Stanaway tops action-packed wet Tasmania practice
Richie Stanaway tops action-packed wet practice
Outgoing Penrite Racing driver leads Ford top three
Rookies Ryan Wood, Aaron Love avoid big scares
Richie Stanaway has flexed his wet-weather muscle in a dramatic rain-affected Practice 2 at the NED Whisky Tasmania SuperSprint, as rookies Ryan Wood and Aaron Love avoided big scares.
The Penrite Racing driver, whose exit from the team was announced between events, set the pace as rain arrived at Symmons Plains Raceway on Saturday.
The 2023 Bathurst winner headed an all-Ford top three, with Cam Waters and Chaz Mostert just 0.0520s and 0.0716s behind respectively.
Bryce Fullwood jumped to fourth late on ahead of Ryan Wood, who recovered from an early off at Turn 5 to end up fifth ahead of Brodie Kostecki, Will Brown and Broc Feeney.
Brown was one of several drivers to be caught out by the slippery conditions, with a spin at Turn 7 for Love creating a tense situation as the rookie attempted to rejoin.
Rain lashed Launceston overnight, making for a treacherous outfield. Rain began to fall before the session went green, with Brown the first driver caught out at Turn 6.
Feeney quickly worked his way to the top, first with a 58.3113s before improving to a 56.5820s. Brown recovered from his off to jump to the top with a 56.1098s, before Anton De Pasquale (56.0443s), Fullwood (55.9483s) and Feeney (55.5586s) all went quicker.
De Pasquale (55.3698s) and Andre Heimgartner (55.4796s) jumped ahead before red flags flew for the beached Wood at Turn 4, with the Kiwi running long into the gravel trap.
At the time of the stoppage, De Pasquale, Heimgartner, Feeney, Waters, Matt Payne, James Courtney, Brown, Wood, Fullwood and Kostecki were the 10, with Mostert 12th, and Friday fast man David Reynolds 20th.
The action continued as Love rotated at the final corner, with the CoolDrive Ford spinning on the wet grass.
Feeney jumped to top spot with a 55.2808s, with Stanaway (55.0973s), Waters (55.0326s), Mostert (54.9782) and Feeney (54.6245s) all improving.
Mostert put 0.0004s on Feeney with a 54.6241s, and lowered his own benchmark to a 54.6054s as Wood jumped to second with a 54.5508s.
As Winterbottom bowled a wide at Turn 6, Waters shifted the number to a 54.5071s before Stanaway went fastest of all with a 54.4551 to top his first session of the 2024 season.
Track action will resume at Symmons Plains with Boost Mobile Qualifying at 1:00pm AEST.
