Drivers react to 'tricky' track conditions
Variable track conditions on Friday Sydney Motorsport Park offered a taste test of what’s to come this weekend.
Two practice sessions commenced the Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight on Friday.
The day’s running was punctuated by passing showers, although the two Supercars sessions were completed on a rapidly drying surface.
Anton De Pasquale and Chaz Mostert were the fast men in the two sessions, but not all drivers got away without incident.
Notably, De Pasquale ended Practice 2 deep into the Turn 2 outfield after he bowled a wide at Turn 1.
De Pasquale slid for hundreds of metres across the slippery grass, which remains water-logged after constant rain leading into the event.
Jack Smith suffered three separate offs at Turn 2 across the two sessions.
The final corner caught out the likes of Shane van Gisbergen and Nick Percat.
For van Gisbergen, the changing conditions made life difficult as he chased car balance.
"Good session, we were quick we were up there but didn’t get the tyre on," said van Gisbergen, who was 16th and sixth in the two sessions.
"We tried another change when everyone ran tyres and then at the end I got the red flag and a spun car in front of me so I had to bail out.
"I think we’re pretty quick, we were quick in both sessions today so we’ll go again tomorrow and see what the weather will be like."
De Pasquale said the weather and changing track conditions made for a "tricky" day, which was compounded by his off.
"I ran a bit wide and grabbed some grass where it was all wet," he said.
"We’ll see what tomorrow brings with the weather and the track with the changes in conditions, which is mixing it up."
Shell V-Power Racing Team teammate Will Davison agreed: "Tricky conditions to get a handle on with the weather and wet patches across the different corners.
"In Practice 2 we had some solid running, but unfortunately couldn’t put together our final lap due to the red flag with just under a minute to go in the session.
"Overall, I’m happy with where to car is and we will look at some things and come back tomorrow.”
The De Pasquale red flag ensured a number of drivers couldn’t set a representative time, which offers more intrigue into the pecking order for qualifying.
One such driver was Mark Winterbottom, who was happy with his car despite ending second practice a lowly 19th.
"Good session, we were quick we were up there but didn’t get the tyre on,” the Team 18 driver said.
"We tried another change when everyone ran tyres and then at the end I got the red flag and a spun car in front of me so I had to bail out.
"I think we’re pretty quick, we were quick in both sessions today so we’ll go again tomorrow and see what the weather will be like."
Cars will return to the track for ARMOR ALL Qualifying on Saturday at 2:45pm AEDT. CLICK HERE to view the race schedule.
CLICK HERE to purchase your Beaurepaires Sydney SuperNight tickets.
