Sweet and sour for Triple Eight, Courtney crashes

BROC Feeney has dominated final practice at the OTR SuperSprint as drama struck two Supercars champions.

The big moment of the session came within the first five minutes, James Courtney running wide at the final corner and spinning across the track.

Both the left-front and left-rear of the Snowy River Caravans Mustang made contact with the pit straight wall on driver’s right, causing visible damage.

“I just got wide on the grass… it’s all wet,” said Courtney.

“It’s disappointing.”

The initial damage report from Tickford Racing was promising at least, with the #5 Ford expected to comfortably make qualifying.

While Courtney didn’t set a time, Shane van Gisbergen’s struggles continued as he again was slowest of those to complete a lap.

The Kiwi, who had complained of more steering trauma in Practice 1, ended up more than two seconds adrift of the session-best lap set by Triple Eight teammate Feeney.

Feeney went to the top on his first flying lap with a 1:49.9907s – a time which no one would get within three tenths of at any point.

Cam Waters, David Reynolds and Thomas Randle all took turns in P2, with the latter ultimately proving Feeney’s closest company.

There were seven Fords in a top 10 which read: Feeney, Randle, Chaz Mostert, Anton De Pasquale, Reynolds, Will Brown, Waters, Andre Heimgartner, Matt Payne and Will Davison.

Next up is qualifying, which will run to a three-part format, beginning at 1:40pm local time (2:10pm AEST).

Results: Practice 2, 2023 OTR SuperSprint