Supercars Championship leader McLaughlin jumped 1.3 seconds clear of the field in practice for the Supercheap Bathurst 1000. The #17 Shell V-Power Racing Falcon driver set a time of 2:05.1276s before a late red flag session then Erebus Racing’s David Reynolds went better setting a time of 2:05.0932s in the closing stages.
McLaughlin opened the day with a car that was loose across the top of the tricky Mount Panorama circuit. However, the team was able to tune the car, with the results coming to the crew across the day.
“The car is good.” commented McLaughlin. “It was loose at the start, and then between Alex and I we got it sorted. The 5.1 lap was pretty strong, really my first hard lap of the weekend. I didn’t improve on my second, but I keep reminding myself that it’s Thursday, and the race is won on Sunday.”
McLaughlin’s team mate Alex Premat also showed confidence in the #17 car.
“The car feels pretty good, I feel very comfortable and we’ve been working on the car to make it better for both qualifying and the race. It’s nice to be back in Bathurst, it’s unique and very special going over the mountain, I just love it here.”
Meanwhile Shane van Gisbergen’s Red Bull Holden escaped major damage in its crash at the Dipper during Practice 3. Heavy contact was made with the concrete on the entry to the Dipper.
“The first session was a bit average but we definitely did some good work. In the second one, Matty was able to get comfortable and get better and better and the car was much improved when I got in there. We set some reasonable times and I felt like we were making some good headway and then unfortunately I made a mistake which has made the guys do some unnecessary work to get it going tomorrow but at least now, our car is better.”
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