Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Andrew Thompson rounded out the first day of the Norton 360 Sandown Challenge by posting the fastest lap
time in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar practice sessions.

Throughout the opening session, Thompson struggled with car balance coming down the main straight, a strong tail wind effecting the aerodynamics of the Monster Energy/Gear Wrench Commodore

Unable to post a clean lap, Thompson ended the session with the third fastest time of 1:12.3875.

After some minor setup changes Thompson blitzed the final session posting an unmatched time of 1:11.6313.

“Everything was pretty straight forward with the car in the opening session except for that tail wind,” Thompson said. “We made couple of changes to the springs and bars during the first session to try and counter it but didn’t get the result we were looking for.

“We made some more changes between the sessions and tried to refine the car in the second session. After we put some good tyres on, we got a much better result but still didn’t get a great run.

“We will try to find some improvements overnight and aim to go a bit quicker tomorrow, I think we are where we need to be for tomorrow’s qualifying.

“It”s pretty hot out there and extremely windy so it’s hard to say if it will stay like this all weekend but we are staying confident we can get some decent results here at Sandown,” Thompson concluded.

The Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series will return to the track at 10.05am (AEDST) for qualifying ahead of the first 15-lap race at 2.10pm (AEDST).

For regular news and updates, head to www.teamvodafone.com.au

Top Ten Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series Practice Results – Norton 360 Sandown Challenge

1: Andrew Thompson, 1:11.6313.
2: Nick Percat, 1:11.8495.
3: Chaz Mostert, 1:12.0695.
4: Scott McLaughlin, 1:12.1543.
5: Paul Morris, 1:12.1820.
6: Geoff Emery, 1:12.2544.
7: Jack Perkins, 1:12.3952.
8: Daniel Jilesen, 1:12.4083.
9: Rodney Jane, 1:12.5874.
10: David Russell, 1:12.6133.