Holdsworth quickest, but van Gisbergen pacey

Lee Holdsworth set a new Supercars lap record at Pukekohe Park Raceway in the second practice session of the Auckland SuperSprint yesterday, but Shane van Gisbergen was lurking in shadows.

Holdsworth was the surprise new record holder after a day where a Ford Mustang again finished ahead of the Holden Commodore’s despite their new aero packages.

However, it was also a good day for New Zealand’s van Gisbergen, who was the second quickest and all the signs are good for it being a good weekend for the 2016 Supercars champion.

Van Gisbergen, who grew up not far from the Pukekohe circuit, said he enjoyed driving around the newly resurfaced track.

‘‘They’ve done a good job of the resurface and as they wanted to, they’ve kept some of the character,’’ van Gisbergen said.

‘‘So you’re still bucking and bouncing [in the first sector] and it’s the same in the last sector too.

‘‘It really needed a reseal at turn four, it’s really fast through there now and you can get a good run onto the straight.’’

In the first practice session Will Davison was the quickest, just going faster than Scott McLaughlin and van Gisbergen.

But the highlight of the session was Kiwi Richie Stanaway, who lost control of his car down the home straight and hit the wall.

While the second 30-minute session was a good one for van Gisbergen, it was a tough one for McLaughlin. He was late going out for the session because of a starter motor problem.

The first 13 minutes of the session were wasted and it would have been frustrating for the championship leader to sit in his parked car while the others were going through their routines.

On his first lap McLaughlin didn’t seem comfortable with the car, having to make minor adjustments going into corners.

However, he still posted the fifth fastest time up to that point, but then made another trip back into the pits.

In the end McLaughlin was the seventh fastest. So not terrible, but not what’s usually expected from the runaway series leader.