Percat closes on top-10 at Winton

In the opening session, which began on a damp circuit, Percat finished 12th fastest in the HHA Racing Commodore. To complicate matters, drivers had to contend with recent repair work on the track that left a slick surface.

At the end of the first 20-minute session Will Davison (Mercedes) topped the timesheets from last year’s race winner James Moffat (Nissan). Scott Pye (Falcon) was third quickest followed by Fabian Coulthard (Holden) and Davison’s teammate Lee Holdsworth (Mercedes) rounding out the top five.

Nick Percat

Experience counts on a wet track and it was veteran Russell Ingall (Holden) who set the fastest time in the second 20-minute session, as Nick Percat continued to acclimatise to the wet conditions, posting the 17th fastest time.

Despite conditions improving towards the end of the session, Ingall remained at the top of the timesheets and was followed by Tim Slade, James Courtney and Jason Bright, in a Holden quadrella at the top. Volvo’s Scott McLaughlin finished the session with the fifth quickest time.

In a repeat of the opening session Percat stopped the clocks 12th fastest in the final 20 minute shootout for the day. Fastest this time around with a stunning lap, was Fabian Coulthard, some 1.1 seconds under the qualifying lap record held by Rick Kelly since 2010. Following Coulthard was Lee Holdsworth, showing the Mercedes could well in be contention this weekend. Shane van Gisbergen was third quickest followed by championship leader Craig Lowndes and Tim Slade.

Nick Percat: “I am pretty happy with how the day went. We attempted to get through our program in between rain showers. I need to find a little bit in my driving so we can get the most out of our car tomorrow in qualifying"

Coates Hire Racing