Kellys hop to it

The kerb hopping antics of the two Jack Daniel's Nissan Altimas in the opening practice session of the Castrol EDGE Gold Coast 600 that resulted in both Todd and Rick Kelly copping penalties was an intentional strategy.

Like the rest of the V8 Supercars field, the Kellys were searching for the limits of the track in the front and back straight chicanes, where sensors and tyre bundles have been installed to determine if drivers had hopped the kerb.

Both tallied five hops, which meant spending a minute in the pits. Red Bull's Craig Lowndes, DJR's David Wall, FPR's Chaz Mostert, Advam/GB's Dale Wood and Erebus Motorsport V8's Lee Holdsworth also copped the same penalty.

The chicanes are the key to a fast lap on the Gold Coast street circuit. Essentially, the straighter the line the faster the lap.

The sensors and tyre bundles have replaced the concrete beams placed at 90 degrees to the kerbs that were blamed for a huge amount of car damage last year.

"The tyres are there so the guys have got to feel their way through that and find the limit," explained Jack Daniel's team manager Scott Sinclair. "The difficulty is it's basically an invisible line. It's not like they hit the tyre and the sensor goes off, they can hit the tyre and the sensor not go off.

"It's up to us to tell them they have hit and then they have to think 'well where did I go, was it different to the last lap'. So it's difficult.

"Certainly early on you want to find your limits and do it before qualifying, because if you do it in qualifying your lap is not counted."

Sinclair said the front straight chicane was proving more difficult than the back straight chicane for the drivers to figure out.

"The back chicane you generally know when you have got it wrong, but turn two is a lot harder to get right.

"They have to line up something on the wall to say 'if I positon my car here the sensor is not going to go off' and you have to find that out today."

Volvo Polestar Racing star Scott McLaughlin, who set fifth fastest time in the session, said he liked the re-introduction of tyre bundles.

"It's a lot better now and it's a good job by V8 Supercars.

"The addition of the tyre bundle on the front chicane means the entry has slowed up a bit compared to last year. Everyone will get on top of it and find ways to get around it I am sure."

Scott Pye topped the first practice session.