Walls crash, Kostecki dramas headline bizarre practice

The betr Darwin Triple Crown form guide is up in the air heading into Boost Mobile Qualifying following a bizarre practice session at Hidden Valley Raceway.

A rare rain shower left the circuit wet as Friday’s track action began. While the circuit ultimately dried out for Supercars practice, the surface remained slippery, and the grass was wet.

As many as seven different drivers ran off the road in the challenging conditions, with rookie Jackson Walls crashing out the last corner.

Will Brown, Chaz Mostert, Ryan Wood, Kai Allen and James Golding all ran off at Turn 1, while Cam Waters — who ended up going fastest — suffered a last spin at the last corner.

Aaron Cameron, meanwhile, bowled a wide at the Turn 10 sequence at the back of the circuit.

Championship contender Brodie Kostecki, meanwhile, was restricted to just 12 laps as Shell V-Power Racing Team managed a throttle body issue in the #17 Ford.

Kostecki, who is battling a cold, was left frustrated in the car, yet still managed to go faster than points leader Broc Feeney, who was only 13th on a new tyre.

Feeney has been the benchmark at Hidden Valley, winning six of the last seven races. However, he ended up 0.3114s off Waters’ pace, with Matt Payne just 0.0633s down on the Tickford star.

The biggest scalp was Walls, who admitted he made his own mistake after catching Andre Heimgartner through the final sequence of corners.

“Just a small error really,” Walls said on the broadcast.

“I was closing on Andre [Heimgartner], not sure what he was up to, but got a bit distracted and got the inside herb at the last corner, and then it kind of funny bounced into the grass.

“That grass is wet, so it felt like I picked up another 20km/h in the grass. I pretty much just rubbed the fence but it has bent something. No big issues, the boys will have it fixed in no time and we’ll be out for quali.”

Drivers return to the track for Boost Mobile Qualifying at 1:05pm local/1:30pm AEST.