Brown leads tight Saturday practice, Feeney 19th

Championship leader Will Brown has led the way in an ultra-tight Saturday morning practice session in Perth, with 0.0944s covering the top four drivers.

In a short burst before knockout Boost Mobile Qualifying, Brown (#87 Red Bull Ampol Chevrolet) beat Cam Waters (#6 Monster Energy Ford) by just 0.0190s, with Thomas Randle (#55 Castrol Ford), Ryan Wood (#2 Mobil 1 Truck Assist Ford), and Friday fast man Chaz Mostert (#25 Mobil 1 Optus Ford) rounding out the top five.

It was a smart turnaround for Brown, who was only 18th on the time sheets in Practice 1, which was cut short due to a crash for Cameron Hill (#4 Supaglass Chevrolet).

The session was red-flagged in the opening five minutes due to debris at Turn 1, which was quickly cleared. Earlier, Richie Stanaway (#26 Penrite Ford) opened proceedings with a 55.5529s, before Wood lowered the benchmark to a 55.1603s before the sessions was suspended.

Just minutes into the session, a chunk of concrete became dislodged at the outside of Turn 1. However, a quick effort by officials ensured drivers were kept in pit lane for little more than three minutes.

When the session resumed, Brown clocked a 55.0668s to take top spot, before improving to a 54.9036s on his second push lap. Waters improved his initial 55.1242s to a 54.9226s, with Randle making it a Tickford Racing two-three with a 54.9775s.

Wood joined them in the 54.0s bracket, recording a 54.9980s to ultimately beat teammate Mostert by 0.0259s.

"Yeah it's really tight, that's this track though," Brown stated post-session.

"If you make a mistake you're not going to be first, so it's a tough track, everything has to be precise and you've got to be perfect."

"We did another two laps at the end there that were really competitive times, and I felt quite confident in the car and quite predictable so I'm really happy with it."

When asked about the potential distraction of his upcoming NASCAR debut, Brown added: "It's fine, I don't get too caught up on it, I'm just excited to go race and have a go over there.

"Me and Cam [Waters, also racing at Sonoma], hopefully we don't take each other out and we gotta make sure we're nice and fair, but it'll be really cool."

"It's a massive opportunity to do, and hopefully I'll learn some stuff to bring back over here and better myself even more in this category."

Ahead of the final runs, Brown, Waters and Wood had been covered by just 0.0944s, with Brown just 0.0190s ahead of Waters. Mostert, Randle, Matt Payne (#19 Penrite Ford), Will Davison (#17 Shell V-Power Ford), David Reynolds (#20 TRADIE Beer Chevrolet), James Courtney (#7 Snowy River Caravans Ford0 and Hill rounded out the top 10, with Feeney only 16th.

Mark Winterbottom (#18 DEWALT Chevrolet) jumped from 24th to fifth with a 55.0361s as drivers returned to the track, before Randle moved to third, and Aaron Love (#3 CoolDrive Ford) to seventh.

At the chequered flag, Brown, Waters, Randle, Wood, Mostert, Winterbottom, Love, Payne, Andre Heimgartner (#8 R&J Batteries Chevrolet), and Reynolds rounded out the top 10. Feeney, meanwhile was only 19th.

Feeney was one position ahead of Tim Slade, who suffered steering rack issues in his #200 PremiAir Nulon Chevrolet.

Supercars will return to the track on Saturday for knockout Boost Mobile Qualifying at 12:00pm AWST/2:00pm AEST. The first 55-lap race of the weekend, Race 9, will commence at 3:45pm AWST/5:45pm AEST.

International viewers can follow all the Bosch Power Tools Perth SuperSprint action on Superview. Tickets for the event are on sale now.