BATHURST driver Dylan Gulson had his heart in his mouth for a split second when he exited out of Skyline on Thursday.
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During the second practice session for the Toyota 86 Series Gulson came into The Esses too hot but was able to avoid any trouble.
“I ended up shortcutting The Esses. I had a bit of a moment, went too deep there and ended up taking the safer option there rather than binning it,” he said.
“The rear had come round and suddenly I’m looking the wrong way but managed to get it under control.”
Outside of that moment it was a great day for the Bathurst driver who was enjoying his first ever race time on his home track.
Gulson finished eighth in that second practice session but had an even better start to the day when he was third quickest in opening practice.
He produced a time of two minutes and 41.2740 seconds in his top three result while finishing with 2:42.8609 as the best time from the following stint on the track.
Those were results that Gulson is hopeful he can build upon.
“We’ve drifted a little bit but we got third in practice one. We’re really happy with the car in cooler conditions,” he said.
“We still got eighth in the second session, which I’m happy with, but I’ll definitely be chasing for more in qualifying.”
Meanwhile championship leader Will Brown showed he’s still the one to watch after topping the second practice session with a time of 2:41.6155.
Brown comes into the series with 778 points, putting him clear of David Sieders (746) and Aaron Seton (712).
Like Gulson, Brown was getting his first look at Mount Panorama.
“I’ve never been to Bathurst before. It’s a scary but fun track. You’ve got to respect this track,” he said.
“We got fourth in the first practice session and now first in this one and we’re leading the championship right now. We’ll look towards qualyfying tomorrow to see what happens but hopefully it’s good racing over the weekend.
“The car’s handling really good. We’ve got our setup in what we’ve been running with all year and it seems to be working well for now.”
The Toowoomba driver has picked up two wins so far in the series’ inaugural season.
It’s one of several categories Brown is taking on in 2016.
“I’m racing Toyota 86, Formula Ford and Formula 4. It’s very busy. Two weeks ago we had double duty with Toyota 86 and F4 on the same track but we had a great weekend,” he said.
Seton was fastest in the opening practice session with the fastest time of the week so far, a 2:41.0718.
Toyota 86 Series qualifying gets underway from 8.20am on Friday.
