Evans gaps the field in Perth practice surprise

Jaxon Evans topped the timesheets during Friday’s opening practice session at the Bosch Power Tools Perth Super 400, the Brad Jones driver starting his weekend at the top ahead of Ryan Wood.

Wood led the way for the majority of the 30-minute session, before fellow Kiwi and second-year driver Evans benefited from an extra set of tyres to put nearly 0.4s on the field.

Championship leader Broc Feeney wound up third ahead of Team 18's Anton De Pasquale, with James Courtney, reigning champion Will Brown, Chaz Mostert, Cam Waters, Thomas Randle and James Golding rounded out the top 10.

The Kiwi's Practice 1 surprise marked the first time the 2018 Carrera Cup Australia champion has topped a Supercars session, and continues a rich vein of form that started last time out in Tasmania.

"It's really nice to finish the session on top, the first time I've done it in Supercars," said Evans.

"It's all been going well, rolling off Tassie where it was a pretty strong round for us as a group, and we rolled the car out and it seemed pretty fast.

"Being my second year in the championship, I get an extra set of tyres, so we obviously put them to good use, and it's just nice to know that the car is fast and I hope the we can continue that way for the rest of the weekend."

The 25-car field rolled out under sunny skies at CARCO.com.au Raceway, with Brown fastest through the opening laps with a 55.7202s. De Pasquale lowered the number to a 55.5460s, with Richie Stanaway slotting into second with a 55.6871s.

Wood pressed on and clocked a 55.4460s, with Waters fifth. The Tickford Racing driver set his lap after being hounded by Wood's teammate Mostert during their respective fourth laps.

After the first runs, Wood, De Pasquale, Brown, Stanaway, Waters, Golding, Aaron Cameron, Kai Allen, Feeney and Randle rounded out the top 10. Mostert remained on track and sat 16th, with Brodie Kostecki only 20th. As drivers returned to the track, Mostert jumped to third with a 55.5930s, before Feeney moved to second with a 55.4953s.

At the halfway mark, David Reynolds was first to strike trouble, with the #20 TRADIE Energy Chevrolet running off into the sand at Turn 6. Reynolds returned to the track, and hit the brakes at corner exit to remove sand from his front bumper.

The times continued to tumble, with Waters moving to sixth amid a race run. Mostert sat fourth, with James Courtney fifth between the former teammates. In the final seven minutes, Brown jumped to fourth with a 55.5693s.

Into the final 90 seconds, Evans lit up the timesheets with a 55.2364s, which was some 0.2s quicker than Wood's previous benchmark. Evans pressed on, firing in a 55.0864s on his second push lap.

Tickford wildcard driver Lochie Dalton was 12th, with Penrite Racing star Matt Payne 16th, Kostecki 21st, and Erebus Motorsport rookie Cooper Murray rounding out the field.

Drivers will return to the track for Practice 2 at 1:55pm local time/3:55pm AEST.