Slade tops Practice, Ahead of Nissan and Volvo

Tim Slade has landed the first blow at the MSS Security V8 Supercars Challenge, topping the first 30-minute practice session of the event.

Slade beat Michael Caruso’s Nissan – wearing a beyondblue livery this weekend – by just 0.07sec, recording a 1min57.349 lap around the 5.303km street circuit.

Scott McLaughlin followed in his Volvo S60, with Nick Percat, Lee Holdsworth, Jason Bright in a new chassis, Jamie Whincup, Mark Winterbottom, James Moffat and Todd Kelly making up the top 10.

There were a few brief off-track excursions, with Bright’s new Commodore, teammate Fabian Coulthard and DJR’s David Wall testing the track limits during the clean session.

Others to note include Will Davison 11th James Courtney 12, Robert Dahlgren 14th in his first hit-out at the Albert Park circuit, Coulthard 17 and Craig Lowndes 20.

Young guns Shane van Gisbergen and Chaz Mostert were at the rear of the field, 21st and 25th respectively.

Click here for full session results.

Another practice session follows at 4.10pm local time, with qualifying at 6pm tonight to set the grid for the weekend.