DAVID RUSSELL has topped Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia practice at Sydney Motorsport Park – in a day where getting a real form guide was borderline impossible.
The TekworkX Motorsport driver, who won in Taupo earlier this year, was the only driver to do a qualifying simulation in the first of two, 25-minute practice sessions today, topping the outright and Equity-One Professional class times by an enormous margin.
He then topped the later second session which was cut short just as almost the entire field was about to commence a qualifying simulation – meaning the only thing people learned today is that Russell is quick and that the remainder of the form guide is hard to read.
Russell’s 1m29.0635s flyer on brand-new Michelins in the first session was very nearly the quickest ever Cup Car lap of Sydney Motorsport Park’s 3.9km of flowing corners and undulations and ensured he topped the first session by more than a second.
Dylan O’Keeffe was second and Harri Jones third, with Jackson Walls and Angelo Mouzouris rounding out the top five.
In the second session, Russell’s 1m29.8326s saw him 0.2 seconds quicker than Jones, with O’Keeffe next.
The brothers Wood, Dale and Glen, were next with Fabian Coulthard sixth in the second session – Marco Giltrap, Garth Tander, Tom McLennan and Jackson Walls rounding out the 10.
Tander was a big improver between sessions, having ended practice one struggling with understeer and in 20th position.
The second session was stopped with four minutes remaining when Harrison Goodman’s Sonic Motor Racing entry pulled to a halt at turn 10, missing a Michelin tyre which had departed the car.
That, coupled with Indiran Padayachee stranded at pit exit with a suspected pit lane speed limiter issue, drew the session to a close without being resumed. The red flag flew just as a vast majority of the grid were about to embark on a qualifying simulation at the end of the session.
SP Tools Pro-Am was paced today by Rodney Jane, who edged out championship leader Adrian Flack by 0.15 seconds in practice two to set the quickest class time of the day. Jane’s Monster wheels / Bob Jane T-Marts car also ended up 16th outright and ahead of several Pro cars.
Flack was in close company, having earlier topped practice one, with Dexion GWR driver Dean Cook – returning having missed the most recent round in Darwin – completing the top three.
Round 4 of the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Championship continues tomorrow at Sydney Motorsport Park with qualifying and Race 1 amidst a busy day of on-track action.
Both sessions will be broadcast live on Fox Sports, Kayo and Sky Sport NZ, with two further races set for Sunday.
