Holdsworth quickest, SVG 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 the shadows.
Holdsworth was the surprise new record holder after a day when a Ford Mustang again finished ahead of the Holden Commodores 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 great 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 to the pits. After a front damper change, McLaughlin was back out again with five minutes remaining.
This time he was able to post the third quickest time, benefiting from going out on soft tyres.
In the end, McLaughlin was the seventh fastest. So not terrible, but not what’s usually expected from him.
‘‘It was just an engine start-up problem, I’m not exactly sure, but the boys fixed it, which is the main thing,’’ McLaughlin said.
‘‘I basically got two fliers, so there is a bit more in me, a bit more in the car and I think we’ll figure it out.
‘‘It’s mostly just getting a feel for the track,’’ he said.
‘‘Whenever you don’t have that warmup lap, you try to do a fast lap straight away and the car’s not warm, you’re not warm, so it does take a bit of getting used to. I don’t think the car is too bad, it’s just a matter of getting used to a few things.’’
Even though McLaughlin said he wasn’t overly concerned about only doing two flying laps, it does make today’s final practice, before qualifying, even more important.
‘‘We need to have a good practice session for sure, but who knows what the weather is going to do,’’ he said. ‘‘I’m comfortable with where we are – it’s a matter of putting a lap together and seeing how we go.’’
The forecast is for rain to hit Pukekohe this afternoon, something that could play into the hands of van Gisbergen, who has proven over the years to be the best driver of a Supercar in the rain.
In the second practice session, which is a better indicator of race pace, Kiwis Fabian Coulthard was ninth quickest, with Stanaway 15th and Andre Heimgartner 16th.