Le Brocq puts Erebus on top at Sandown

Jack Le Brocq has put Erebus Motorsport on top on Friday at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500, with just 0.0394s between the top two after 30 minutes of practice.

Le Brocq, racing with Jayden Ojeda, clocked a 1:08.2772s to end up just ahead of championship leader Will Brown, Andre Heimgartner and Richie Stanaway.

Broc Feeney, Thomas Randle, Brodie Kostecki, Chaz Mostert, Cam Waters and Matt Payne rounded out the top 10, with several question marks over the true pecking order.

"It was a solid run for us, we tried a lot in that session," said Le Brocq, who claimed pole in Townsville in July.

"We got a lot out of it, we learned something we probably don't want to do for tomorrow if it is dry for qualifying, but the guys are doing an awesome job.

"It's a good way to start the weekend, it is only Friday, so we'll see how we go tomorrow."

On the prospect on Saturday rain, Le Brocq added: "I've got no idea, hopefully it's fast, I'll try and tune myself up, that's the biggest thing. I'll have a good sleep, have a couple of coffees and we'll go from there."

Drivers were immediately on the pace, Feeney firing in a 1:08.4453s before Heimgartner (1:08.4299s) and Brown (1:08.3270s) lowered the benchmark.

Stanaway was third with a 1:08.4434s, joining Brown, Heimgartner and Feeney below the quickest practice/qualifying lap from the 2023 event, Kostecki’s 1:08.4550s.

Kostecki, Payne, Bryce Fullwood, Macauley Jones, Will Davison and Tim Slade filled the top 10, before James Golding jumped from 26th to eighth with a 1:08.5665s. All the while, Le Brocq improved to 10th before pressing on and jumping to the top with a 1:08.6123.

Amid the fast times, a number of teams looked at race pace; notably, Lee Holdsworth began the session in the Mobil 1 Optus Ford before handing over to Mostert, with Waters taking over from James Moffat.

In the closing minutes, Mostert moved from 25th to 12th with a 1:08.6893, with Randle jumping from 22nd to 12th with a 1:08.6729s. Both drivers ultimately improved, but were unable to make an impression on Le Brocq’s benchmark.

Fullwood, meanwhile, ran off at Turn 1 and ended up 11th, albeit 0.2549s off Le Brocq’s time. Mostert (1:08.5193s) and Waters (1:08.5246s) moved to eighth and ninth late on, with Payne putting both Penrite Fords in the top 10.

Mostert had his own run-in before his final run, getting up close and personal with wildcard Matt Chahda after the latter appeared to baulk the Ford star into Turn 9. The Chahda entry ended up 26th and last, 11 positions behind the Triple Eight wildcard.

It was a mixed bag for Dick Johnson Racing and Matt Stone Racing, with 19th-placed Anton De Pasquale and 14th-placed Cameron Hill the highest cars for their respective teams. Hill did, however, spend the final 19 minutes in the garage with a suspected bent right-front shock absorber.

Supercars will return to the track on Saturday morning for Practice 4 at 9:55am, followed by Practice 5 at 12:05pm.

Drivers will tackle Boost Mobile Qualifying at 2:15pm, which will set the running order for the Top Ten Shootout at 5:25pm.