Rookie Bayley Hall tops first co-driver session at The Bend
Team 18 wildcard pipped Todd Hazelwood by just 0.0249s
Mix in strategies as co-drivers prepare for 500km enduro
A Friday of surprises has continued at the AirTouch 500 at The Bend, with rookie Bayley Hall topping the sole co-driver session of the day for Team 18.
Hall, who will share the #15 Supercheap Auto Camaro with Craig Lowndes, made the most of a fresh set of tyres to vault to the top late on a 1:17.4275s.
The young gun led home a host of big name co-drivers, with a true form guide still not forthcoming on The Bend's West Circuit.
The early standouts in the opening minutes were Nick Percat (#88 Red Bull Ampol Ford), Todd Hazelwood (#17 Shell V-Power Ford), Jaxon Evans (#2 Mobil 1 Truck Assist Toyota), and Will Davison (#19 Penrite Ford), all of whom were within a tenth of a second of one another.
Percat was the fastest of the four on a 1:18.2340s, with Mark Winterbottom leading the chasing pack in fifth, 0.2426s off Percat in the #6 Monster Ford.
Davison then went considerably quicker on a 1:17.6882s, only half a second off Jayden Ojeda's Practice 1 benchmark, before pitting at the end of a lap that would've been even faster at the halfway mark of the session.
Winterbottom then all but followed the wheel tracks of teammate Waters from the opening session, as he went for a wild ride through the grass on the exit of Turn 5.
Tim Slade (#26 Penrite Ford) and Fabian Coulthard (#1 Mobil 1 Optus Toyota) also battled oversteer throughout, however the vast majority of drivers were focussed on long runs.
Tony D'Alberto was handed a new set of tyres as Dick Johnson Racing altered the run plan of the #38 Ford, which went fastest on a 1:17.6247s.
Hazelwood then further improved the marker with a 1:17.4524s, triggering a flood of fast times in the dying seconds.
Team 18 wildcard rookie Hall moved the marker to a 1:17.4275s, and it remained the benchmark despite Hazelwood threatening to knock it off with his final effort.
Scott Pye (#888 Red Bull Ampol Ford) moved to third late, ahead of Winterbottom, D'Alberto, Slade, Davison, Jack Perkins (#11 Objective Ford), Coulthard, and Evans rounding out the top 10. Tickford Autosport debutant Campbell Logan was an impressive 11th in his first session.
Pye was warned for crossing the line separating the track from the pit exit road, which constituted a breach of Rule 6.9.2.
Rule 6.9.2 reads: "Any tyre of a car exiting the Pit Lane must not cross any line painted on the track for the purpose of separating cars leaving the Pit Lane from those on the track.”
The final session of Friday will commence at 3:40pm local time/4:10pm AEST, and will be open to all 52 drivers.
