BATHURST 1000 – FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6 – PRACTICE & QUALIFYING
Fabian Coulthard & Tony D'Alberto - No. 12 Shell V-Power Racing Ford
Practice 4 – 7th (Fastest Lap: 2m05.8950s - Tony)
Practice 5 – 4th (Fastest Lap: 2m04.7319s - UNDER OLD LAP RECORD - Fabian)
Qualifying – 6th (Fastest Lap: 2m04.8955s - Fabian)
Scott McLaughlin & Alex Premat - No. 17 Shell V-Power Racing Ford
Practice 4 – 8th (Fastest Lap: 2m06.0554s - Alex)
Practice 5 – 1st (Fastest Lap: 2m04.1470s - NEW LAP RECORD - Scott)
Qualifying – 1st (Fastest Lap: 2m04.2254s - Scott)
Fabian Coulthard & Tony D'Alberto - No. 12 Shell V-Power Racing Ford
Recap: The day opened with a co-driver only session, where Tony and the engineers worked to get the race set-up sorted. It was then down to Fabian to get the car into qualifying trim throughout Practice 5, where he went into the 4s bracket. In qualifying where he achieved his goal of booking a place in the Top 10 Shootout. He would have finished higher than sixth, and was on the quickest lap to date when red flags flew at the end of the session thanks to a crashed car, forcing him to abort his lap. He and Tony will have one final practice run in the morning, before the Top 10 Shootout tomorrow afternoon.
Coulthard Quote: "It was tough today, definitely the most stressful qualifying session of the year. Our aim was to get in the shootout with both cars, and we did that, so great for Shell V-Power Racing. The guys are doing a great job, giving Scotty and I fast cars. Just a shame with the red flag at the end there."
D’Alberto Quote: "We worked on race pace when I was in the car this morning, and then I got to sit back and watch Fabian get around for Practice 5 and qualifying. He did an awesome job, and would have been right up there except for that red flag at the end of the session. Good job by the team, great to be in the shootout."
Scott McLaughlin & Alex Premat - No. 17 Shell V-Power Racing Ford
Recap: Alex opened the running in Car 17 today, working on race pace throughout Practice 4. McLaughlin then jumped in the car and set the track and crowd alight with his pace when he reset the Mount Panorama practice lap record, an incredible 2m04.1470s lap time, nearly eight-tenths of a second faster than the previous record. Moving to Qualifying, the track temp increased which made the track a little slower than the previous session. McLaughlin went within one-tenth of his lap record time to take provisional pole, giving him the right to start tomorrow's Top 10 Shootout last.
McLaughlin Quote: "It's an amazing feeling to now be the fastest man around Mount Panorama in a Supercar. I want to win the race, but second best is to go fastest around here and get that lap record. I wanted to get into the shootout, and we've done that so I get the track all to myself tomorrow afternoon for another go."
Premat Quote: "It's pretty amazing what Scott achieved today, because he's now the fastest man on the Mountain. He did the perfect lap in P5, and then again in qualifying, it's fantastic. I've been working on the race car, and it's really nice too so I think it is all going to be fine."