Goddard gaps the field in co-driver practice

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Goddard leads Triple Eight one-two-three in co-driver practice
Early off for Best causes first red flag
Dislodged witch's hat at Turn 6 causes second stoppage, session declared

Zane Goddard has gapped the field in the co-driver practice session at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500, which was affected by two red flags.

Goddard, sharing the #888 Supercheap Auto Camaro with Craig Lowndes, fired in consecutive fast laps to top proceedings in Practice 2.

Goddard led a Triple Eight top three, with the Red Bull Ampol Camaros of Richie Stanaway and Jamie Whincup second and third ahead of Lee Holdsworth.

Stanaway, sharing the #97 Red Bull Ampol Chevrolet with Shane van Gisbergen, led the way for the bulk of the session, with #88 Camaro driver Whincup just behind. Earlier Whincup’s co-driver Broc Feeney topped Practice 1.

"I made a bit of a mistake over in the back corner, so there's a bit of time in it, but the car's feeling really good," Goddard said.

"It's a positive way to start, still another practice this arvo, so we'll keep building on it... Sunday's the big day, this is just practice."

The sun was shining in Melbourne as co-drivers exited pit lane, with Stanaway fastest with a 1:10.0616s before going quicker with a 1:09.7897s and a 1:09.6482s. Whincup, meanwhile, clocked a 1:10.0847s before jumping to a 1:09.7919s.

In the closing minutes, Goddard jumped to the top, and improved his own benchmark to a 1:09.3106s to put 0.3376s on his closest rival.

Just five minutes after the session went green, proceedings were suspended for approximately five minutes when Zak Best locked up and ran off into the Turn 9 sand trap.

The Super2 title hopeful, who was seventh at the time, gently nudged the #5 Snowy Rivers Caravans Ford into tyre barriers and brought out the red flags.

Later, a witch’s hat was dislodged by Jake Kostecki (#7 Racer Industries Mustang) at Turn 6, with the session declared due to red flags being flown with three minutes remaining.

There were also notable offs at Turn 2 for Kevin Estre (#19 Penrite Mustang) and Garry Jacobson (#55 Castrol Mustang), the latter finding air as he bounced through the run-off.

Estre ended up 19th, with Best 21st as Tickford Racing teammate Jacobson returned to the garage for repairs.

After the Best stoppage, Jayden Ojeda (#34 Truck Assist Camaro) improved to third with a 1:09.9138s, with Jonathon Webb (#23 Nulon Camaro) jumping to fourth with a 1:10.9364s. The times continued to tumble, with Michael Caruso (#18 DEWALT Camaro) moving to fifth with a 1:09.9639s.

In the final runs, Lee Holdsworth improved to third with a 1:09.8257s in Chaz Mostert’s #25 Mobil 1 Optus Mustang, pushing Ojeda and Webb down to fourth and fifth.

However, with five to go, Goddard turned up the wick and clocked a 1:09.6408s to put 0.0074 on Stanaway, before setting a 1:09.3106s to move over 0.3s clear.

Caruso was seventh ahead of Jack Perkins (#9 Coca-Cola Camaro), David Russell (#99 Coca-Cola Camaro) and Jaxon Evans (#4 SCT Logistics Camaro).

James Moffat (#6 Monster Energy Mustang) was 14th ahead of Fabian Coulthard (#2 Mobil 1 NTI Mustang), with Garth Tander (#26 Penrite Mustang) 22nd.

Supercars will return to the track for Practice 3, for all drivers, at 3:45pm AEST.