HIS tyres did not get to optimum temperature, but Bathurst driver Brad Schumacher still set one of the hottest laps in the opening practice session of the Aussie Tin Tops category at Mount Panorama on Thursday.
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In fact only one man - Duvashen Padayachee - went faster than what Schumacher managed in the final lap of the Bathurst 1000 support category session.
Driving his new Audi R8 LMS, Schumacher only got in three laps before the session was red flagged and he pitted. He then had just a tick over four minutes when racing resumed to clock a flyer.
He produced a 2:17.3814, a mark only Padayachee managed to trump as he peeled off a 2:15.6328 on his final lap of the session in his Porsche 991.
Still, Schumacher knows he can find more speed from the Audi he'd originally planned to race in the Australian GT Championship before COVID-19 forced its cancellation.
"The issue was that we had new tyres on and we have new brakes and new rotors, we had to get out and bed the brakes and rotors and get the tyres scrubbed in and warmed up to temp," Schumacher said.
"By the time I actually got up to that and was about to go on my first flying lap, there was a red flag and we had to come in.
"Then obviously I was at the back of the field which left me a whole of country cars to try and scramble through which was a bit of a handful actually, there was one guy who didn't check his mirrors across the top at Skyline which was a bit touch and go.
"But then I got the final lap, but the issue again was the tyres still weren't up to temp. Our tyres only cam up to 21 degrees and we need to have them up to 26-28.
"But with any luck tomorrow we'll have a better run and no red flags."
The Tin Tops have a second practice session on Friday morning ahead of qualifying later in the afternoon. Schumacher is expected to be a real contender for pole position.
It was also a promising day at the Mount for Bathurst team owner Michael Anderson.
He is campaigning the #777 Anderson Motorsport Ford FG Falcon as part of the combined Super2-Super3 grid at Bathurst.
It is 20-year-old Declan Fraser who drives the Falcon, one which has a strong history. Cameron Waters raced it to the Development Series title win in 2015 and it was driven by Jacques Villeneuve at the Gold Coast in 2010.
Anderson Motorsport is chasing Super3 category podiums at the Mount in the two 16-lap races which will be held and what Fraser produced in practice points to them being a strong chance of doing so.
In practice one Fraser was the 12th fastest of the 21 cars, but importantly the second quickest of the Super3 category entries.
His best lap time was a 2:13.2976 while the quickest Super3 car, another FG Falcon driven by Jon McCorkindale, did a 2:12.9793.
In practice two later in the afternoon it was even better as Fraser did a 2:11.2750 to be the fastest of the Super3 cars.
