Heimgartner tops Practice 1, late dramas for Wood
Andre Heimgartner rises to the top in opening Taupō practice
New Dunlop Soft tyre causes set-up headaches up and down pit lane
Session ends 90 seconds early after Ryan Wood parked in Turn 14 gravel
Andre Heimgartner has opened his account at the ITM Taupō Super 440 in fine fashion, claiming the fastest time in the opening practice session of the weekend in New Zealand.
Heimgartner led Team 18 rival Anton De Pasqaule by just 0.0258s in a Chevrolet one-two, whilst Heimgartner's fellow Kiwi Matt Payne rounded out the top three.
The session ended 90 seconds early after Ryan Wood found himself parked in the gravel at the final corner after locking up into the final complex, courtesy of a suspected steering failure.
After a 10-minute delay from the scheduled 11:45am NZST starting time, all 24 cars took to the circuit under clear skies on a cool day.
Being the sole international event of the 2025 Repco Supercars Championship, the whole field took to the Taupō International Motorsport Park on brand-new Dunlop Soft tyres.
Broc Feeney was fastest on the first flying lap, however it was last year's Sunday polesitter Matt Payne who continued his strong form at home setting the first 1:26 of the weekend on his second lap with a 1:26.9660s.
Fresh off his first career win at the Melbourne SuperSprint, Cameron Hill was second after the first runs, with 2024 Saturday winner Andre Heimgartner third in the running order, just 0.0745s off Payne.
Having shown great pace last year at the inaugural Taupō event, Walkinshaw Andretti United also rolled out strongly, with Wood heading Chaz Mostert in fourth and fifth.
Reigning champion Will Brown had a wild moment on his first race run, the car snapping violently at Turn 9, with the Red Bull Ampol Racing Camaro running through the grass on the outside of the widened exit kerb.
Heimgartner then topped Payne's benchmark just past the halfway mark of the half-hour run, moving to a 1:26.8830s to put just shy of a tenth of a second on Payne.
Heimgartner's Brad Jones Racing teammate Macauley Jones spent the first half of the session sitting in the garage, as the BJR crew chased an RPM sensor problem in the engine bay of the re-liveried Wendy's Camaro.
Jones then had a similar issue to Brown, with a lurid slide on turn-in at Turn 9, which proved to be a troublesome corner throughout the session.
Hill ended up fourth for Matt Stone Racing, ahead of WAU duo Wood and Mostert, with Brodie Kostecki seventh for Dick Johnson Racing.
Broc Feeney could only muster eighth in a difficult session for Triple Eight, ahead of Kiwi Richie Stanaway who got a solid start to his home weekend for PremiAir Racing, with Brown rounding out the top 10.
Practice 2 at the 2025 ITM Taupō Super 440 will begin at 2:30pm NZST/12:30pm AEST.
