Evans and Payne on top in Perth practice

Kiwi pair Jaxon Evans and Matt Payne have topped a session each on a dramatic opening day of action at the Bosch Power Tools Perth Super400.

Evans, driver of the SCT Chevrolet Camaro, was the standout of Practice 1, delivering a personal milestone as he recorded the fastest time of the session — his first-ever P1 in Supercars — with a blistering 55.0864s lap for Brad Jones Racing.

The second-year Kiwi capitalised on an extra set of tyres to edge out fellow New Zealander Ryan Wood by nearly four-tenths of a second, with championship leader Broc Feeney third ahead of Anton De Pasquale and James Courtney.

**Jaxon Evans was the standout of Practice 1**

“It’s really nice to finish the session on top — the first time I’ve done it in Supercars,” said Evans.

“We rolled the car out and it seemed pretty fast. Being my second year, I get an extra set of tyres and it’s nice to know the car is quick. Hopefully we can carry that through the weekend.”

In Practice 2, it was Payne, who won in Tasmania last month to jump to third in the Championship standings, who rose to the top, continuing his strong form after winning three of the last six races.

The Penrite Racing Ford Mustang driver surged to P1 late in the session with a 54.8071s lap, pipping Anton De Pasquale by just 0.0856s in a thrilling finish.

Ford’s Thomas Randle, Chevy’s Feeney and James Golding rounded out the top five, while Evans followed up his early-session pace with seventh.

“It’s a really awesome turnaround from Practice 1, which wasn’t ideal for us rolling out of the truck,” said Payne. “It’s a real credit to the team to get it tuned up and to the front for Practice 2.”

The day wasn’t without incident, with Tickford wildcard Lochie Dalton narrowly avoiding a rollover at Turn 1 and several cars — including those of James Golding and Bryce Fullwood — involved in minor contact during a high-pressure session.

Supercars action resumes on Saturday with dual Boost Mobile Qualifying sessions from 9:45am local time (11:45am AEST), before Race 14 at 12:55pm local (2:55pm AEST) and Race 15 at 4:10pm local (6:10pm AEST).