Whincup comes in from the fog
SEVEN-TIME Supercars champion Jamie Whincup has responded from a poor morning session to take out second practice at Phillip Island.
The Red Bull ace finished 17th in the first practice yesterday when fellow Holden driver James Courtney came out in front, as early fog blanketed the regional Victorian venue.
Drivers had to wait 30 minutes for practice two after the session was delayed because of a crash in a support category.
Once they were out on the track, Gold Coast-based Whincup set a hot early pace with a best lap of 1:29.9856s and never looked like relinquishing his advantage. BRING back Godzilla. That was the message Supercars CEO Sean Seamer delivered to Nissan yesterday, with the V8 boss declaring his desire to see the Nissan GT-R join the Supercars battle.
After this week’s bombshell announcement that Ford was rejoining the sport and
Supercars’ most-decorated driver was happy with his car, looking to add to wins this season in Melbourne and at Symmons Plains in Tasmania.
“We’ve been thereabouts in the last few rounds but we need to push a bit harder,” he said. “Those Penske cars are unleashing the Mustang, Seamer said he wanted to see Nissan put their iconic car dubbed “Godzilla’’ on the Supercars grid.
Nissan race a no-longer-forsale model called the Altima in the Supercars series and have not committed to the sport beyond next year.
quick so we’re going to have to work hard to get pole.”
The practice went in order of the top two in the championship standings, with Scott McLaughlin placing second in both sessions.
The Shell V-Power driver suffered a tyre puncture in the first practice but still did enough to only be shaded by Courtney.
McLaughlin took a while to get going in the afternoon, but stormed past rivals hoping to make amends for his efforts last year at Phillip Island.
The New Zealand ace had pole position for both 2017 races, only for Fabian Coulthard and Chaz Mostert to come out on top when tyre troubles plagued him.
He wasn’t alone having to cope with tyre failures, as they marred last year’s opening race, forcing him to hold back on day two when Mostert broke a three- year drought for a race victory.
The first 250km race begins at 3.45pm today.