'Panicked' Courtney explains first practice spin

James Courtney has explained his dramatic spin during the first practice session of the OTR SuperSprint weekend, admitting he "panicked" in the greasy conditions.

Courtney spun at Turn 6 last in Practice 1, triggering a red flag with six minutes remaining.

WATCH: PRACTICE 1 HIGHLIGHTS

After finding the greasy line into the left-hander, Courtney ended up beached in the gravel, requiring the #44 Boost Mobile Racing Mustang entry to be dragged out before returning to the lane.

Explaining the spin in the tricky conditions, Courtney said: “We had a little drama with flat spotting tyres in Tassie, so I panicked and just rolled off.

“They dragged me out of the crap, I mean rocks.”

Sitting in ninth before the off, Courtney returned to the track once the session recommenced and recovered to set the fourth quickest time.

WATCH: MOSTERT'S WILD SLIDE

Many drivers commented on the changing weather conditions and struggling to finding the dry line after the session, and Courtney was buoyed by the early signs of pace.

“It’s a bit of fun, I’m sure everyone was having their moments but it’s nice to be at the pointy end,” Courtney said.

“But because the surface is so new, it’s hard to see the drying line.”

“You know it's dry, but it's sort of got a shine everywhere, typically when it’s an older surface you can see the line or patch.

“The last two corners were really quite dry, entry to [Turn] 1 is good compared to the bits out the back which are patchy still.”

The Repco Supercars Championship field will return for Practice 2 at 11:15am AEST. Check out the full weekend schedule here.