Bates makes statement, near miss for Allen in final Adelaide practice

Zach Bates has set the fastest time in the final Dunlop Series practice session of 2024 at the VAILO Adelaide 500, heading title contenders Kai Allen and Aaron Cameron.

Bates flew to the fastest time of the day at a 1:19.5111s, putting more than three tenths of a second on the field in an ominous performance.

To further underline how comfortable Walkinshaw Andretti United were with the car's set up, Bates sat out the final seven minutes of the session as the majority of the field set their fastest times.

Whilst Allen would claim second in the session, it still wasn't an overly happy Coca-Cola Commodore, with the reigning champion having a near miss at the the beginning of his final run.

The South Aussie lost the rear end at Turn 5 in the staircase section, and gently nosed into the tyre wall without suffering any damage.

Allen wasn't the only one to come unstuck in the staircase section, as Mason Kelly slid into the tyres at Turn 6, departing the scene with heavy gravel rash on left rear corner of the #22 Mustang.

His Kelly Racing teammate Aaron Cameron was third fastest after topping the opening session of the day, and was only half a tenth behind Allen in second.

Despite the minor incidents for Kelly and Allen, the session once again ran without any red flag interruption, giving all 19 drivers 80 minutes of running ahead of two Boost Mobile Qualifying sessions tomorrow.

Jordyn Sinni was an impressive fourth in the second of the Eggleston Motorsport Commodores, with Cameron McLeod completing the top five.

The top ten was rounded out by Campbell Logan, Thomas Maxwell, Rylan Gray, Lochie Dalton, and Reuben Goodall.

The Dunlop Series returns for a unique Friday format tomorrow, with Boost Mobile Qualifying for Race 11 to begin at 12:30pm local time/1:00pm AEDT, with Race 12 qualifying starting at 4:55pm local time/5:25pm AEDT.