WILL Davison has drawn first blood at the 2022 Repco Bathurst 1000 but the major talking point was a series of scares for front-running entries.
The most notable of all was championship leader Shane van Gisbergen’s wild slide through Reid Park, glancing the wall on driver’s left entering the final quarter of the 60-minute session.
“It’s tough. I just wanted to have a clean session one, so I’m pretty pissed at myself for doing that but the car felt good,” van Gisbergen said.
ENTRY LIST: Every car and driver in the 2022 Repco Bathurst 1000
SCHEDULE: Bathurst 1000 track schedule for every category
TV GUIDE: How and where to watch the Bathurst 1000
WEATHER: The forecast across the 2022 Repco Bathurst 1000 race weekend
It didn’t make a lasting dent on preparations for the #97 Red Bull Ampol Racing ZB Commodore, with co-driver Garth Tander venturing back out a matter of minutes later.
Also coming unstuck in the slippery conditions was Anton De Pasquale, who spun at Forrest’s Elbow but escaped with relatively minor rear contact with the fence.
The first of two red flags was brought out when Cameron Waters beached his Mustang at Murray’s Corner.
Completing an eventful session for Tickford Racing, Waters’ teammate Jake Kostecki triggered an early end to proceedings when he became buried in the Hell Corner gravel trap.
Andre Heimgartner came close to repeating Waters’ mistake, while Craig Lowndes had multiple excursions into the run-off areas at both Murray’s and Hell.
Davison’s session-topping time came with eight minutes remaining, lobbing in a 2:04.3691s – some seven tenths quicker than the fastest Practice 1 time last year.
James Golding starred to almost knock Davison off top spot, falling just 0.0160s short.
Heimgartner, David Reynolds and Nick Percat rounded out the top five.
Main drivers did the bulk of the running, although Erebus Motorsport was among the teams to give all of its co-drivers seat time.
The Erebus/Boost Mobile wildcard of Richie Stanaway and Greg Murphy had their session cut short by a starter motor issue, leaving them 28th.
Practice 2 starts at 3:55pm AEDT and will be dedicated to co-drivers.
RESULTS: Practice 1, Repco Bathurst 1000 (60min)
| Pos | No. | Drivers | Team | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 | Will Davison | DJR | Ford | 2m04.3691s |
| 2 | 31 | James Golding | PremiAir | Holden | +0.0160s |
| 3 | 8 | Andre Heimgartner | BJR | Holden | +0.2813s |
| 4 | 26 | David Reynolds | Grove | Ford | +0.8719s |
| 5 | 2 | Nick Percat | WAU | Holden | +0.8782s |
| 6 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen / Garth Tander | Triple Eight | Holden | +0.9554s |
| 7 | 88 | Broc Feeney | Triple Eight | Holden | +0.9793s |
| 8 | 100 | Anton De Pasquale | DJR | Ford | +1.1074s |
| 9 | 25 | Chaz Mostert / Fabian Coulthard | WAU | Holden | +1.1115s |
| 10 | 10 | Lee Holdsworth | Grove | Ford | +1.1194s |
| 11 | 99 | Brodie Kostecki / David Russell | Erebus | Holden | +1.1465s |
| 12 | 20 | Scott Pye / Tyler Everingham | Team 18 | Holden | +1.1927s |
| 13 | 6 | Cameron Waters | Tickford | Ford | +1.2347s |
| 14 | 3 | Tim Slade | BRT | Ford | +1.5036s |
| 15 | 14 | Bryce Fullwood | BJR | Holden | +1.5266s |
| 16 | 96 | Macauley Jones | BJR | Holden | +1.6088s |
| 17 | 18 | Mark Winterbottom | Team 18 | Holden | +1.7679s |
| 18 | 5 | James Courtney / Zane Goddard | Tickford | Ford | +1.8340s |
| 19 | 888 | Craig Lowndes | Triple Eight | Holden | +1.8821s |
| 20 | 35 | Todd Hazelwood / Jayden Ojeda | MSR | Holden | +2.0410s |
| 21 | 9 | Will Brown / Jack Perkins | Erebus | Holden | +2.5202s |
| 22 | 34 | Jack Le Brocq | MSR | Holden | +2.5407s |
| 23 | 22 | Chris Pither | PremiAir | Holden | +2.6567s |
| 24 | 56 | Jake Kostecki | Tickford | Ford | +2.7556s |
| 25 | 4 | Jack Smith | BJR | Holden | +2.9056s |
| 26 | 118 | Matt Chahda | Triple Eight | Holden | +3.3911s |
| 27 | 55 | Thomas Randle | Tickford | Ford | +3.6389s |
| 28 | 51 | Richie Stanaway / Greg Murphy | Erebus | Holden | +3.9049s |
