THOMAS Randle edged Cameron Waters to record a one-two result for Tickford Racing in Practice 2 at the VAILO Adelaide 500.
With Thursday’s single session having taken place in wet conditions, drivers were eager to make the most of the weekend’s first dry running.
Randle ended up with the fastest two times of the session, going to the top with 1:19.4078s with just under 10 minutes left before improving that to 1:19.2911s in the dying seconds.
“We all thought it was going to rain today and so far, the heavens have held off,” noted Randle.
“It’s just important to try to do what we wanted to do in Practice 1 just then.
“You roll out and you’re trying to find the limits: soft tyre, Gen3, in the dry, it’s the first time for us (here).
“I’ve been watching all of the support categories, so the track is obviously pretty fast, and to go a little bit quicker at the end there was nice.
“I sort of mucked up the hairpin, but the Castrol Mustang has got plenty of speed and fingers crossed we can keep it up there for qualifying.”
Waters ended up 0.1203s adrift of his teammate but ahead of Erebus Motorsport’s Will Brown, who improved late after complaining of steering issues mid-session.
V8 Sleuth’s coverage of the VAILO Adelaide 500 is proudly presented by Bad Boy Mowers – explore the world of Bad Boy Mowers with the new Spring/Summer catalogue of high-performance mowers here.
Chaz Mostert and David Reynolds made it four Fords in the top five, followed by championship leader Brodie Kostecki.
The Fords of Anton De Pasquale, Matt Payne and Todd Hazelwood filled seventh through ninth, with Shane van Gisbergen’s Camaro 10th.
Van Gisbergen sat out the final six minutes of the session, frustrated by the steering issues that have blighted much of his season.
The Kiwi fared better than Triple Eight teammate Broc Feeney, who completed just four laps due to an engine problem that will require a change ahead of qualifying.
Qualifying is scheduled for 5:25pm local time, when drivers will be aiming to make Saturday’s Top 10 Shootout.
RESULTS: Practice 2, 2023 VAILO Adelaide 500
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 55 | Thomas Randle | Tickford | Ford | 1:19.2911s |
| 2 | 43 | Cam Waters | Tickford | Ford | +0.1203s |
| 3 | 9 | Will Brown | Erebus | Chevrolet | +0.2766s |
| 4 | 25 | Chaz Mostert | WAU | Ford | +0.2871s |
| 5 | 26 | David Reynolds | Grove | Ford | +0.3302s |
| 6 | 99 | Brodie Kostecki | Erebus | Chevrolet | +0.3557s |
| 7 | 11 | Anton De Pasquale | DJR | Ford | +0.373s |
| 8 | 19 | Matthew Payne | Grove | Ford | +0.423s |
| 9 | 3 | Todd Hazelwood | BRT | Ford | +0.4865s |
| 10 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Triple Eight | Chevrolet | +0.5172s |
| 11 | 20 | Scott Pye | Team 18 | Chevrolet | +0.5302s |
| 12 | 8 | Andre Heimgartner | BJR | Chevrolet | +0.5551s |
| 13 | 23 | Tim Slade | PremiAir | Chevrolet | +0.6651s |
| 14 | 5 | James Courtney | Tickford | Ford | +0.696s |
| 15 | 96 | Macauley Jones | BJR | Chevrolet | +0.838s |
| 16 | 17 | Will Davison | DJR | Ford | +0.8874s |
| 17 | 31 | James Golding | PremiAir | Chevrolet | +0.9666s |
| 18 | 14 | Bryce Fullwood | BJR | Chevrolet | +0.9864s |
| 19 | 34 | Jack Le Brocq | MSR | Chevrolet | +1.0102s |
| 20 | 18 | Mark Winterbottom | Team 18 | Chevrolet | +1.0103s |
| 21 | 35 | Cameron Hill | MSR | Chevrolet | +1.0309s |
| 22 | 88 | Broc Feeney | Triple Eight | Chevrolet | +1.1463s |
| 23 | 2 | Nick Percat | WAU | Ford | +1.1493s |
| 24 | 4 | Jack Smith | BJR | Chevrolet | +1.4985s |
| 25 | 56 | Declan Fraser | Tickford | Ford | +1.5621s |
