Supercars: Drivers slip, slide and crash in Friday practice for Bathurst 1000

In the final practice session for the Repco Bathurst 1000 before this afternoon’s crucial ARMOR ALL Qualifying, drivers have slipped and slid their way across Mount Panorama.

Eleven drivers either slid off or crashed in a practice run that was ended early by a red flag, the third of the session.

Even seven-time Bathurst winner Craig Lowndes went off track coming down towards the final corner, an area of the track that saw every driver struggle to master the wet conditions.

In the end, defending Supercars’ Champion Shane van Gisbergen cast aside previous dramas to set the pace as quickest driver in rain-hit Practice 4.

Todd Hazelwood crashed at Griffin’s Bend, and Macauley Jones at The Chase. Will Brown’s accident at Reid Park, with 13 minutes remaining, saw officials call the session as the car was retrieved.

Through it all emerged van Gisbergen, whose 2:30.292s was a full second ahead of the rest.

Jamie Whincup made it a Red Bull Ampol Racing one-two, with James Courtney third.

Noted wet-weather maestro Richie Stanaway was an impressive fourth ahead of Brown.

Stanaway led into the final stanza before countryman van Gisbergen went faster, and faster again.

Anton De Pasquale was sixth from David Reynolds, Heimgartner, Will Davison and Lowndes. Chaz Mostert was 11th, with Cam Waters 12th.

Tony D’Alberto, Cameron Hill and Macauley Jones all came unstuck at Murray’s Corner
A number of drivers hit trouble attempting to enter pit lane, with pit entry under heavy standing water.

Craig Lowndes suffered the most dramatic fate as he surfed through water, which he described as a “water tunnel”.

Van Gisbergen showed his wet-weather prowess with consecutive fast laps to consolidate top spot.

ARMOR ALL Qualifying is scheduled to commence at 4:15pm local time.

The top ten drivers from this session will fight it out in tomorrow afternoon’s famous Top Ten Shootout, that will decide the starting grid for Sunday’s Repco Bathurst 1000.

Practice 4 Results

POS	NO.	DRIVER	TEAM	TIME	GAP	LAPS
1	97	Van Gisbergen Tander	Red Bull Holden Racing Team	2:30.292	+0.000	14
2	88	B. Feeney Whincup	Red Bull Holden Racing Team	2:31.296	+1.004	15
3	5	Courtney Z. Goddard	Tickford Racing 1	2:31.769	+1.477	15
4	51	R. Stanaway G. Murphy	Boost Mobile Racing 51	2:31.840	+1.548	13
5	9	W. Brown J. Perkins	Penrite Racing – Erebus	2:31.975	+1.683	14
6	100	A. de Pasquale T. D’Alberto	Shell V-Power Racing Team	2:31.999	+1.707	14
7	26	Reynolds M. Campbell	Penrite Racing	2:32.113	+1.821	12
8	8	Heimgartner Wood	Brad Jones Racing	2:32.182	+1.889	14
9	17	Davison A. Davison	Shell V-Power Racing Team	2:32.220	+1.928	14
10	888	Lowndes D. Fraser	Team Vortex	2:32.452	+2.160	14
11	25	Mostert Coulthard	WAU Racing Pty Ltd	2:32.470	+2.178	15
12	6	C. Waters Moffat	Tickford Racing 1	2:32.556	+2.263	14
13	56	J. Kostecki K. Kostecki	Tickford Racing 2	2:32.685	+2.392	14
14	35	T. Hazelwood J. Ojeda	Matt Stone Racing	2:32.858	+2.566	3
15	99	B. Kostecki D. Russell	Penrite Racing – Erebus	2:32.922	+2.630	12
16	10	Holdsworth M. Payne	Penrite Racing	2:33.143	+2.851	12
17	4	J. Smith J. Evans	SCT Motor Sports	2:33.315	+3.023	15
18	55	T. Randle Z. Best	Tickford Racing 2	2:33.560	+3.267	12
19	96	M. Jones J. Boys	SCT Motor Sports	2:34.310	+4.018	10
20	31	J. Golding D. O’Keeffe	PremiAir Subway Racing	2:34.634	+4.342	13
21	2	Percat W. Luff	WAU Racing Pty Ltd	2:34.999	+4.707	14
22	14	B. Fullwood D. Fiore	Brad Jones Racing	2:35.256	+4.963	12
23	34	J. Le Brocq A. Seton	Matt Stone Racing	2:35.751	+5.459	12
24	18	Winterbottom Caruso	Team 18	2:35.754	+5.461	8
25	3	Slade Blanchard	CoolDrive Racing	2:35.967	+5.674	6
26	22	C. Pither C. Hill	PremiAir Coca Cola Racing	2:36.592	+6.300	12
27	118	M. Chada J. Robotham	Caltex Young Stars	2:36.595	+6.303	12
28	20	S. Pye T. Everingham	Team 18	2:37.936	+7.644	8