V8 Supercar’s Season of Endurance began with today’s practice for the Dick Smith Sandown 500 in Melbourne, Supercheap Auto Racing’s Russell Ingall and Christian Klien 13th quickest on the combined time sheets.
Ingall was out first this morning, setting the team’s quickest time of the day (1m 11.0636s) on his 12th lap in session one before the Supercheap Auto Commodore was later handed to Sandown rookie Christian Klien.
Klien then had the SCAR Holden to himself in the co-driver only second session, becoming even more comfortable in the car and with the circuit before again sharing with Ingall for the final session.
Practice 3 was interrupted by persistent drizzle, a number of teams switching to good rubber to set quicker times on a drying track at the end of the day –the SCAR team electing to conclude its program of finding car balance rather than chase an outright lap time.
The Dick Smith Sandown 500 continues tomorrow with a fourth and final practice session scheduled for 9.40am.
A unique qualifying format then follows: A 20-minute qualifying session will be held at 11.40, the results determining the starting grid for a 20-lap race for co-drivers at 2.45pm. The finishing order of that race is the starting order for the following 20-lap race (4.38pm) for series regulars –the finishing order of that race then the starting order for Sunday’s big, 161-lap race.