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2018 Bathurst 1000: Davison tops times as rain affects practice

Will Davison set the pace in Thursday's wet Australian Supercars practice sessions ahead of the 2018 Bathurst 1000

All three of the day's sessions took place in damp conditions, with Davison setting the fastest time of all - 2m25.024s - aboard the 23Red Racing Ford Falcon he will share with brother Alex in first practice.

That effort, set at the end of the session, was enough to steal top spot by more than half a second from the similar Falcon of Chaz Mostert.

"It's really hard to learn much when it's greasy like that," said Davison.

"You make a few changes to the car and can't learn too much, other than tyre pressures.

"We read the conditions, made changes, there was not too much risk."

The Nissans of Aaren Russell and Michael Caruso ended up third and fourth in the session, which featured just one attempt at a run on dry tyres.

Tim Blanchard tip-toed his way around the lap on slicks in his Holden Commodore with 10 minutes to go before heading back to the pits for wets.

In the dedicated co-drivers' second session, Alexandre Premat led the way for the DJR Team Penske Ford squad.

Premat, who is racing alongside title hopeful Scott McLaughlin at Bathurst, completed a two-lap stint near the end of the session to go quickest on a 2m35.182s as rain came and went during the session.

Another Nissan featured near the head of the order - Rick Kelly's co-driver Garry Jacobson had been fastest until Premat's improvement - while factory Porsche driver Earl Bamber, who is making his Bathurst 1000 debut this weekend alongside Triple Eight regular Shane van Gisbergen but has twice won his class at the circuit in the 12 Hour endurance race, was third.

Tickford Racing ended the afternoon's final practice on top, with Richie Stanaway - who was fastest for a spell in the first session - setting the fastest time in his Ford Falcon.

Despite a number of crews playing it safe in the first half of the hour-long session, Stanaway was one of those to take to the track early on - recording the fastest time of 2m29.017s despite conditions stablising towards the end of the session.

Fabian Coulthard (DJR Team Penske) got closest to his effort but ended up a tenth shy, with McLaughlin third in his Penske Ford.

Craig Lowndes survived a high-speed off at the Chase to end the session ninth, ahead of Simona de Silvestro, while seven-time champion Jamie Whincup and his Triple Eight crew opted not to run at all.

"We've got a programme this weekend," said Whincup, who was 10th in first practice.

"There were a couple of items we could tick off in P1, but there was no purpose in going out in P2 or P3.

"Tomorrow is going to be dry, so we'll go out and try and tick off the rest of our programme."

FP1 times

Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap Laps
1 Will Davison 23Red Racing Ford 2m25.0243s - 17
2 Chaz Mostert Tickford Ford 2m25.5388s 0.5145s 15
3 A.Heimgartner, A.Russell Nissan Motorsport Nissan 2m25.7144s 0.6901s 16
4 Michael Caruso Nissan Motorsport Nissan 2m25.7173s 0.6930s 11
5 M.Winterbottom, D.Canto Tickford Ford 2m25.7358s 0.7115s 18
6 Fabian Coulthard DJR Penske Ford 2m25.9205s 0.8962s 19
7 S.Gisbergen, E.Bamber Triple Eight Holden 2m26.3577s 1.3334s 16
8 Simona de Silvestro Nissan Motorsport Nissan 2m26.5438s 1.5195s 10
9 Scott Pye Walkinshaw Holden 2m26.6683s 1.6440s 15
10 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Holden 2m26.6690s 1.6447s 15
11 R.Stanaway, S.Owen Tickford Ford 2m27.3396s 2.3153s 16
12 C.Waters, D.Russell Tickford Ford 2m27.5771s 2.5528s 15
13 L.Holdsworth, J.Bright Team 18 Holden 2m27.7949s 2.7706s 17
14 T.Hazelwood, B.Fullwood Matt Stone Holden/Ford 2m28.2059s 3.1816s 18
15 J.Le Brocq, J.Webb Tekno Holden 2m29.0161s 3.9918s 16
16 S.McLaughlin, A.Premat DJR Penske Ford 2m29.0767s 4.0524s 18
17 Tim Blanchard Blanchard/BJR Holden 2m29.2954s 4.2711s 18
18 J.Golding, R.Muscat GRM Holden 2m29.4292s 4.4049s 18
19 Tim Slade Brad Jones Holden 2m29.4749s 4.4506s 18
20 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Holden 2m30.5808s 5.5565s 9
21 G.Tander, C.Pither GRM Holden 2m31.5436s 6.5193s 17
22 N.Percat, M.Jones Brad Jones Holden 2m31.6888s 6.6645s 18
23 Rick Kelly Nissan Motorsport Nissan 2m31.8550s 6.8307s 4
24 James Courtney Walkinshaw Holden 2m32.6344s 7.6101s 5

FP2 times

Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap Laps
1 Alexandre Premat DJR Penske Ford 2m35.1824s - 18
2 Garry Jacobson Nissan Motorsport Nissan 2m35.8261s 0.6437s 6
3 Earl Bamber Triple Eight Holden 2m35.9013s 0.7189s 4
4 Dean Canto Tickford Ford 2m36.6303s 1.4479s 9
5 Tony D'Alberto DJR Penske Ford 2m36.7785s 1.5961s 14
6 Dale Wood Blanchard/BJR Holden 2m36.7801s 1.5977s 8
7 David Russell Tickford Ford 2m37.2193s 2.0369s 11
8 Luke Youlden Erebus Holden 2m37.6523s 2.4699s 13
9 Steven Richards Triple Eight Holden 2m37.7972s 2.6148s 5
10 James Moffat Tickford Ford 2m37.8113s 2.6289s 6
11 Jack Perkins Walkinshaw Holden 2m38.2488s 3.0664s 13
12 Alex Davison 23Red Racing Ford 2m38.9722s 3.7898s 16
13 Alex Rullo Nissan Motorsport Nissan 2m39.2353s 4.0529s 6
14 Warren Luff Walkinshaw Holden 2m39.3210s 4.1386s 7
15 Jason Bright Team 18 Holden 2m39.3439s 4.1615s 5
16 Macauley Jones Brad Jones Holden 2m39.6486s 4.4662s 15
17 Richard Muscat GRM Holden 2m39.6732s 4.4908s 5
18 Bryce Fullwood Matt Stone Holden/Ford 2m40.2985s 5.1161s 6
19 Aaren Russell Nissan Motorsport Nissan 2m40.3159s 5.1335s 4
20 Dean Fiore Nissan Motorsport Nissan 2m40.6292s 5.4468s 2
21 Chris Pither GRM Holden 2m40.6679s 5.4855s 9
22 Ashley Walsh Brad Jones Holden 2m42.0632s 6.8808s 10
23 Steve Owen Tickford Ford 2m50.5328s 15.3504s 4

FP3 times

Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap Laps
1 Richie Stanaway Tickford Ford 2m29.0174s - 13
2 F.Coulthard, T.D'Alberto DJR Penske Ford 2m29.1428s 0.1254s 19
3 Scott McLaughlin DJR Penske Ford 2m29.5703s 0.5529s 18
4 Chaz Mostert Tickford Ford 2m29.7241s 0.7067s 5
5 Shane van Gisbergen Triple Eight Holden 2m29.8938s 0.8764s 13
6 Cameron Waters Tickford Ford 2m30.1474s 1.1300s 16
7 Tim Slade Brad Jones Holden 2m30.5998s 1.5824s 16
8 Michael Caruso Nissan Motorsport Nissan 2m30.8648s 1.8474s 6
9 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Holden 2m31.0073s 1.9899s 9
10 Simona de Silvestro Nissan Motorsport Nissan 2m31.0128s 1.9954s 6
11 Nick Percat Brad Jones Holden 2m31.0697s 2.0523s 18
12 Mark Winterbottom Tickford Ford 2m31.1405s 2.1231s 3
13 A.De Pasquale, W.Brown Erebus Holden 2m31.6512s 2.6338s 16
14 Lee Holdsworth Team 18 Holden 2m32.2568s 3.2394s 3
15 Tim Blanchard Blanchard/BJR Holden 2m32.8097s 3.7923s 19
16 Andre Heimgartner Nissan Motorsport Nissan 2m33.0376s 4.0202s 6
17 David Reynolds Erebus Holden 2m33.5141s 4.4967s 17
18 Garth Tander GRM Holden 2m33.7475s 4.7301s 16
19 Warren Luff Walkinshaw Holden 2m35.5209s 6.5035s 6
20 Jack Perkins Walkinshaw Holden 2m35.5953s 6.5779s 3
21 Alex Davison 23Red Racing Ford 2m36.0464s 7.0290s 11
22 T.Hazelwood, B.Fullwood Matt Stone Holden/Ford 2m36.0589s 7.0415s 9


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