Photo: Supercars

Andre Heimgartner fastest in shortened Bathurst warm-up

Kelly Racing’s Andre Heimgartner has posted the fastest time ahead of today’s Bathurst 1000 in the Sunday morning warm-up, going quickest in the shortened session due to an early red flag.

The Kiwi’s 2:05.3194 was well on the pace considering the cloudy skies which covered the circuit, the forecasted rain holding off for now but expected to come down before the race start at 11am.

It didn’t take long for the red flag to come out after the #20 Team 18 Holden Commodore of Scott Pye and Dean Fiore came to a halt up Mountain Straight, Fiore reporting an oil pressure issue and pulling to the side of the road to be towed back to the garage for an engine change before the race.

The session was mainly utilised by the teams to complete pit stop practice and driver changes, getting their systems right before the 161 lap race today though some issues arose, mainly with the #44 Tickford Racing car of James Courtney and birthday boy, Broc Feeney.

With 18-year-old Feeney behind the wheel, both passenger side wheels looked to be loose on the car though when he came into the pits to change them, the team only worked on the front, sending the car back out with the left rear still loose, forcing the Super3 champion to limp around for another lap as the chequered flag came out.

As all pre-race sessions have now been completed, it’s just the 1000km race remaining with the #6 Tickford of Cam Waters and Will Davison starting from pole alongside defending champion and series champion elect, Scott McLaughlin’s #17 DJR Team Penske Mustang.