At a venue which has been something of a bogey circuit for the Walkinshaw Andretti United team in recent years. Mostert topped the times for all of the session in the Ford Mustang, setting a time of 55.0930s to be 0.17s clear of Nick Percat’s Matt Stone Racing Chevrolet.
“We’ll see how we go tomorrow tomorrow. 20-minute session for us, [it] was always about focusing going into qual[ifying],” said Mostert who, like all the drivers, faces the challenge of setting the cars up on new tyre regulations, which allow for lower pressures.
“[We’re] pretty happy with how it kind of went. But, it’s Friday practice with the new rules and stuff like that.”
Veteran James Courtney was third fastest in the session in the Blanchard Racing Team Ford ahead of Andre Heimgartner in the Brad Jones Racing Chevrolet.
The two Chevrolets of Erebus Motorsport were consistently quick, with Jack Le Brocq fifth fastest, two places ahead of 2023 champion Brodie Kostecki, who is racing in front of his home crowd.
The one-hour session was interrupted by two red flags, an early one for Thomas Randle’s stranded Tickford Ford and one with two minutes remaining when Cam Hill went off in his Matt Stone Racing Chevrolet.
Triple Eight had a mixed session, with Broc Feeney sixth fastest in his Chevrolet. On the other hand, Will Brown, who carries a 71-point championship lead into the round, was down in 18th place,
Brown was not the only contender in the bottom half of the field, with Cameron Waters 14th for Tickford Racing and Matt Payne, who was planning a run on fresh rubber at the end of the session after his Grove Racing crew had to repair an oil leak from the Mustang’s transaxle, in 21st.
Saturday will feature plenty of activity, with a 20-minute practice session set to start at 11:45am Perth time, the three-part Qualifying at 2:00pm and the 55-lap race at 5:45pm.
Practice results:
| Cla | Nº | Driver | Car / Engine | Time | Delay | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 | Chaz Mostert | Ford | 55.0930 | 28 | |
| 2 | 10 | Nick Percat | Chevrolet | 55.2683 | 0.1753 | 28 |
| 3 | 7 | James Courtney | Ford | 55.2709 | 0.1779 | 26 |
| 4 | 8 | A.Heimgartner | Chevrolet | 55.4240 | 0.3310 | 35 |
| 5 | 9 | Jack Le Brocq | Chevrolet | 55.4257 | 0.3327 | 32 |
| 6 | 88 | Broc Feeney | Chevrolet | 55.4692 | 0.3762 | 31 |
| 7 | 1 | Brodie Kostecki | Chevrolet | 55.4887 | 0.3957 | 30 |
| 8 | 17 | Will Davison | Ford | 55.5639 | 0.4709 | 28 |
| 9 | 4 | Cameron Hill | Chevrolet | 55.5991 | 0.5061 | 27 |
| 10 | 200 | Tim Slade | Chevrolet | 55.5997 | 0.5067 | 28 |
| 11 | 2 | Ryan Wood | Ford | 55.6040 | 0.5110 | 32 |
| 12 | 18 | M.Winterbottom | Chevrolet | 55.6179 | 0.5249 | 25 |
| 13 | 12 | Jaxon Evans | Chevrolet | 55.6333 | 0.5403 | 37 |
| 14 | 6 | Cameron Waters | Ford | 55.6523 | 0.5593 | 22 |
| 15 | 11 | A.De Pasquale | Ford | 55.6636 | 0.5706 | 21 |
| 16 | 20 | David Reynolds | Chevrolet | 55.6680 | 0.5750 | 22 |
| 17 | 26 | Richie Stanaway | Ford | 55.7215 | 0.6285 | 30 |
| 18 | 87 | William Brown | Chevrolet | 55.8062 | 0.7132 | 25 |
| 19 | 31 | James Golding | Chevrolet | 55.8237 | 0.7307 | 32 |
| 20 | 55 | Tom Randle | Ford | 55.8278 | 0.7348 | 21 |
| 21 | 19 | Matthew Payne | Ford | 55.8408 | 0.7478 | 26 |
| 22 | 14 | Bryce Fullwood | Chevrolet | 55.9247 | 0.8317 | 39 |
| 23 | 96 | Macauley Jones | Chevrolet | 56.1481 | 1.0551 | 33 |
| 24 | 3 | Aaron Love | Ford | 56.3938 | 1.3008 | 33 |
