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Scott McLaughlin led the final practice session before qualifying for ARMOR ALL at Bathurst, despite crashing in the final minutes.
McLaughlin led the way as the field made its final preparations for this afternoon’s 40-minute qualifying session.
With intensity levels on the rise, McLaughlin looked set to become the first driver to dive into 2:03 this weekend when he made a mistake on the run to Forrest’s Elbow.
The Shell V-Power Racing Mustang dived sideways over the fence and spun, before limping back to the pitlane with apparent damage to the left rear suspension.
“I just accelerated the downshift, that was it,” McLaughlin said.
“We use engine braking so much that as soon as you lose one, you lose pace.
“That is all I did. I tried to get it back halfway, but as soon as the lower arm tore off [on the wall] I was a bit fleeting.
“But I think we will be right. The car felt mega, it was six tenths up … “
The incident, which occurred with less than two minutes on the clock, means that the true pace of several contenders could still be hidden as yellow flags ruined a series of fastest laps.
It meant McLaughlin’s 2: 04.3716, set at the 42-minute mark, held high in first place from newly rehired Walkinshaw Andretti United rookie Bryce Fullwood.
Lee Holdsworth was third ahead of his Tickford Racing teammate Cameron Waters, who is shaping up to be on the hunt for the provisional ARMOR ALL Pole; he and his co-driver Will Davison have already led three sessions so far.
McLaughlin led the field for most of the first 30 minutes of Practice 5 until Chaz Mostert raised the stakes by 2: 04.7582, lowering the benchmark by more than six tenths.
From there, Waters and Jamie Whincup took turns at the top until the McLaughlin effort.
Whincup finished fifth to Shane van Gisbergen, Mostert and an impressive Alex Davison in eighth for Team Sydney.
Several drivers missed some of their time on the track, with Todd Hazelwood a late starter as his Brad Jones Racing team completed repairs following a crash in Practice 4 by rookie co-driver Jordan Boys.
Garry Jacobson missed the entire second half of the session, with a required engine change on his # 35 Matt Stone Racing Commodore.
“We had an oil leak yesterday that we were monitoring … we thought we were handling it well and then it was just too much,” he said.
“We will go back to our spare engine. I’m thankful that we have so much practice [on Saturday] after qualifying today. “
David Reynolds was a disappointing 20th, having spent time in the garage looking for a solution to setup problems.
Qualifying for ARMOR ALL will begin at 4:05 pm today, setting the grid positions 11-25, with the 10 fastest drivers arriving at the Shootout tomorrow afternoon.
