Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin has made a fast start to Saturday’s action in Perth, topping the timesheets in final practice.
The DJR Team Penske ace, who finished second behind teammate Fabian Coulthard in Friday’s race, posted a 53.3841 seconds fastest lap in the half-hour session at Barbagallo Raceway.
Holden’s Jamie Whincup (53.4650) was second quickest ahead of Ford’s Chaz Mostert (53.6100) and teammate Shane Van Gisbergen (53.6262).
McLaughlin was consistently fast throughout the session but also went off the track at one point and took a trip through the sand at turn one in a rare misstep.
After the session, the championship leader was one of several drivers to report a drop in the grip levels on the track.
« The car feels nice, » McLaughlin said.
« I reckon the track’s lost a fair bit of grip and it’s actually lost the blackness.
« It’s definitely less grippy in places. You’ve got to sort of adjust your line so you stay on the grippy stuff. »
Coulthard made a late dive to break into the top 10, which earns a free pass straight into the second section of Saturday’s qualifying.
Holden’s David Reynolds, who will line up on Saturday evening for his 300th race start, just snuck into the top 10 to avoid having to go all the way from Q1 to Q3 in the afternoon.
Qualifying starts at 2.50pm (1650AEST) with Saturday’s 83-lap race starting at 6.45pm (2045AEST).
http://www.espn.com/v8-supercars/story/_/id/26666552/mclaughlin-tops-perth-supercars-practice
