Caruso cool in practice

Michael Caruso and Nissan has topped this morning’s critical practice session at the Clipsal 500.

The 20-minute session was a crucial opportunity for teams to gather final data and learn about their V8 Supercars before today’s first race.

Caruso’s 1min20.2041 lap bettered last year’s Clipsal 500 winner James Courtney by just 0.1698sec.

The top 15 cars all set their times on the soft Dunlop tyre, ahead of the first ever race on the compound at the Adelaide street circuit.

David Reynolds and Fabian Coulthard, in new equipment this year, were third and fourth quickest, with second race pole man Chaz Mostert fifth in the order.

Caruso is determined to better his result at the Clipsal 500 this year after a tough start to 2015. He revealed the team had fixed an issue overnight to find more speed.

“The car was obviously quite good. We knew we didn’t get the most out of the car in qualifying yesterday, which was a little disappointing, but they found an issue on the car they rectified. It makes a big difference to the car,” he said.

“The racing will be very different to a few laps in a row – it’ll be bloody hot and obviously some fierce racing.”

Temperatures are set to soar this afternoon with predictions in the high 30s.

Click here for full practice results.

DJR Team Penske’s Scott Pye start from ARMOR ALL Pole Position in today’s first race, while Caruso starts from 15th. The race kicks off at 1:50pm local time.