THERE are positive signs for the Ford faithful after Anton De Pasquale led a Blue Oval one-two-three in final practice at the Darwin Triple Crown.
Boosted by a productive mid-season test a fortnight ago, De Pasquale banged out a 1:06.2857s well before the midway point of the 30-minute hitout and that effort ultimately stood the test of time.
Tickford Racing was strong too, with James Courtney and Cam Waters second and third, and Thomas Randle fifth.
David Reynolds and Will Davison were also up there, with Chevrolet’s only representatives in the top 10 being Brodie Kostecki (fourth) and a trio of Brad Jones Racing entries.
It was another torrid session for Shane van Gisbergen, who suffered further mechanical gremlins.
Van Gisbergen was hindered by an ECU problem related to the trial of a Safety Car speed limiter in the earlier session.
He managed just seven more laps in Practice 2, complaining of broken steering as well as throttle response issues.
Van Gisbergen ended up 25th, only ahead of Chaz Mostert.
Supercars are not on track again until Qualifying for Race 1 tomorrow, which will run to a three-part knockout format.
That gets underway from 11:30am local time (midday AEST) and will set the grid for the first of three 35-lap races.
Results: Practice 2, 2023 Darwin Triple Crown
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Anton De Pasquale | DJR | Ford | 1:06.2857s |
| 2 | 5 | James Courtney | Tickford | Ford | +0.0346s |
| 3 | 6 | Cam Waters | Tickford | Ford | +0.1411s |
| 4 | 99 | Brodie Kostecki | Erebus | Chevrolet | +0.1510s |
| 5 | 55 | Thomas Randle | Tickford | Ford | +0.1549s |
| 6 | 8 | Andre Heimgartner | BJR | Chevrolet | +0.1654s |
| 7 | 26 | David Reynolds | Grove | Ford | +0.2085s |
| 8 | 14 | Bryce Fullwood | BJR | Chevrolet | +0.2124s |
| 9 | 17 | Will Davison | DJR | Ford | +0.2244s |
| 10 | 96 | Macauley Jones | BJR | Chevrolet | +0.2344s |
| 11 | 31 | James Golding | PremiAir | Chevrolet | +0.2669s |
| 12 | 88 | Broc Feeney | Triple Eight | Chevrolet | +0.2671s |
| 13 | 18 | Mark Winterbottom | Team 18 | Chevrolet | +0.2906s |
| 14 | 34 | Jack Le Brocq | MSR | Chevrolet | +0.2962s |
| 15 | 20 | Scott Pye | Team 18 | Chevrolet | +0.3229s |
| 16 | 35 | Cameron Hill | MSR | Chevrolet | +0.3366s |
| 17 | 888 | Zane Goddard | Triple Eight | Chevrolet | +0.3502s |
| 18 | 23 | Tim Slade | PremiAir | Chevrolet | +0.3616s |
| 19 | 9 | Will Brown | Erebus | Chevrolet | +0.3718s |
| 20 | 19 | Matthew Payne | Grove | Ford | +0.4029s |
| 21 | 2 | Nick Percat | WAU | Ford | +0.4127s |
| 22 | 4 | Jack Smith | BJR | Chevrolet | +0.5298s |
| 23 | 3 | Todd Hazelwood | BRT | Ford | +0.6087s |
| 24 | 56 | Declan Fraser | Tickford | Ford | +0.6159s |
| 25 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Triple Eight | Chevrolet | +0.6734s |
| 26 | 25 | Chaz Mostert | WAU | Ford | +0.6828s |
