WILL Davison pipped Shane van Gisbergen by just 0.0188s to set the pace in Practice 1 at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500.
The first of two 30-minute practice sessions today marked the first Supercars running at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit since 2019.
Drivers spent the early part of the session feeling out the challenging course, including the limits of the electronic kerb sensors.
Davison set the initial pace at 1:11.6505s before being eclipsed by van Gisbergen, who moved the marker to 1:11.2401s by the end of his first run.
That time stood until after the chequered flag fell, when Davison completed his final lap and improved to 1:11.2213s.
Van Gisbergen had moments earlier looked to go quicker, beating his own benchmark to the end of the second sector before losing time in the final corners.
Cameron Waters ended the half hour of running third ahead of Chaz Mostert, Mark Winterbottom, David Reynolds, Nick Percat and Anton De Pasquale.
Andre Heimgartner was ninth in his Brad Jones Racing Commodore following its post-Bathurst repairs – the Kiwi among those to sample the Turn 11 escape road.
Van Gisbergen’s teammate Broc Feeney is the only driver without a previous Supercars Championship start at Surfers Paradise and ended up 21st.
BJR’s Bryce Fullwood ended up at the foot of the timesheet, 1.7691s from the pace.
A second 30-minute session will take place later this afternoon.
RESULTS: Supercars Practice 1, Gold Coast 500
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 | Will Davison | DJR | Ford | 1m11.2213s |
| 2 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Triple Eight | Holden | +0.0188s |
| 3 | 6 | Cam Waters | Tickford | Ford | +0.2577s |
| 4 | 25 | Chaz Mostert | WAU | Holden | +0.2934s |
| 5 | 18 | Mark Winterbottom | Team 18 | Holden | +0.3061s |
| 6 | 26 | David Reynolds | Grove | Ford | +0.3625s |
| 7 | 2 | Nick Percat | WAU | Holden | +0.3873s |
| 8 | 11 | Anton De Pasquale | DJR | Ford | +0.4341s |
| 9 | 8 | Andre Heimgartner | BJR | Holden | +0.5307s |
| 10 | 34 | Jack Le Brocq | MSR | Holden | +0.5441s |
| 11 | 31 | James Golding | PremiAir | Holden | +0.5938s |
| 12 | 10 | Lee Holdsworth | Grove | Ford | +0.5988s |
| 13 | 35 | Todd Hazelwood | MSR | Holden | +0.6189s |
| 14 | 99 | Brodie Kostecki | Erebus | Holden | +0.6194s |
| 15 | 3 | Tim Slade | BRT | Ford | +0.6247s |
| 16 | 22 | Chris Pither | PremiAir | Holden | +0.6277s |
| 17 | 5 | James Courtney | Tickford | Ford | +0.6871s |
| 18 | 55 | Thomas Randle | Tickford | Ford | +0.7042s |
| 19 | 9 | Will Brown | Erebus | Holden | +0.8132s |
| 20 | 20 | Scott Pye | Team 18 | Holden | +0.8195s |
| 21 | 88 | Broc Feeney | Triple Eight | Holden | +1.2247s |
| 22 | 4 | Jack Smith | BJR | Holden | +1.5227s |
| 23 | 96 | Macauley Jones | BJR | Holden | +1.5685s |
| 24 | 56 | Jake Kostecki | Tickford | Ford | +1.5714s |
| 25 | 14 | Bryce Fullwood | BJR | Holden | +1.7691s |
