Toyota Supras put in big shift, Matt Payne Ford returns
All five Toyotas towards the top in mileage in Ipswich
Red flags fly for beached PremiAir co-driver David Russell
The Toyota fleet have laid down a mileage marker at Queensland Raceway following a series of engine changes.
The Thomas Randle/Reuben Goodall Ford held sway atop the time sheets in the pre-Ryco Enduro Cup test on Tuesday.
The Randle Mustang had a 0.17s margin over Brodie Kostecki’s Ford at the two-hour mark.
At that stage, six cars had breached 50 laps of the 3.1km circuit — and four of them were Toyotas.
All five Supras had been fitted with the ‘A-spec’ engines ahead of Tuesday’s test, following an engine issue for the Chaz Mostert entry in Sunday’s Ipswich finale.
Walkinshaw TWG Racing and Supercars completed a forensic analysis of the Mostert engine, and diagnosed an issue. As a result, all five Supras reverted to the A-spec engine as a precaution.
In the wake of the changes, the quintet have been busy around Queensland Raceway, with the Cameron Hill/Brad Vaughan Brad Jones Racing entry topping the field with 59 laps.
The Mostert/Fabian Coulthard car was just behind with 56 laps, ahead of the Ryan Wood/Jaxon Evans (50 laps) and Macauley Jones/Jordan Boys (50) cars.
As Mostert debriefed with his crew, Coulthard moved the #1 Mobil 1 Optus Toyota to sixth at the two hour, 13 minute mark.
By then the Jackson Walls/Jack Perkins, Rylan Gray/Tony D'Alberto, Andre Heimgartner/Bryce Fullwood, Zach Bates/Aaron Seton, and Matt Payne/Will Davison cars all breached 50 laps.
The Payne Mustang has been fitted with a spare Penrite Racing engine following Sunday’s DNF, with investigations ongoing over the failure.
There was a brief stoppage at the two hour mark when David Russell spun Jayden Ojeda’s #31 PremiAir Chevrolet into the gravel trap at Turn 3.
