Whincup steals top spot from Hazelwood in co-driver practice

In a co-driver only session dominated by Todd Hazelwood, it was Jamie Whincup with the spoils in Practice 2 at the AirTouch 500 at The Bend with a last-gasp flyer.

Bathurst champion Hazelwood led the way for the majority of the 30-minute duration in the #38 Shell V-Power Ford Mustang, and loomed to hang on late.

However, Whincup plonked the #88 Red Bull Ampol Chevrolet on top with a 1:50.5875s, which proved 0.2s faster than Hazelwood's best.

Whincup and Hazelwood, and the Penrite Racing veterans of Dale Wood and Garth Tander, were the drivers to record sub 1:51s laps of the entire session

The field was greeted by clear, albeit overcast, conditions for the commencement of the session after Practice 1 was affected by rain.

Hazelwood was first into the 1:51s with a 1:51.8399s, with Triple Eight wildcard Zach Bates jumping ahead with a 1:51.8360s. The Bathurst champion returned serve with a 1:51.2584s to go nearly 0.6s clear, with Tander and Mark Winterbottom moving ahead of Whincup.

Tickford Racing wildcard Rylan Gray (1:51.4930s), Fabian Coulthard (1:51.7081s) and Whincup (1:51.7158s) all improved, with the latter surviving a wild slide on his following lap to jump to third.

Erebus Motorsport's rookies shone early, with Jobe Stewart and Jarrod Hughes both moving into the top 10. Through 15 minutes, the top 10 positions were held by Hazelwood, Gray, Whincup, Coulthard, Lee Holdsworth, Tim Slade, Stewart, Scott Pye, Bates and Hughes.

Hazelwood lowered the benchmark to a 1:51.0831s to pull 0.4s clear, before Winterbottom (1:51.3407s) and Hughes (1:51.2129s) both closed the margin. Hughes went on with it, going fastest of all to the first sector before falling away and ruining his third lap with a lock-up.

With seven minutes to go, the Practice 1 pace-setting Blanchard Racing Team Mustang hit fourth courtesy of Zak Best, before Jack Smith immediately responded with a 1:51.4512s to move ahead.

With three minutes left on the clock, Hazelwood moved the benchmark even further ahead with a 1:50.7957s, as Wood (1:51.0997s) and Tander (1:51.3085s) moved their Penrite Mustangs into the top four.

In the closing minutes, Tander and Wood traded second, with Declan Fraser and Holdsworth jumping up. Whincup, though, made the biggest statement of all with a 1:50.5875s at the death to put 0.2s on Hazelwood's best time.

Moffat, Bates and Winterbottom rounded out the top 10, with Pye 11th.

Friday's action will conclude with Practice 3 at 3:55pm local/4:25pm AEST.