Mostert edges Caruso in opening practice

Chaz Mostert has made the perfect start to the Vodafone Gold Coast 600, topping the fastest time in opening practice on the streets of Surfers Paradise.

The Prodrive team, which has endured a tough run on the Gold Coast in recent years, is hoping to bounce back from a disastrous Bathurst where it failed to convert its speed.

Mostert struck in the closing moments of the 30-minute session, jumping to third and then first on consecutive laps, recording a 1:11.0597s best.

That put him 0.0848 seconds clear of Caruso, who had knocked Shane van Gisbergen from the top moments earlier.

The order was frozen when red flags ended the session 67s early after Simona De Silvestro nosed her Nissan into the Turn 14 tyre wall and could not reverse out.

was pretty nervous, we have to work on it.”

Bathurst winner David Reynolds ended up sixth ahead of Jamie Whincup, James Courtney, James Moffat and Mark Winterbottom.

“I scared myself a couple of times, which is always the objective in session one,” said Reynolds.

“It’s about finding the limit again, it’s been 12 months since you’ve been here, and our car is fundamentally different to last year.

“We’re a couple of tenths away from where we want to be, but we’ll find it.”

Despite a number of close calls as drivers felt out the challenging Gold Coast kerbs, the session ran without major incident.

Rick Kelly lost significant time in the garage while his Nissan crew attended to an early oil overflow that had also struck in opening practice at Bathurst, ending up 14th.

The second session, for co-drivers only, is scheduled for 1400 local time.