Heimgartner sweeps Sydney all-in test

ANDRE Heimgartner has rounded out a promising day for Brad Jones Racing, completing a sweep of the Sydney Motorsport Park pre-season test.

Heimgartner backed up his session-topping form from the morning to set the fastest time of the day: a 1:29.6787s.

Again, Erebus Motorsport’s Will Brown was his nearest rival, this time just 0.0157s adrift.

In a point which could further trigger the ongoing parity debate, 11 of the top 12 spots on the afternoon leaderboard belonged to Chevrolet Camaro drivers.

BJR and Erebus locked out the top six between them, with the Blanchard Racing Team leading the Blue Oval charge in ninth.

A mini-VCAT is due to take place next week to address Ford’s persistent concerns regarding parity.

Weather continued to play a role at SMP beyond lunchtime, with the four-hour afternoon block affected by stop-start bursts of rain.

Mark Winterbottom (Team 18) had been fastest at the midway point of the session, at which time Macauley Jones (BJR) had been yet to exit the pits due to a clutch issue following earlier practice starts.

Winterbottom’s teammate Scott Pye logged just seven laps, struck down by a gearbox mount gremlin.

Nick Percat (Walkinshaw Andretti United) meanwhile triggered red flags when his #2 Mustang stopped on-track with a loose wheel.

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Following that late stoppage, the session was extended to the tune of roughly 15 minutes, bringing about a close of play at approximately 5:15pm local time (AEDT).

Several teams still have one test day to come before the season-opening Thrifty Newcastle 500 on March 10-12.

Results: Sydney Motorsport Park pre-season test, afternoon session