Sydney Supercars: De Pasquale tops windy first practice

Drivers faced blustery conditions at the Eastern Creek circuit, De Pasquale the first to set a representative time with a 1m31.821s on his first run.

Points leader Shane van Gisbergen then took over with a 1m31.184s, that time holding on until the 'happy hour' in the closing moments of the session.

That was when Cam Waters took over at the top, the Tickford driver jumping 13 spots with a 1m30.609s.

But he was swiftly pipped by De Pasquale, the Dick Johnson Racing ace's 1m30.281s at the flag leaving him more than three-tenths clear of the field.

Todd Hazelwood was third fastest for Brad Jones Racing, having been a staple near the top of the time throughout the half-hour session.

Mark Winterbottom was a late improver to slot into fourth, while Andre Heimgartner enjoyed a promising debut in his brand new KGR Ford chassis with the fifth quickest time.

Brodie Kostecki was sixth as van Giusbergen, who never improved on his early time, was shuffled back to seventh.

Macauley Jones, Will Davison and Jack Le Brocq rounded out the top 10.

Jamie Whincup and Chaz Mostert were among the big names outside the top 10, the Holden pair 12th and 16th respectively, while KGR driver Reynolds battled gearbox gremlins on his way to 18th.

Practice continues at 7:30pm local time with a second half-hour of running under lights.

Cla	#	Driver	Car	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval
1	11	Anton De Pasquale	Ford Mustang GT	11	1'30.281
2	6	Cameron Waters	Ford Mustang GT	11	1'30.609	0.327	0.327
3	14	Todd Hazelwood	Holden Commodore ZB	10	1'30.671	0.390	0.062
4	18	Mark Winterbottom	Holden Commodore ZB	11	1'30.824	0.542	0.152
5	7	Andre Heimgartner	Ford Mustang GT	10	1'30.876	0.594	0.052
6	99	Brodie Kostecki	Holden Commodore ZB	10	1'31.026	0.744	0.150
7	97	Shane van Gisbergen	Holden Commodore ZB	12	1'31.184	0.903	0.158
8	96	Macauley Jones	Holden Commodore ZB	10	1'31.373	1.091	0.188
9	17	Will Davison	Ford Mustang GT	12	1'31.454	1.172	0.081
10	5	Jack Le Brocq	Ford Mustang GT	12	1'31.454	1.172	0.000
11	2	Bryce Fullwood	Holden Commodore ZB	11	1'31.554	1.272	0.100
12	88	Jamie Whincup	Holden Commodore ZB	11	1'31.570	1.288	0.015
13	9	Will Brown	Holden Commodore ZB	11	1'31.604	1.323	0.034
14	19	Fabian Coulthard	Holden Commodore ZB	14	1'31.697	1.416	0.092
15	35	Zane Goddard	Holden Commodore ZB	11	1'31.722	1.440	0.024
16	25	Chaz Mostert	Holden Commodore ZB	10	1'31.746	1.465	0.024
17	8	Nick Percat	Holden Commodore ZB	11	1'31.797	1.516	0.050
18	26	David Reynolds	Ford Mustang GT	8	1'31.882	1.600	0.084
19	22	Garry Jacobson	Holden Commodore ZB	9	1'32.019	1.738	0.137
20	44	James Courtney	Ford Mustang GT	12	1'32.061	1.780	0.042
21	20	Scott Pye	Holden Commodore ZB	12	1'32.164	1.883	0.103
22	3	Tim Slade	Ford Mustang GT	12	1'32.712	2.430	0.547
23	34	Jake Kostecki	Holden Commodore ZB	10	1'32.900	2.618	0.187
24	4	Jack Smith	Holden Commodore ZB	13	1'32.918	2.636	0.018
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