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Championship leader Jamie Whincup has claimed provisional pole for Race one at the Sydney NRMA Motoring and Insurances 500.
In a red flag affected session, Whincup posted his time early on the restart with his time of 1.27.488 just fractionally outside of the current practice/qualifying record, set in 2011.
Rookie Nick Percat in his solo championship debut was quick early. Teammate Garth Tander had just eclipsed Percat’s time of 1.28.702 when he ran wide at turn one, slamming into the wall and causing a red flag. Norton Hornet Michael Caruso collided with Tander’s car in the fence but was able to reverse out and drive away with minimal damage.
As a result of causing the red flag, Tander was stripped of his fastest time and took no further part in the session. He will start today’s race from 28th position.
In the final moments of the session Alex Premat was spun on approach to the start/finish line after contact from James Moffat, leaving Premat stranded in his car as the field passed by.
The top ten shootout this afternoon will feature Whincup, Shane van Gisbergen, Will Davison, Fabian Coulthard, Craig Lowndes, Jason Bright, Mark Winterbottom, Tony D’Alberto, Jonathon Webb and David Reynolds.
The top ten hit the track again from 1405 local time with Race 35 starting at 1710 local time.