Heimgartner edges De Pasquale, Waters in Practice 2

A late flyer has helped Andre Heimgartner set the practice running ahead of qualifying at the Beaurepaires Melbourne SuperSprint.

Heimgartner shot his #8 R&J Batteries Chevrolet Camaro to the top in final minute with a 1:47.8706s.

The Brad Jones Racing driver was just 0.0211s ahead of Ford Mustang duo Anton De Pasquale and Cam Waters.

Waters held sway in the final minutes in his #6 Monster Mustang before De Pasquale jumped to the top with a 1:47.8917s.

Heimgartner, De Pasquale and Waters were the only drivers to set a time in the 1:47s bracket.

Only 23 cars hit the track in the 30-minute session, which ran green for its entirety — a stark contrast to the earlier Practice 2.

Shane van Gisbergen and Tim Slade were sidelined for Practice 2 after they crashed in the morning session.

It ensures van Gisbergen and Slade will head into ARMOR ALL Qualifying without any running on the Dunlop Super Soft tyre.

Cars will return to the track for back-to-back ARMOR ALL Qualifying sessions at 2:45pm local time.

Drivers will qualify for Race 3 on the Hard tyre, before qualifying for Race 4 on the Super Soft compound.

Broc Feeney, who wound up fourth, set the early running in his #88 Red Bull Ampol Camaro with a 1:48.0460s.

After the interrupted earlier session, drivers finally got a taste of Super Soft running, with the times tumbling throughout the 30-minute hit-out.

At the midway point, Waters jumped to the top with a 1:47.9173s, which was the first 1:47s lap of the weekend.

The Tickford Racing driver’s time held sway until the final minute, with De Pasquale and Heimgartner both jumping ahead.

All told, the top three drivers were split by 0.0467s, with Feeney fourth ahead of James Courtney (#5 Snowy Rivers Caravans Mustang) and David Reynolds (#26 Penrite Mustang).

Eight teams were represented in the top nine positions, with six Fords and four Chevrolets in the top 10.

Practice 1 fast man Mark Winterbottom (#18 DEWALT Camaro) was seventh ahead of Will Brown (#9 Coca-Cola Camaro), Nick Percat (#2 Mobil 1 NTI Mustang) and Thomas Randle (#55 Castrol Mustang).

Points leader Chaz Mostert was only good enough for 15th, and avoided a major scare in the closing minutes.

Mostert grazed the Turn 7 exit concrete, where van Gisbergen had his moment in Practice 1.