Wood on fire in sizzling Darwin Supercars practice
The Walkinshaw Andretti United youngster outpaced nearest challenger Broc Feeney by more than two-tenths of a second in the Top End dry-season heat on Friday.
Wood set the best lap of one minute and 7.059 seconds, with championship-leader Feeney 0.265 seconds behind and Triple Eight teammate Will Brown another hundredth of a second behind him in third.
Drivers tested the limits of Hidden Valley's challenging 2.9km circuit, with several racers overshooting the long, loopy left-hander at turn one.
A patch of parched grass at the end of the turn was set alight after Brown ran his Camaro off towards the end of the session.
With temperatures expected to run into the 30s throughout the weekend - and up to 50C inside cars - drivers' endurance will be as much of a challenge as keeping their cars running.
Feeney was the first driver to run off on the first turn at the end of the 1.1km straight, but recovered to set a speedy lap time that had him at the top of the totem for most of the session.
The 22-year-old won the last two races in Perth and showed promising pace as he looks to extend his 72-point gap at the top of the leaderboard at the track he won two races at last year.
Teenage wildcard entrant Rylan Gray, Matt Stone Racing veteran Nick Percat and Tickford's Cam Waters also took excursions off the track on turn one, while Andre Heimgartner battled to hold onto control of his lively Camaro on several occasions.
Drivers will return for the final practice session at 2.55pm (ACST) on Friday, ahead of Saturday's back-to-back qualifying sessions.
Two 120km races will follow qualifying on Saturday, before the final 200km race of the weekend on Sunday.
Ryan Wood has scorched the Supercars field to set the fastest time in the first practice session in Darwin.
The Walkinshaw Andretti United youngster outpaced nearest challenger Broc Feeney by more than two-tenths of a second in the Top End dry-season heat on Friday.
Wood set the best lap of one minute and 7.059 seconds, with championship-leader Feeney 0.265 seconds behind and Triple Eight teammate Will Brown another hundredth of a second behind him in third.
Drivers tested the limits of Hidden Valley's challenging 2.9km circuit, with several racers overshooting the long, loopy left-hander at turn one.
A patch of parched grass at the end of the turn was set alight after Brown ran his Camaro off towards the end of the session.
With temperatures expected to run into the 30s throughout the weekend - and up to 50C inside cars - drivers' endurance will be as much of a challenge as keeping their cars running.
Feeney was the first driver to run off on the first turn at the end of the 1.1km straight, but recovered to set a speedy lap time that had him at the top of the totem for most of the session.
The 22-year-old won the last two races in Perth and showed promising pace as he looks to extend his 72-point gap at the top of the leaderboard at the track he won two races at last year.
Teenage wildcard entrant Rylan Gray, Matt Stone Racing veteran Nick Percat and Tickford's Cam Waters also took excursions off the track on turn one, while Andre Heimgartner battled to hold onto control of his lively Camaro on several occasions.
Drivers will return for the final practice session at 2.55pm (ACST) on Friday, ahead of Saturday's back-to-back qualifying sessions.
Two 120km races will follow qualifying on Saturday, before the final 200km race of the weekend on Sunday.
Ryan Wood has scorched the Supercars field to set the fastest time in the first practice session in Darwin.
The Walkinshaw Andretti United youngster outpaced nearest challenger Broc Feeney by more than two-tenths of a second in the Top End dry-season heat on Friday.
Wood set the best lap of one minute and 7.059 seconds, with championship-leader Feeney 0.265 seconds behind and Triple Eight teammate Will Brown another hundredth of a second behind him in third.
Drivers tested the limits of Hidden Valley's challenging 2.9km circuit, with several racers overshooting the long, loopy left-hander at turn one.
A patch of parched grass at the end of the turn was set alight after Brown ran his Camaro off towards the end of the session.
With temperatures expected to run into the 30s throughout the weekend - and up to 50C inside cars - drivers' endurance will be as much of a challenge as keeping their cars running.
Feeney was the first driver to run off on the first turn at the end of the 1.1km straight, but recovered to set a speedy lap time that had him at the top of the totem for most of the session.
The 22-year-old won the last two races in Perth and showed promising pace as he looks to extend his 72-point gap at the top of the leaderboard at the track he won two races at last year.
Teenage wildcard entrant Rylan Gray, Matt Stone Racing veteran Nick Percat and Tickford's Cam Waters also took excursions off the track on turn one, while Andre Heimgartner battled to hold onto control of his lively Camaro on several occasions.
Drivers will return for the final practice session at 2.55pm (ACST) on Friday, ahead of Saturday's back-to-back qualifying sessions.
Two 120km races will follow qualifying on Saturday, before the final 200km race of the weekend on Sunday.
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Grove Raving rookie Kai Allen and Brad Jones Racing's Andre Heimgartner were also up there after starting 22nd and 20th respectively. The trio pipped the pack by visiting pit lane under the yellow flag. But a relentless Feeney had the faster car and quickly overtook Allen and Heimgartner following the restart on lap 34. The Triple Eight prodigy, desperate to make amends for a victory-denying penalty for a false start the day before, then chased down Waters. After a brief exchange of the lead on lap 43, Feeney was able to burst away and he blitzed Tickford rival Waters by 8.633 seconds. Allen held on to finish third, while Heimgartner dropped to seventh. Feeney will leave Ipswich with the inaugural Sprint Cup trophy and a spot in finals after claiming three poles and two race wins. The 22-year-old holds a 337-point lead from defending champion Will Brown heading into The Bend 500 in September - the first stop of the Enduro Cup. Feeney's only blemish in Ipswich was a five-second penalty for jumping at the starting line in Saturday's second race that effectively gifted teammate Brown victory. Brown was unlucky to spin out late in Sunday's race, crossing the finish line in 16th after qualifying third. A spell of torrential rain had threatened to upset the order early but the clouds cleared before the 10th lap was completed. Supercars veteran James Courtney was bamboozled by the conditions, having gone to the Blanchard Racing garage early for wet tyres only to pit again moments later after the rain ceased. Courtney finished 25th out of the 26 drivers. RACE 25 RESULTS: 1. Broc Feeney (Triple Eight Race Engineering) 2. Cam Waters (Tickford Racing) 3. Kai Allen (Grove Racing) 4. Matt Payne (Grove) 5. Brodie Kostecki (Dick Johnson Racing) CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1. Broc Feeney (Triple Eight) 2063 points 2. Will Brown (Triple Eight) +337pts 3. Matt Payne (Grove) +345pts 4. Cam Waters (Tickford) +515pts 5. Chaz Mostert (WAU) +652pts
