Waters completes Townsville practice sweep with late flyer

Cam Waters has emerged as the one to beat at Reid Park after a Friday sweep, with the Tickford Racing driver completing a practice double.

Jack Le Brocq dominated the session and appeared set to put Erebus Motorsport at the top, before Waters clocked a 1:13.8376s in the closing minutes to steal top spot.

The margin between Waters and Le Brocq, after 40 minutes of practice, was just 0.0590s.

Mark Winterbottom moved to third late on ahead of Thomas Randle, with Chaz Mostert, Andre Heimgartner, Matt Payne, Brodie Kostecki, Bryce Fullwood and Broc Feeney rounding out the top 10.

Championship leader Will Brown, meanwhile, was 12th ahead of Shell V-Power Racing Team duo Anton De Pasquale and Will Davison, with Ryan Wood 24th and last

De Pasquale opened proceedings with a 1:14.4654s, with Aaron Love a surprise second on a 1:14.5805s. Love followed his flyer with a hairy moment at Turn 7, with the #3 CoolDrive Ford flying over the kerb.

Fullwood vaulted from last to first with a 1:14.3686s, with Mostert moving to second, just 0.0152s, with a 1:14.3534s.

Le Brocq fired in the fastest lap of the day, a 1:13.8966s, to put 0.4568s on the field, before Mostert improved his own benchmark to a 1:14.1637s to regain second.

Kostecki made it an Erebus one-two with a 1:14.2742s, before Waters jumped from 21st to second with a 1:14.0771s. The first runs ended with a big effort from Heimgartner, who jumped from last to fourth with a 1:14.2292s.

At the halfway mark, Le Brocq led Waters and Mostert, with Heimgartner, Kostecki, Fullwood, De Pasquale, Richie Stanaway, Love and Brown rounding out the top 10. Feeney, meanwhile, was only 21st.

Feeney jumped to seventh with a 1:14.3649s, but was still 0.4683s down on Le Brocq. All the while, the two PremiAir Nulon Camaros and Reynolds filled the final three positions, with Percat dropped to 21st.

The balance of the field rolled out for a final crack at the time sheets, and Waters made the biggest impression with a 1:13.8376s to seal a practice double.

Saturday Supercars action will commence at 10:15am AEST. with Boost Mobile Qualifying, followed by the Top Ten Shootout at 12:05pm.

The first 88-lap race of the weekend, Race 13, will start at 2:40pm.