Supercars News: Mostert tops first Adelaide practice

Ford’s Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert turned the quickest lap in damp Practice 1 for the VAILO Adelaide 500 on Thursday.

The #25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang driver, who was first and second in the two Adelaide races last year, set the fastest two lap times of the session.

Mostert pipped Brad Jones Racing Camaro driver Andre Heimgartner (#8 R&J Batteries Camaro) and Penrite Racing Ford rookie Matt Payne (#19 Penrite Mustang) who was third.

Chaz Mostert fastest in P1 for the 2023 VAILO Adelaide 500, Event 12 of the Repco Supercars Championship, Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. 23 Nov, 2023.

Championship leader Brodie Kostecki (#99 Coca-Cola Camaro) was seventh, with title rival Shane van Gisbergen (#97 Red Bull Ampol Camaro) only 22nd after a late trial on slick tires.

The session was held under overcast and rainy skies on a day dominated by rainfall, but the same name remained a force in Adelaide as Mostert set the running.

Erebus star Will Brown (#9 Coca-Cola Camaro), who will join Triple Eight in 2024, was fourth ahead of Thomas Randle (#55 Castrol Mustang) and Mostert’s WAU teammate Nick Percat (#2 Mobil 1 NTI Mustang), who won the 2016 Adelaide 500.

Van Gisbergen rolled out on dry tires in the final minutes, but was unable to fire a shot with the track still damp.

With four minutes remaining, Kostecki jumped to seventh with a 1:29.3851s, with Brown moving to fourth after recording the quickest first sector.

Mostert turned up the wick in the final two minutes and consolidated top spot with a 1:28.6140s, with Heimgartner moving to second with a 1:28.8728s.

Supercars will return to the track on Friday for Practice 2 at 12:35pm local time/1:05pm AEDT.

The run order for Saturday’s ARMOR ALL Top Ten Shootout will be decided in Qualifying at 5:35pm local time/6:05pm AEDT.

Practice 1 Results

POS	NO.	DRIVER	TEAM	TIME	BEHIND	LAPS
1	25	Mostert	Walkinshaw Andretti United	1:28.614	+0.000	14
2	8	Heimgartner	Brad Jones Racing	1:28.873	+0.259	16
3	19	M. Payne	Penrite Racing	1:28.931	+0.317	7
4	9	W. Brown	Penrite Racing – Erebus	1:29.037	+0.423	17
5	55	T. Randle	Tickford Racing 2	1:29.148	+0.534	15
6	2	Percat	Walkinshaw Andretti United	1:29.208	+0.594	11
7	11	A. de Pasquale	Shell V-Power Racing Team	1:29.305	+0.691	15
8	17	Davison	Shell V-Power Racing Team	1:29.340	+0.726	17
9	99	B. Kostecki	Penrite Racing – Erebus	1:29.385	+0.771	14
10	5	Courtney	Tickford Racing 1	1:29.391	+0.777	16
11	31	J. Golding	PremiAir Subway Racing	1:29.545	+0.931	14
12	43	C. Waters	Tickford Racing 1	1:29.651	+1.037	16
13	26	Reynolds	Penrite Racing	1:29.876	+1.262	12
14	14	B. Fullwood	Brad Jones Racing	1:29.914	+1.300	16
15	23	Slade	PremiAir Subway Racing	1:29.924	+1.310	15
16	88	B. Feeney	Red Bull Holden Racing Team	1:29.943	+1.329	18
17	56	D. Fraser	Tickford Racing 2	1:30.056	+1.442	16
18	34	J. Le Brocq	Matt Stone Racing	1:30.096	+1.482	13
19	96	M. Jones	Brad Jones Racing (2)	1:30.148	+1.534	17
20	35	C. Hill	Matt Stone Racing	1:30.372	+1.758	15
21	4	J. Smith	Brad Jones Racing (2)	1:30.430	+1.816	17
22	97	Van Gisbergen	Red Bull Holden Racing Team	1:30.782	+2.168	8
23	3	T. Hazelwood	CoolDrive Racing	1:30.843	+2.229	10
24	20	S. Pye	Team 18	1:31.064	+2.450	14
25	18	Winterbottom	Team 18	1:31.630	+3.016	14