Friday’s practice for the Armor All Gold Coast 600 has seen the Holden Racing Team’s James Courtney and Darren Turner finish the day ninth quickest overall, while teammates Garth Tander and Ryan Briscoe were placed 19th.
The day’s first 40-minute practice session was reserved for V8 regulars and Courtney was on the pace quickly with the #22 HRT Commodore posting the fifth quickest time while a throttle issue saw Tander complete just four laps and listed 24th.
The international drivers had Practice 2 and 3 reserved for themselves with both Briscoe and Turner drawing on their previous V8 experience to set competitive, top 10 times – Briscoe fifth and Turner eighth in P2.
Briscoe upped the pace in P3 and clocked a 1:12.6980 lap with only minutes remaining, sending him to the top of the time sheets only to be pipped at the post by Tekno Holden driver Marc Lieb; Brit Turner posting the 11th quickest time.
In the final session, Tander’s disappointing run of luck continued from P1, the former Gold Coast winner falling victim to the raised kerbs and severely damaging his HRT Commodore’s suspension, finishing just 21st quickest but confident that the #2 Holden will be on the pace for qualifying tomorrow morning. Courtney and Turner cycled through driver changes in the #22 Commodore before the 2010 V8 Supercar Champion finished the session and day ninth overall.
Qualifying will be held at 9:35am AEST tomorrow, followed by the Top 10 Shootout at 10:50am and Race 22 at 1:40pm.
