TRIPLE Eight has continued its Saturday resurgence at Mount Panorama with Broc Feeney leading the way in final practice.
Having seen Richie Stanaway top co-driver practice this morning, Feeney dipped straight into the ‘fives’ before the red-hot favourite for pole position, Brodie Kostecki, moved clear on a 2:05.8290s.
Feeney reclaimed top billing with a 2:05.5872s, but there was expected to be more to come with the relevant runners tipped to complete a Top 10 Shootout simulation.
SPOTTER GUIDE: 2023 Repco Bathurst 1000 car-by-car
SCHEDULE: 2023 Repco Bathurst 1000
UPSET: PremiAir plotting Bathurst boilover
However, it was a slow burn, with several frontrunners resisting temptation for a late flyer, and others failing to improve.
James Golding was the first to attempt a Shootout simulation lap, although he mucked up his lap with a run off at the Chase.
David Reynolds, Matt Payne, Anton De Pasquale and Chaz Mostert all improved but not by any significant margin, and that too was the case for Golding on his second effort, leaving the top five unchanged.
Otherwise, there was a mix of priorities in play, with some teams giving co-drivers additional seat time and others having their primaries focus on race pace via mid-range stints.
No one went close to matching Kevin Estre’s 25-lap stint in Practice 5, with Andre Heimgartner going longest in an 18-lap run.
As expected, there was procedural practice in the form of brake and driver changes too; Grove Racing in particular struck trouble on a brake change for its #26 Penrite Mustang.
For the 18 cars which yesterday failed to book a Top 10 Shootout berth, one pre-race session remains: a 20-minute warm-up tomorrow at 8am AEDT.
Back out for the one-lap dash will be, in order: Will Davison (11th in Practice 6), Mostert (14th), Payne (10th), Shane van Gisbergen (fifth), Reynolds (13th), Feeney (first), Cam Waters (fourth), De Pasquale (sixth), Golding (seventh) and Kostecki (second).
The highest-placed non-Shootout driver in Practice 6 was Will Brown in third. He’ll start the Great Race from 17th following a qualifying crash yesterday.
The Top 10 Shootout is scheduled for 5:05pm to 5:50pm AEDT this afternoon.
RESULTS: Supercars Practice 6, Repco Bathurst 1000
| Pos | No. | Drivers | Team | Car | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 88 | Broc Feeney / Jamie Whincup | Triple Eight | Chevrolet | 2m05.5872s |
| 2 | 99 | Brodie Kostecki / David Russell | Erebus | Chevrolet | +0.2418s |
| 3 | 9 | Will Brown / Jack Perkins | Erebus | Chevrolet | +0.4606s |
| 4 | 6 | Cam Waters / James Moffat | Tickford | Ford | +0.6531s |
| 5 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen / Richie Stanaway | Triple Eight | Chevrolet | +0.6852s |
| 6 | 11 | Anton De Pasquale / Tony D’Alberto | DJR | Ford | +0.7002s |
| 7 | 31 | James Golding / Dylan O’Keeffe | PremiAir | Chevrolet | +0.7070s |
| 8 | 8 | Andre Heimgartner / Dale Wood | BJR | Chevrolet | +0.9312s |
| 9 | 20 | Scott Pye / Warren Luff | Team 18 | Chevrolet | +1.0484s |
| 10 | 19 | Matthew Payne / Kevin Estre | Grove | Ford | +1.0669s |
| 11 | 17 | Will Davison / Alex Davison | DJR | Ford | +1.4093s |
| 12 | 35 | Cameron Hill / Jaylyn Robotham | MSR | Chevrolet | +1.415s |
| 13 | 26 | David Reynolds / Garth Tander | Grove | Ford | +1.4415s |
| 14 | 25 | Chaz Mostert / Lee Holdsworth | WAU | Ford | +1.5012s |
| 15 | 18 | Mark Winterbottom / Michael Caruso | Team 18 | Chevrolet | +1.6202s |
| 16 | 96 | Macauley Jones / Jordan Boys | BJR | Chevrolet | +2.1519s |
| 17 | 55 | Thomas Randle / Garry Jacobson | Tickford | Ford | +2.3586s |
| 18 | 888 | Craig Lowndes / Zane Goddard | Triple Eight | Chevrolet | +2.4250s |
| 19 | 23 | Tim Slade / Jonathon Webb | PremiAir | Chevrolet | +2.4447s |
| 20 | 2 | Nick Percat / Fabian Coulthard | WAU | Ford | +2.6800s |
| 21 | 34 | Jack Le Brocq / Jayden Ojeda | MSR | Chevrolet | +2.6947s |
| 22 | 14 | Bryce Fullwood / Dean Fiore | BJR | Chevrolet | +2.7403s |
| 23 | 4 | Jack Smith / Jaxon Evans | BJR | Chevrolet | +2.9627s |
| 24 | 7 | Aaron Love / Jake Kostecki | BRT | Ford | +2.9993s |
| 25 | 56 | Declan Fraser / Tyler Everingham | Tickford | Ford | +3.0616s |
| 26 | 5 | James Courtney / Zak Best | Tickford | Ford | +3.0900s |
| 27 | 98 | Simona De Silvestro / Kai Allen | DJR | Ford | +3.6774s |
| 28 | 3 | Todd Hazelwood / Tim Blanchard | BRT | Ford | +3.7093s |
