The 2017 Supercar season got underway at the Adelaide Parklands Circuit this morning where Red Bull Racing showed they haven't lost any of their 2016 edge by finishing at the top of the timesheets in the opening free practice session.
Jamie Whincup finished just over a tenth of a second over his teammate and 2016 champion, Shane van Gisbergen as they put the cars through their first serious paces of the year to date.
Meanwhile, the fastest man in recent testing, Rick Kelly was third fastest and Scott McLaughlin was fourth in his first session for the DJR Penske team.
Last year's winner here, Nick Percat, could only muster the tenth best time while Craig Lowndes was 21st.
“We didn't put a new tyre on the car at the end because I feel that I'm not quite on top of the car yet," Percat said. “I'm still getting used to the characteristics of the BJR car, but so far I'm loving it.It's got a lot more front grip than what I've been used to in the last two years. It's good to have a car that feels alive again. There's really good potential.”
The new girl on the block, Simona De Silvestro, had a moment, locking uyp and going down the escape road, to finish the session down in 25th place overall.
“I really like the circuit, it reminds me of my IndyCar days,” she said. “I still have to learn how to ride the kerbs because in these cars you can hammer them. But I learnt a lot, tried some different breaking points and things like that.In the next session I need to go and put it all together.”
