Van Gisbergen pips Heimgartner in second practice

Shane van Gisbergen and Andre Heimgartner have led the way in Practice 2 at Symmons Plains.

The final NED Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint practice hit-out ended with a Kiwi one-two.

Van Gisbergen’s 50.447s proved 0.102s slower than Will Davison’s record-breaking Practice 1 benchmark.

Todd Hazelwood impressed for Matt Stone Racing with third ahead of Davison, David Reynolds and Anton De Pasquale.

The session was interrupted midway through after Jake Kostecki’s Tickford entry ground to a halt.

Van Gisbergen, who was second in the earlier session, kicked off the 30-minute session with a 50.657s.

Drivers were pushing on a warmer track; notably, Chris Pither went off at Turn 6, with James Courtney and Lee Holdsworth both running long at Turn 4.

Brodie Kostecki also bowled a wide at the hairpin after the session resumed.

Scott Pye also straight-lined the Turn 1-2 complex, but managed to set the seventh-fastest time before the final runs.

Davison fired in a 50.642s to vault to the top through 10 minutes, albeit by just 0.01s.

Kostecki’s stoppage halted the session, with the #56 TRADIE Mustang having struck shift-cut issues in Practice 1.

The balance of the field returned to the track for an effective qualifying simulation with three minutes remaining.

It was van Gisbergen who emerged with the fastest time, with Heimgartner just 0.02s behind.

Mark Winterbottom, Broc Feeney, points leader Chaz Mostert and Tim Slade rounded out the top 10.

Pye's car also ground to halt after the chequered flag, and ended up 20th overall.

Van Gisbergen, who is 27 points from Mostert heading to Race 3, was wary of the challenges the new Super Soft tyre will present.

“The focus is on qualifying right now,” he said.

"I have no idea what [the new tyre] is going to do in the race.

“Nobody does. That's why it’s going to be good to watch."

Cars will return to the track for three-part ARMOR ALL Qualifying at 1:50pm AEDT.

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Every session of the event will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 506 and streamed on Kayo.

The Seven Network will broadcast highlights on Saturday and Sunday.