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Rick Kelly set a new unofficial lap record during Supercars’ tyre test.
DUNLOP’S new Supercars tyres have seen Rick Kelly lower the unofficial lap record in testing at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Both the Nissan Motorsport driver and DJR Team Penske pilot Scott McLaughlin lapped under Chaz Mostert’s existing mark of 1m28.82s set in qualifying for the championship round last year.
McLaughlin’s teammate Fabian Coulthard, Mostert, and reigning Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen rounded out the top five.
Most teams used their four sets each of Dunlop’s new soft and supersoft tyres sparingly, preferring to ensure a bank of better quality tyres to use during Friday practice at the Clipsal 500 Adelaide.
Not everyone opted to do a final flying lap in the cool late-afternoon conditions, so the day still doesn’t establish a true form guide for the opening race of the season.
Supercars debutant Simona De Silvestro jumped to sixth late in the day before faster laps from rivals demoted her to 18th, but still just 1.1 seconds shy of her team boss’s record-setting pace in her first visit to the circuit.
Alex Rullo also had an impressive day, outpacing both his Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport teammates to end the day 23rd.
Both Aaren Russell and the Superlicence-less Matt Chahda drove the team’s second car, LDM telling foxsports.com.au that they were continuing to evaluate driver options. For the record, the Novocastrian set the quicker time of the pair to sit 25th.
There was just one red flag during the day, Nick Percat rolling to a stop after setting what was then the third fastest time of the afternoon.
An engine issue was to blame, the newly-signed Brad Jones Racing driver encountering it in the final two sectors of his fastest lap before coasting to a stop before he could return to the pits.
The team began to change the engine as a precaution but ran out of time to get last year’s Clipsal victor back on track.
Several teams opted to put their Enduro Cup co-drivers in for laps during the day, while Jack Le Brocq made his public debut at Nissan Motorsport in Todd Kelly’s No.7 Altima ahead of two wildcard appearances at rounds later this year.
The next time all 26 cars will hit track will be for opening practice at the Clipsal 500 Adelaide in nine days time.
RESULTS - Supercars tyre test, Sydney Motorsport Park
1. (15) Rick Kelly (Nissan) 1m29.60s
2. (17) Scott McLaughlin (Ford) +0.01s
3. (12) Fabian Coulthard (Ford) +0.07s
4. (55) Chaz Mostert (Ford) +0.15s
5. (97) Shane van Gisbergen (Holden) +0.27s
6. (19) Will Davison (Holden) +0.44s
7. (21) Tim Blanchard (Holden) +0.48s
8. (18) Lee Holdsworth (Holden) +0.6s
9. (9) David Reynolds (Holden) +0.67s
10. (99) Dale Wood (Holden) +0.74s
11. (14) Tim Slade (Holden) +0.75s
12. (7) Todd Kelly (Nissan) +0.80s
13. (22) James Courtney (Holden) +0.80s
14. (56) Jason Bright (Ford) +0.86s
15. (33) Garth Tander (Holden) +1.03s
16. (88) Jamie Whincup (Holden) +1.10s
17. (5) Mark Winterbottom (Ford) +1.13s
18. (78) Simona De Silvestro (Nissan) +1.14s
19. (2) Scott Pye (Holden) +1.15s
20. (8) Nick Percat (Holden) +1.16s
21. (6) Cameron Waters (Ford) +1.25s
22. (23) Michael Caruso (Nissan) +2.02s
23. (62) Alex Rullo (Holden) +2.13s
24. (888) Craig Lowndes (Holden) +2.36s
25. (3) Russell/Chahda (Holden) +2.36s
26. (34) James Moffat (Holden) +2.83s
Relive all the action with our live blog from throughout the day.
AM SESSION - Supercars tyre test, Sydney Motorsport Park
1. (14) Tim Slade (Holden) 1m29.0924s
2. (888) Craig Lowndes (Holden) +0.32s
3. (9) David Reynolds (Holden) +0.4s
4. (19) Will Davison (Holden) +1.18s
5. (12) Fabian Coulthard (Ford) +1.24s
6. (88) Jamie Whincup (Holden) +1.28s
7. (15) Rick Kelly (Nissan) +1.29s
8. (55) Chaz Mostert (Ford) +1.38s
9. (17) Scott McLaughlin (Ford) +1.53s
10. (34) James Moffat (Holden) +1.61s
11. (7) Todd Kelly (Nissan) +1.69s
12. (5) Mark Winterbottom (Ford) +1.75s
13. (23) Michael Caruso (Nissan) +1.76s
14. (18) Lee Holdsworth (Holden) +1.98s
15. (8) Nick Percat (Holden) +2.03s
16. (62) Alex Rullo (Holden) +2.06s
17. (22) James Courtney (Holden) +2.07s
18. (56) Jason Bright (Ford) +2.12s
19. (97) Shane van Gisbergen (Holden) +2.14s
20. (33) Garth Tander (Holden) +2.36s
21. (99) Dale Wood (Holden) +2.46s
22. (21) Tim Blanchard (Holden) +2.54s
23. (78) Simona De Silvestro (Nissan) +2.61s
24. (6) Cameron Waters (Ford) +3.31s
25. (2) Scott Pye (Holden) +3.6s
26. (3) Russell/Chahda (Holden) +4.78s
Originally published as Supercars run lap record pace on new tyres