Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden driver Michael Caruso has knocked off the big-budget team drivers to set the fastest time in Friday practice for this weekend’s Gold Coast 600 at Surfers Paradise in Queensland.
Team Fujitsu are known for being street circuit specialists and Caruso said afterwards he was pleased with his Commodore’s pace right from the get go.
“It was a great starting performance for the weekend. The car was excellent out of the truck today and I was really pleased,” Caruso said. “We’ve got a great team and (co-driver) James (Hinchcliffe) did an excellent job.”
Ford Performance Racing’s Mark Winterbottom was less than a tenth behind while stable mate and Bathurst 1000 arunner up David Reynolds was third fastest.
Winterbottom said oil on the circuit kept him from setting an even faster time and said co-driver – Australian IndyCar star Will Power – performed well.
“There was quite a bit of oil on the track on my last timed lap,” Winterbottom said. “So while I didn’t grab top spot I was happy with the time I did early in the session.
“We’re both comfortable in the car and apart from the usual things we’ll change before qualifying everything is going well. The car is well-balanced, you can really lean on it and it is really enjoyable to drive.”
Power said he was confident he and Winterbottom could take out at least one of the two 300km races..
“It is definitely possible to win this weekend given how quick Mark is and how quick the car is,” Power said.
“I am enjoying driving around here and driving a V8 Supercar is a unique experience. I am definitely getting accustomed to the car and it is going to be quick in the race.
“Frosty will also be right on it in qualifying so I think we have the pace to start fairly far up the grid.”
Meanwhile Tekno Autosports driver Marc Lieb has out paced his co-driver and team owner Jonathon Webb to top the timesheets in the c0-drivers only session. Lieb was a couple of a tenths ahead of the next best, Holden Racing Team driver Ryan Briscoe who also out-paced co-driver Garth Tander. Stone Brothers Racing’s Simon Pagenaud (Lee Holdsworth’s co-driver) was just a whisker behind for third.
Saturday will have qualifying, the top 10 shootout and the first of two 300km races.
V8 Supercars Gold Coast 600 Practice 3 (co-drivers only)
1. 19 Marc Lieb Holden 01:12:4673
2. 2 Ryan Briscoe Holden 01:12:6980
3. 4 Simon Pagenaud Ford 01:12:7036
4. 8 S. Stephane Holden 01:12:9060
5. 888 Richard Lyons Holden 01:13:0229
6. 47 David Brabham Ford 01:13:1010
7. 6 Mika Salo Ford 01:13:1147
8. 1 S. Bourdais Holden 01:13:1262
9. 55 Nick Heidfeld Ford 01:13:1766
10. 22 Darren Turner Holden 01:13:2325
11. 5 Will Power Ford 01:13:2577
12. 11 F. Montagny Holden 01:13:3041
13. 34 J. Hinchcliffe Holden 01:13:3904
14. 12 G. Morbidelli Ford 01:13:4353
15. 9 J. Bleekemolen Ford 01:13:5543
16. 51 Justin Wilson Holden 01:13:6237
17. 14 N. Minassian Holden 01:13:7201
18. 3 Tonio Liuzzi Ford 01:13:7609
19. 66 Peter Dumbreck Holden 01:13:8161
20. 30 Mike Conway Holden 01:13:8442
21. 15 Graham Rahal Holden 01:13:8823
22. 33 Ricky Taylor Holden 01:13:9774
23. 49 Boris Said Ford 01:14:1096
24. 21 J.Campbell-WaterHolden 01:14:1380
25. 7 Marco Andretti Holden 01:14:2698
26. 18 Peter Kox Ford 01:14:5926
27. 17 Max Papis Ford 01:15:0679
V8 Supercars Gold Coast 600 Practice 4
1. 34 Michael Caruso Holden 01:11:6912
2. 5 M. Winterbottom Ford 01:11:7891
3. 55 D. Reynolds Ford 01:11:9380
4. 3 Tony D’Alberto Ford 01:12:0753
5. 1 Jamie Whincup Holden 01:12:0986
6. 6 Will Davison Ford 01:12:1476
7. 47 Tim Slade Ford 01:12:1586
8. 18 James Moffat Ford 01:12:1884
9. 22 James Courtney Holden 01:12:2834
10. 888 Craig Lowndes Holden 01:12:3185
11. 15 Rick Kelly Holden 01:12:3206
12. 33 Greg Ritter Holden 01:12:3368
13. 4 Lee Holdsworth Ford 01:12:3529
14. 9 S.van Gisbergen Ford 01:12:4041
15. 66 Russell Ingall Holden 01:12:4137
16. 14 F. Coulthard Holden 01:12:4930
17. 17 Steven Johnson Ford 01:12:5025
18. 8 Jason Bright Holden 01:12:7288
19. 11 Karl Reindler Holden 01:12:7530
20. 19 Jonathon Webb Holden 01:12:7675
21. 2 Garth Tander Holden 01:12:8090
22. 49 Steve Owen Ford 01:12:8257
23. 12 Dean Fiore Ford 01:12:8806
24. 51 Greg Murphy Holden 01:12:9602
25. 91 Michael Patrizi Holden 01:13:0460
26. 30 Taz Douglas Holden 01:13:0535
27. 7 Tim Blanchard Holden 01:13:0688
28. 21 David Wall Holden 01:13:3678
