Best escapes scare, Brown paces Bathurst Warm Up
Will Brown paces Bathurst Warm Up, Zak Best escapes scare
Brown takes top spot at the death at Mount Panorama
2025 Great Race to commence at 11:45am AEDT
Reigning Supercars champion Will Brown has put Triple Eight on top in the Sunday morning Warm Up ahead of Sunday's Repco Bathurst 1000.
It was a session of contrasting fortunes for rising Ford stars. While Kai Allen paced the balance of the session for Penrite Racing, Zak Best avoided a Sunday morning shocker with a big ride through the McPhillamy Park gravel.
The Best error wasn't the only scare, with Ryan Wood also surviving a brush with the concrete on the run to McPhillamy in the #2 Truck Assist Mobil 1 Mustang that will start from fourth.
Allen and PremiAir Racing driver James Golding were split by just 0.071s before Brown stole top spot at the death, his 2:05.1698s was just 0.026s quicker than Allen, with Golding's time 0.098s off the pace after 20 minutes.
Teams and drivers were greeted with warm sunshine when cars rolled out at 8:30am local time.
As is the case in the morning Warm Up each year, pit stop procedures were the headline act for teams in a bid to blow out any remaining cobwebs before 1000 kilometres of racing.
Allen found pace to put the #26 Penrite Ford on top early with a 2:06.5932s, with Anton De Pasquale and Lee Holdsworth filling out the top three for Team 18.
Scott Pye (2:06.1602s), Broc Feeney (2:05.8554s) and Allen (2:05.1965s) all improved, with De Pasquale (2:05.4461s) and Golding (2:05.2683s) just behind.
It was at that point that Best flew off the road at McPhillamy Park, with the Blanchard Racing Team Mustang narrowly missing the concrete wall after surfing through the sand.
At the death, Feeney improved to fifth with a 2:05.4652s, with teammate Brown taking over from Pye and firing in a 2:05.1698s to go fastest of all.
There were also radio dramas for the #17 Shell V-Power Ford of Will Davison/Tony D'Alberto, which ended up 15th
Wood was also pushing hard. After grazing the wall at McPhillamy, he also had a big slide through The Chase after clobbering the inside kerb, before finishing 12th.
The pole-sitting #38 Shell V-Power Ford of Brodie Kostecki/Todd Hazelwood was 14th.
The 2025 Repco Bathurst 1000 commences at 11:45am AEDT. Live coverage can be found live on screens of the Seven Network, 7plus, Fox Sports and Kayo Sports.
