Repco Supercars Championship leader Will Brown has finished the opening session of the Darwin Triple Crown at Hidden Valley Raceway on top.
Brown returns following a NASCAR Cup Series cameo at Sonoma Raceway and assumed the top spot in the opening practice session at Hidden Valley by setting a time of 1m 06.415s.
Nulon PremiAir Racing’s James Golding was second in the session by just 0.015s from last year’s race winner Jack Le Brocq for Erebus Motorsport.
In a different format to previous rounds, the opening qualifying session follows emphasising the importance on getting the set-up right in practice.
Chevrolet Camaros filled the top four positions as the R&J Batteries entry of Andre Heimgartner headed Monster Energy Racing’s Cameron Waters in the lead Mustang.
Another race winner from the 2023 season in the Top End, Mark Winterbottom was sixth in the DEWALT Racing Camaro to lead the Castrol Racing Mustang of Thomas Randle, early leader Matt Payne of Penrite Racing, Will Davison for Shell V-Power Racing Team and Macauley Jones in the Pizza Hut Racing entry.
Reigning series winner Brodie Kostecki didn’t have an enjoyable session due to the engine in his Erebus Motorsport Camaro dropping to seven cylinders.
Qualifying is up next for the Repco Supercars Championship at 2:35pm ACST or 3:05pm AEST.