Cooper Murray tops bruising Practice 3 at Bathurst
Big accidents for Ryan Wood, Tony D'Alberto
Wood in doubt for Boost Mobile Qualifying after 42g hit
Mount Panorama has claimed its first victims in a bruising Practice 3 at the Repco Bathurst 1000.
Erebus Motorsport driver Cooper Murray went fastest to begin Friday, but the big storyline to emerge from Practice 3 was two big accidents for Ryan Wood and Tony D'Alberto.
Toyota's first Bathurst assault since 1998 has been rocked by Wood's massive 42g crash at Forrest's Elbow, while veteran co-driver D'Alberto fell victim to tricky track conditions in the dying minutes.
Most of the field sent their co-drivers out at the start of the one-hour session, as teams continued to chip away at their race setups.
Dick Johnson Racing and Team 18 looked strong in the early going, Brodie Kostecki and Rylan Gray both spending time at the top of the order before James Courtney broke into the 2:05's.
Teams began to turn their attention towards qualifying 15 minutes into the session, with Tickford Racing, Matt Stone Racing, and DJR all throwing green tyres at their cars.
Cam Waters set the first qualifying simulation, and the fastest time of the weekend to date on a 2:05.1799s, with teammate Thomas Randle almost matching that time on a 2:05.2139s.
Zach Bates went third for MSR on a 2:05.2343s, with the top three covered by just 0.0544s through the opening half of the session.
Walkinshaw TWG Racing was another team to get a feel for its qualifying cars, and that brought about the first major incident of the weekend.
Wood's tough weekend went from bad to worse as he clipped the inside wall at Forrest's Elbow, firing him into the outside concrete at a 45 degree angle.
The #2 Toyota was destroyed, with Wood apologetic over the radio, and the Walkinshaw crew facing a big rebuild ahead of not just Practice 4, but also Boost Mobile Qualifying.
The session resumed with just over 26 minutes remaining, and the stoppage covered by the 10-minute allowance for red flags.
Times continued to tumble after the stoppage, Chaz Mostert was the first into the 2:04's for the weekend on a 2:04.9457s, before Murray went faster again on a 2:04.7122s.
Jack Le Brocq also put in a strong time to go second on a 2:04.8303s, while the Blanchard Racing Team Fords of James Golding and Aaron Cameron also popped up into the top six.
Jayden Ojeda was lucky not to find the wall when the rear escaped on him at Skyline, electing to take the shortcut through The Esses, but D'Alberto wouldn't be so lucky.
Driving the #38 Shell V-Power Mustang of Gray, the veteran lost the rear through The Dipper, going right front-first into the concrete after overcorrecting and coming to rest pointing the wrong way.
The session was ultimately declared two minutes early, with the #99 Erebus Camaro backing up it's Practice 2 speed in the opening session of Friday.
Defending Bathurst champion Matt Payne didn't complete a qualifying run after Penrite Racing discovered his engine was down on power compared to the sister car of Kai Allen, with the team set to change the #19's engine before Practice 4.
The final practice session before Boost Mobile Qualifying, Practice 4 will commence at 1:15pm local time.
