Supercars: Van Gisbergen tops final practice for Gold Coast 500
Repco Bathurst 1000 Champion Shane van Gisbergen has fired the first big shot of the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 with the quickest time in Friday practice.
The reigning Supercars champion clocked a 1:10.6673s to put nearly 0.2s on his closest rival, Walkinshaw Andretti United Ford star Chaz Mostert (#25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang).
Mostert jumped from sixth to second late on, with Jack Le Brocq (#34 Truck Assist Camaro) beating Practice 1 fast man Scott Pye (#20 Hino Camaro) to third.
Eight teams were represented in the top 10, with Cam Waters (#6 Monster Energy Mustang) and James Courtney (#6 Snowy River Caravans Mustang) making it a Tickford Racing five-six.
Championship leader Brodie Kostecki (#99 Coca-Cola Camaro) didn’t fire a shot, coming home 12th and some 0.7s behind van Gisbergen. However, Erebus boss Barry Ryan suggested Kostecki backed off on his final lap, which may have vaulted the #99 towards the top.
Andre Heimgartner (#8 R&J Batteries Camaro), Will Brown (#9 Coca-Cola Camaro), James Golding (#31 Nulon Camaro) and Thomas Randle (#55 Castrol Mustang) rounded out the top 10.
Brown and future Triple Eight teammate Broc Feeney caught early trouble in the 30-minute session, which was preceded by rain. Feeney, who ended up 13th in the session, spun at the Turn 4 hairpin, with Brown following in sympathy.
Friday Practice 2 Results
| POS | No. | DRIVER | TEAM | TIME | BEHIND | LAPS |
| 1 | 97 | Van Gisbergen | Red Bull Holden Racing Team | 1:10.667 | +0.000 | 18 |
| 2 | 25 | Mostert | Walkinshaw Andretti United | 1:10.865 | +0.198 | 17 |
| 3 | 34 | J. Le Brocq | Matt Stone Racing | 1:10.960 | +0.292 | 15 |
| 4 | 20 | S. Pye | Team 18 | 1:10.972 | +0.305 | 15 |
| 5 | 6 | C. Waters | Tickford Racing 1 | 1:10.975 | +0.307 | 17 |
| 6 | 5 | Courtney | Tickford Racing 1 | 1:11.101 | +0.434 | 17 |
| 7 | 8 | Heimgartner | Brad Jones Racing | 1:11.120 | +0.452 | 15 |
| 8 | 9 | W. Brown | Penrite Racing – Erebus | 1:11.148 | +0.481 | 14 |
| 9 | 31 | J. Golding | PremiAir Subway Racing | 1:11.153 | +0.485 | 15 |
| 10 | 55 | T. Randle | Tickford Racing 2 | 1:11.286 | +0.618 | 17 |
| 11 | 2 | Percat | Walkinshaw Andretti United | 1:11.290 | +0.622 | 16 |
| 12 | 99 | B. Kostecki | Penrite Racing – Erebus | 1:11.409 | +0.742 | 14 |
| 13 | 88 | B. Feeney | Red Bull Holden Racing Team | 1:11.438 | +0.771 | 18 |
| 14 | 14 | B. Fullwood | Brad Jones Racing | 1:11.446 | +0.779 | 17 |
| 15 | 17 | Davison | Shell V-Power Racing Team | 1:11.462 | +0.794 | 16 |
| 16 | 26 | Reynolds | Penrite Racing | 1:11.533 | +0.866 | 15 |
| 17 | 18 | Winterbottom | Team 18 | 1:11.627 | +0.960 | 16 |
| 18 | 11 | A. de Pasquale | Shell V-Power Racing Team | 1:11.692 | +1.025 | 17 |
| 19 | 23 | Slade | PremiAir Subway Racing | 1:11.702 | +1.035 | 14 |
| 20 | 96 | M. Jones | Brad Jones Racing (2) | 1:11.730 | +1.063 | 16 |
| 21 | 3 | T. Hazelwood | CoolDrive Racing | 1:11.736 | +1.069 | 14 |
| 22 | 19 | M. Payne | Penrite Racing | 1:11.789 | +1.122 | 16 |
| 23 | 4 | J. Smith | Brad Jones Racing (2) | 1:12.190 | +1.523 | 15 |
| 24 | 35 | C. Hill | Matt Stone Racing | 1:12.200 | +1.533 | 17 |
| 56 | D. Fraser | Tickford Racing 2 | +0.000 | 0 |