Van Gisbergen paces chaotic Practice 4

Shane van Gisbergen cast aside previous dramas to set the pace in rain-hit Practice 4.

Expected rain finally arrived at Mount Panorama, and several drives struck trouble.

The session was red-flagged three times, the final seeing an early end to proceedings.

Todd Hazelwood crashed at Griffin’s Bend, and Macauley Jones at The Chase.

Will Brown’s accident at Reid Park, with 13 minutes remaining, saw officials call the session as the car was retrieved.

Through it all emerged van Gisbergen, whose 2:30.292s was a full second ahead of the rest.

Jamie Whincup made it a Red Bull Ampol Racing one-two, with James Courtney third.

Noted wet-weather maestro Richie Stanaway was an impressive fourth ahead of Brown.

Stanaway led into the final stanza before countryman van Gisbergen went faster, and faster again.

Van Gisbergen’s 2:31.992s was the benchmark when Hazelwood crashed after 13 minutes.

Hazelwood was unable to dislodge his damaged car from the barriers, triggering the first stoppage.

Andre Heimgartner (The Chase) and Tim Slade (The Dipper) struck trouble of their prior to the stoppage.

Stanaway showed his rain smarts after the session restarted aboard his Erebus wildcard Commodore.

The New Zealander, who is racing with Greg Murphy, fired in a 2:31.840s.

A number of drivers hit trouble attempting to enter pit lane, with pit entry under heavy standing water.

Tony D’Alberto, Jake Kostecki and Cameron Hill also found trouble.

Craig Lowndes suffered the most dramatic fate as he surfed through water, which he described as a “water tunnel”.

Jones aquaplaned through The Chase and veered right.

The Brad Jones Racing driver made gentle contact with the wall, but was beached regardless.

The off triggered a second red flag, with van Gisbergen hitting the top at the resumption.

The points leader’s run to Practice 4 featured errors in Practice 1 and Practice 3.

However, he showed his wet-weather prowess with consecutive fast laps to consolidate top spot.

First, he clocked a 2:31.603s, before wiping over a second off his time with a 2:30.292s.

The running order changed behind him, with Brown in the top five at the time of his accident.

Officials opted to declare the session given the ongoing recovery effort of Brown’s car.

Anton De Pasquale was sixth from David Reynolds, Heimgartner, Will Davison and Lowndes.

Chaz Mostert was 11th, with Cam Waters 12th.

ARMOR ALL Qualifying is scheduled to commence at 4:15pm local time.