Scott McLaughlin has kicked off his Supercars weekend in rapid style, clocking the fastest time in Friday practice for this weekend's BetEasy Darwin Triple Crown at Hidden Valley Raceway.
The series-leading Kiwi led much of the day-ending 30-minute practice two session, improving his marker late in the session to a very competitive 1:06.0800 — a tenth and a half faster than the next best time.
"There's so much more pressure now in practice, it's tough. Fabs is up there too, which is good for the team," he said.
"You've got to be really focused for the lap. It's full on, but the guys have given me a great car. I'll work with the little French guru tonight and we'll have a tune ... see how we go."
With the series moving to a new practice format that places importance on Friday's final session, it places much more emphasis on the pre-weekend festivities. Former Supercars champion Mark Skaife has dubbed practice two 'Q0'.
McLaughlin's result sees him automatically progress into the second phase of tomorrow's three-phase. He's joined by the remainder of the top 10, made up of teammate Fabian Coulthard, Jamie Whincup, Chaz Mostert, David Reynolds, Lee Holdsworth, Anton de Pasquale, James Courtney, Cameron Waters, and Mark Winterbottom.
The big casualty of the session was Shane van Gisbergen, narrowly missing out on the top 10 in 11th place. The Kiwi sat well in the top 10 in the closing minutes, but in the last-minute jostling with quick final times coming from a raft of drivers (specifically Waters, in this case) he was shuffled down to 11th.
Scott Pye, Will Davison, Nick Percat, and an impressive Macauley Jones wound up in 12th to 15th. The Kiwi contingent was completed by top Nissan driver Andre Heimgartner and Chris Pither (who's standing in for the injured Richie Stanaway) in 16th and 23rd.
McLaughlin didn't quite have the day all to himself. In practice one he finished 11th. In that instance it was Mostert who claimed the top time (1:06.7129), ahead of Reynolds, van Gsbergen, Holdsworth, and Pye.
BetEasy Darwin Triple Crown — Practice Two Results
1. Scott McLaughlin
2. Fabian Coulthard
3. Jamie Whincup
4. Chaz Mostert
5. David Reynolds
6. Lee Holdsworth
7. Lee Holdsworth
8. James Courtney
9. Cameron Waters
10. Mark Winterbottom
11. Shane van Gisbergen
12. Scott Pye
13. Will Davison
14. Nick Percat
15. Macauley Jones
16. Andre Heimgartner
17. Jack Le Brocq
18. Tim Slade
19. Todd Hazelwood
20. Rick Kelly
21. Simona De Silvestro
22. Garry Jacobson
23. Chris Pither
24. Jack Smith
25. James Golding