With eight minutes to run, they led Davison, Tander, Lowndes, D’Alberto, Russell, Randle, Luff, and Fiore in 10th.
Holdsworth’s time was very impressive, being just a tenth slower than what teammate Mostert did in practice one earlier in the day.
Most of the field pitted around this point, applying minor tweaks to their cars before putting them back on track for the final minutes. But that late push would be cut short via a red flag.
What had been a bad day for the Coke BJR operation got worse, with Pither whacking the wall at high speed at Forest Elbow. He had been on a quick lap, having improved to 17th on his previous lap. The impact was a heavy one, ripping the front left wheel off the car and causing plenty of other damage.
With just a few minutes left to run, the rest of the session was abandoned, leaving Holdsworth to grab the top spot by more than three tenths of a second. Moffat was second, ahead of Davison, Tander, Fiore (who quietly clocked a quick time late), Lowndes, Luke Youlden, Best, D’Alberto, and Russell in 10th.
Elsewhere, Campbell, Randle, and Luff narrowly missed out on the top 10. On his return to the Bathurst 1000, Russell Ingall had a quiet uneventful session, recording a 2:08.443 to sit at the tail of the field.
