Photo: V8 Supercars Media

Chaz Mostert on top in first practice at Bathurst

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Ford Performance Racing’s Chaz Mostert was fastest in the first practice session at Mount Panorama, with three manufacturers in the top three positions with Nissan’s James Moffat second and Holden Racing Team’s Garth Tander third.

The session was red flagged after ten minutes when the #17 Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon of David Wall stopped on the Conrod Straight with a punctured front-right tyre.

Throughout the session, Garth Tander and the Rod Nash Racing Ford Falcon of David Reynolds swapped the fastest time throughout the session for the first 40 minutes, before it was all-change for the final ten minutes, with James Moffat popping up to second with five minutes to go in the Nissan Altima, and then with Chaz Mostert taking over with two minutes to go in the FPR Ford.

James Courtney was fourth in the second HRT Commodore ahead of Reynolds, with Scott McLaughlin the top placed Volvo driver in sixth.

Points leader Jamie Whincup set the seventh fastest time in the Triple Eight Holden Commodore, with title rivals team-mate Craig Lowndes 12th and FPR’s Mark Winterbottom tenth.

The new Super Black Racing Ford Falcon of Ant Pedersen and Andre Heimgartner was 24th fastest, just ahead of Volvo Polestar Racing’s Robert Dahlgren, who was the only one of the full-time drivers who has never raced at the Bathurst circuit before, with David Wall not setting a time in the #17 DJR Ford officially classified in 26th.

Cameron Waters also hit the wall in the Charlie Schwerkolt Racing Ford Falcon with ten minutes to go, with Shane Van Gisbergen also damaging his Tekno Autosports Holden in the session, with DJR, Tekno and CS Racing all having to work on repairing their cars before the second practice session, which gets underway at 13:15 AEST, with just co-drivers taking part.