A LOOSE wheel briefly brought the opening Dunlop Super 2/Super3 Series practice session to a halt at the Repco Bathurst 1000.
The right front wheel came loose on Super3 racer Kai Allen’s Holden Commodore VE as he travelled across the top Mount Panorama at the 25-minute mark of the 40 minute session.
The wheel parted company upon his arrival at Forrest’s Elbow, the Super3 points leader parking the car on the exit of the corner.
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However, the wheel continued on its merry way down Conrod Straight, smashing through two advertising banners and being avoided by the rest of the field, before finally coming to rest some 700 metres after coming off the car.
Watch in the player below.
Allen’s team was subsequently fined $3,000 – with half suspended until the end of the year in the event of a repeat of the breach – after an admission that it failed to fully secure the right front wheel before releasing the car onto the circuit.
It proved the only incident of an otherwise calm and quiet start to the second and third-tiers’ track running, following a bruising appearance in 2021 pocketed by red flags and Safety Car periods.
The showers that have been the talking point leading into the meeting eased prior to the start of the session, leading to a hint of a dry line. All drivers started the session on wet Dunlop tyres, but many of the top Super2 runners were switching to slicks as the red flag appeared.
Most remained on slicks when the session resumed, Cameron Hill improving on each of his three flying laps to top the session with a 2m09.5678s, heading his Triple Eight teammate Declan Fraser by just under half a second, with Matt Payne third.
RESULTS: Practice 1 – Dunlop Series, Bathurst
| Pos | No. | Drivers | Car | Class | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 111 | Cameron Hill | Holden Commodore VF | DS2 | 2m09.5678s |
| 2 | 777 | Declan Fraser | Holden Commodore VF | DS2 | +0.4717s |
| 3 | 10 | Matt Payne | Nissan Altima | DS2 | +1.9428s |
| 4 | 58 | Ryal Harris | Holden Commodore VF | DS2 | +2.3131s |
| 5 | 6 | Angelo Mouzouris | Nissan Altima | DS2 | +2.4526s |
| 6 | 54 | Matt McLean | Holden Commodore VF | DS2 | +2.6866s |
| 7 | 49 | Jay Hanson | Holden Commodore VF | DS2 | +2.7655s |
| 8 | 30 | Aaron Seton | Holden Commodore VF | DS2 | +3.725s |
| 9 | 3 | Thomas Maxwell | Nissan Altima | DS2 | +3.9817s |
| 10 | 999 | Reef McCarthy | Holden Commodore VF | DS2 | +4.4591s |
| 11 | 67 | Nash Morris | Ford Falcon FG X | DS2 | +4.604s |
| 12 | 11 | Zane Morse | Holden Commodore VF | DS2 | +4.6042s |
| 13 | 78 | Zak Best | Ford Falcon FG X | DS2 | +4.8751s |
| 14 | 38 | Cameron Crick | Holden Commodore VF | DS2 | +5.1584s |
| 15 | 8 | Elly Morrow | Holden Commodore VF | DS2 | +7.8519s |
| 16 | 5 | Brad Vaughan | Ford Falcon FG | DS3 | +8.9467s |
| 17 | 2 | Steven Page | Holden Commodore VE II | DS3 | +11.1949s |
| 18 | 7 | Jim Pollicina | Holden Commodore VE | DS3 | +11.627s |
| 19 | 35 | Jason Gomersall | Ford Falcon FG | DS3 | +11.9189s |
| 20 | 23 | Ray Hislop | Ford Falcon FG | DS3 | +12.1757s |
| 21 | 27 | Tyler Everingham | Nissan Altima | DS2 | +12.185s |
| 22 | 219 | James Masterton | Holden Commodore VE | DS3 | +13.3271s |
| 23 | 24 | David Murphy | Ford Falcon FG | DS3 | +13.4558s |
| 24 | 4 | Tony Auddino | Ford Falcon BF | DS3 | +13.5691s |
| 25 | 76 | Garry Hills | Holden Commodore VE II | DS3 | +14.6795s |
| 26 | 46 | Jarred Danaher | Ford Falcon FG | DS3 | +15.0554s |
| 27 | 26 | Kai Allen | Holden Commodore VE | DS3 | +15.3501s |
| 28 | 25 | Paul Boschert | Holden Commodore VE | DS3 | +15.4403s |
| 29 | 75 | Brendan Strong | Holden Commodore VE | DS3 | +18.6498s |
| 30 | 96 | Gary Collins | Holden Commodore VE II | DS3 | +22.0401s |
