3 minute read

Chaz Mostert has produced the fastest time of the opening Perth SuperSprint practice session, while rivals opted to test their weekend tyre strategy instead.

Bent on snapping his winless Supercars streak, Chaz Mostert has gone fastest in the opening practice session of the Perth SuperSprint.

Mostert led from the start to notch a lap time of 55.09 seconds to finish ahead of Nick Percat (Matt Stone Racing) and James Courtney (Blanchard Racing Team) in Friday's session at Wanneroo Raceway.

A regular podium finisher in 2023, Mostert will be keen to take the chequered flag in Perth after failing to register a race win or pole position in the Ford Mustang last time around.

The Walkinshaw Andretti United (WAU) driver last finished on top steering a Holden Commodore at the Adelaide 500 in 2022 before the sport phased out the car.

"You come here to win. There's no participation medals in Supercars. It's 'get on the top steps'," WAU team owner Bruce Stewart said.

"As you develop your cars ... you hope that you naturally get faster and a little bit more competitive all the time, and that certainly has happened.

"The real focus for us is converting that now."

Championship leader Will Brown was notably missing from the top three, with the Triple Eight team opting to test their weekend tyre strategy instead of going full-throttle.

With seven corners over 2.5km, tough temperatures and surrounded by sand, the West Australian track is notorious for high tyre degradation.

Brown finished 18th, with teammate Broc Feeney sixth.

But Triple Eight weren't the only team out on the track focusing on managing tyre life, with in-form Penrite Racing drivers Matt Payne and Richie Stanaway finishing in 21st and 17th respectively.

Perth product and reigning champion Brodie Kostecki had to settle for seventh.

The red flag came out less than seven minutes into the session when Thomas Randle rolled to a stop near pit lane after a prop shaft failure.

Randle was able to return to the track and finish 20th.

A second red flag appeared with just two minutes left on the clock.

Matt Stone Racing driver Cam Hill swerved off-track after hitting the wall between turns, resulting in practice being cut short.

"He said it felt like a wheel came off, which obviously got us concerned, being the car had just come in the pits for fresh tyre," team owner Matt Stone said.

"The wheels are firmly attached so it wasn't that, but we're thinking it was probably something in the front suspension has failed.

"He's just got to the point where he's wanting to turn and the car didn't want to play ball."

Hill had kept a steady pace to stay in second for most of the session, before finishing eighth.

Qualifying for Saturday's race begins at 12.20pm (AWST), followed by race nine at 4.05pm.