D’Alberto tops co-drivers

Celebrating his 100th Supercars round, Tony D’Alberto has topped the co-driver only practice session at the Castrol Gold Coast 600.

His 1min11.7753 lap made him the only driver to crack the ‘11’ second bracket, leading Paul Dumbrell by 0.249sec.

D’Alberto and Scott Pye finished fifth at Bathurst and look speedy on the Gold Coast streets this afternoon.

The DJR Team Penske co-driver confirmed he had the chance to run on good rubber that session, though they were looking for more drive from the Falcon.

He was on top of the times early in the session, before shooting to P1 again right before the chequered flag. 

“We had some good rubber then, I think – the plan was to put good tyres on, there’s only three sessions and I need to give Scott good feedback before his last session for qualifying tomorrow,” D’Alberto said. 

Alex Premat, sharing with championship leader Shane van Gisbergen, slotted into third with Dean Fiore, driving with Michael Caruso, and Steve Owen (Chaz Mostert) completing the top five.

“So far so good,” Premat said.

“The car was pretty fast in P1, in P2 it looks like the car is pretty cool to drive too.

“It’s my first time since last year so just have to remember how to use those kerbs. It’s very good to be back in the Gold Coast, especially on the back straight when you’re hitting those four kerbs – it’s pretty cool.”

The session was interrupted briefly by a red flag for Ash Walsh around the 16-minute mark, as he was lodged in the tyres at the last corner.

The half-hour session was over quickly for Team 18’s Karl Reindler, in the garage with a sticking throttle.

Click here for full results. 

There’s one final all-in session at 4.20pm local time.