TRIPLE Eight’s Ford homecoming has got off to a promising start with Will Brown comfortably topping the first half of pre-season testing in Sydney.
Brown set a 1m00.3458s on his 52nd lap of the four-hour session, in which he completed 76 in total.
If that time sounds a little quicker than normal, it’s because Sydney Motorsport Park’s Druitt layout was being used today, rather than the familiar Gardner Circuit – a move made in order to take some load off the recently resurfaced section of track at what is normally Turn 8.
For reference, it’s almost the same track that hosted the 1996 round of the Australian Touring Car Championship, where John Bowe took pole with a 1m01.3293s.
It proved a relatively low-key morning all told, with teams opting to save the better tyres at their disposal for tomorrow night’s test that will be held on the Gardner configuration.
There were three red flags, all for track debris, with extra caution seeming to be taken given the circumstances that have unfolded this week. A portion of the four-hour session was dedicated to practice starts.
Brown’s teammate Broc Feeney also was a session-topper, from a lap count standpoint, chalking up 89 tours of the 2.8km circuit.
That compared favourably to the Toyota quintet, who were responsible for each of the five lowest lap counts.
André Heimgartner managed just 28, electrical issues having restricted him to the garage for approximately two hours, while Ryan Wood logged 34, Cameron Hill 39, Macauley Jones 40 and Chaz Mostert 46.
Mostert was fastest of those five in 16th, one spot behind Feeney.
At the pointy end, Matt Payne got nearest to Brown at 0.1622s adrift. Zach Bates was the lead Chevrolet driver in third.
It should be noted that a lack of track limits enforcement did potentially allow for some unrepresentative times.
Testing resumes at 5:30pm AEDT tomorrow ahead of the three-day, three-race Dunlop Sydney 500.
RESULTS: Part one, Supercars Sydney pre-season test