Why Sandown, Finals field could be an absolute lottery from here

Friday practice at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 was a head scratcher for many teams, none the least those with cars carrying orange numbers.

By day’s end, the practice-topping headlines belonged to Team 18, which led the way through Anton De Pasquale and David Reynolds.

Reynolds, De Pasquale and Chaz Mostert filled the top three in both sessions, with Mostert’s #25 Mobil 1 Optus Ford the meat in a Team 18 Camaro sandwich.

Behind them, Finals Drivers were strewn throughout the field, yet even at the top of town, the order could be flipped entirely as the weekend progresses.

The biggest headline was the performance — or relative lack thereof — of the Red Bull Ampol Chevrolets, although Broc Feeney and Will Brown improved markedly in Practice 2.

Brown’s spin, though, was another sign that the pressure is still on, even if Triple Eight Race Engineering’s previous form had the team pinned as pre-weekend firm favourites.

On what was a puzzling day, and one that could dictate who makes it to Adelaide, neither Triple Eight or Tickford Racing ran on Dunlop’s Super Soft tyre, which will be used solely on Saturday.

Penrite Racing, meanwhile, didn’t fire a shot at all. The team’s Friday average was 15.5 — Matt Payne was 12th and 15th, with teammate Kai Allen 19th and 16th.

While Friday’s running could be masked by a lack of tyres, Mostert’s consistency and comments post-session were quickly tossed out by Brown and Feeney.

However, form is on Mostert’s side for Saturday — per Supercars data analysis Scott Sinclair, every time Mostert has finished practice in the top five this year, he’s then qualified in the top five the next day.

Conversely, pressure is also on Team 18 to turn Friday speed into Saturday speed. Per Sinclair, Reynolds and De Pasquale are ranked first and second this season for the number of positions they lose in qualifying, compared to where they finished practice.

Additionally, as Brown spun late in Practice 2, a number of drivers — including Payne and Allen — didn’t have time for a second flying lap.

All told, the seven Finals Drivers each have a tale to tell from a confusing Friday, but only Mostert — who won both races on the Gold Coast — was consistent. Given his ability to move through the field, coupled with his dominant performance on the Super Soft on the Gold Coast, Mostert could again emerge as the driver to beat come race day.

Some drivers’ outright performance on the Super Soft in Gold Coast qualifying was also masked by Brodie Kostecki’s crash, with Payne quickest ahead of Mostert at the time of the incident.

Should Saturday’s session — which commences at 11:50am AEDT — run green, however, we could have found the latest shocks to this Repco Supercars Finals Series yet.

And the most intriguing part, that could throw everything into the bin? There's an 80% chance of rain at race start on Sunday afternoon.

2025 Repco Supercars Finals Series drivers

Friday practice performance, Sandown 2025