Payne fastest, Tickford rookie nearly rolls in hectic practice

Matt Payne has picked up where he left off in Tasmania, the Penrite Racing driver ending fast Friday on top at the Bosch Power Tools Perth Super 440.

In a thrilling conclusion to the session, Payne edged out Team 18 driver Anton De Pasquale by 0.0856s, with Thomas Randle, points leader Broc Feeney and James Golding third through fifth.

The session wasn’t without drama, with Lochie Dalton nearly rolling at Turn 1, where Golding also made nose-to-tail contact with Bryce Fullwood. Chaz Mostert was sixth ahead of Practice 1 fast man Jaxon Evans, with Will Brown, James Courtney and Macauley Jones rounding out the top 10.

Cam Waters was 11th ahead of early pace-setter Ryan Wood, with Dalton recovering to 15th. Dick Johnson Racing’s troubles continued, with Brodie Kostecki and Will Davison both missing the top 15.

"It's just part of our session, I knew we were going to get a little bit baulked by Reynolds there, so I just backed out of it and went again," said Payne, who has won three of the last six races.

"Everyone stayed cool, and it's a really, really awesome turnaround from Practice 1, which wasn't ideal for us rolling out of the truck the way we did.

"It's a real credit to the guys to get it tuned up and get it to the front for Practice 2."

Mostert opened proceedings with a 55.3387s, shadowed by Brown (55.3901s) and Cameron Hill (55.4380s). Track conditions were still a head-scratcher for teams and drivers, with Waters bowling a wide at Turn 6.

Through the first runs, Mostert led Brown by just 0.0514s, with De Pasquale jumping to third ahead of Courtney, Hill, Randle, Fullwood, Feeney, Andre Heimgartner and Payne. Waters was only 18th courtesy of his mistake, while Kostecki was 16th amid ongoing works on the #38 Shell V-Power Ford.

At the 10-minute mark, Wood —fitted with Super Soft tyres — fired to top spot with the first 54-second lap of the weekend, a 54.8256s.

The red flags flew at the 13-minute mark as attention turned to Dalton, who beached his #5 Recycal Ford at Turn 1. Replays showed Dalton tipping himself into a spin, and nearly tipping over in the sand trap.

Drivers returned after a brief stoppage, with Kai Allen (54.9920s) and Murray (55.1406s) jumping into the top three. Murray, though, immediately ran off the road at Turn 1.

The time sheets continued to change; Richie Stanaway moved to second with a 54.8833s, with Jack Le Brocq going fourth with a 55.0702s. Nick Percat then fired to third with a 54.9681s.

The balance of the field was fitted with new tyres for a final shot at the time sheets, with Wood shaving 0.01s off his own benchmark with a 54.8071s. Hill, meanwhile, jumped up from 14th to third.

Wood marched on, only to hit traffic down the back straight, before throwing the lap away at Turn 7. Teammate Mostert shot to second, before Payne demoted both WAU Fords.

Mostert, Feeney, Evans and Brown all jumped ahead of Wood with their second laps, with Golding going third and Randle first into the final minute.

De Pasquale then clinched top spot, only for Payne to snatch it back, bringing an end to a thrilling end to the session.

Supercars action resumes on Saturday with dual Boost Mobile Qualifying from 9:45am local time/11:45am AEST. Race 14 will commence at 12:55pm local/2:55pm AEST, followed by Race 15 at 4:10pm local/6:10pm AEST.