HE found the atmosphere at Mount Panorama a little odd, but when it came to finding speed at the circuit James Moffat liked what he got.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Moffat set the fastest time in a tight Bathurst 1000 co-driver only practice session at the Mount on Thursday that saw the top seven separated by only three tenths of a second.
Partnered with Jack LeBrocq in the Supercheap Auto Tickford Mustang, Moffat clocked a 2:06.0584 to top the session. His effort was just 0.0245 seconds better than Brodie Kostecki's best lap in the Penrite Erebus Commodore.
"It's nice to remember how to [drive], it's been a fair while," Moffat said.
"Obviously this year has been very unique and the vibe coming into the weekend has been really really strange with no fans. The atmosphere from the fans is what makes this a great event.
"The car was pretty solid. Full credit to the team and Brad [Wischusen] the engineer in particular to roll the car out of the truck close to where it needs to be.
"It's all about confidence. If you have that confidence to especially flow the speed down to the bottom, then the lap time comes."
After making his Bathurst 1000 debut in a wildcard entry with his cousin Jake Kostecki last year, Brad Kostecki is now partnering Anton DePasquale. He was also happy with his opening day.
"It's actually great to be back in the car. We have been working pretty hard with the car to move up through the order," Kostecki said.
"All of the Penrite boys have done a good job and I think we have a pretty good car so far, so we will go through all the data and see how we can improve.
"I'm actually super excited to be in the car but it's strange not seeing anyone."
After contact with Shane van Gisbergen in practice one, Tim Slade was third fastest in the co-driver only session with 2:06.1157 in the DJR Team Penske Mustang. Will Davison was fourth in the Monster Tickford Mustang and Warren Luff in the Walkinshaw Commodore rounded out the top five.
It was a rough session for the #888 Red Bull Holden Racing Team Commodore steered by Craig Lowndes, which lost significant running time when smoke started billowing from the back of the car.
Once back in pit lane, Lowndes had to immediately jump out of the car when the Commodore momentarily caught fire. The power steering was identified as the issue which interrupted their practice program.
After getting out of the car, Lowndes said that he wasn't sure what was happening when he was on the track.
"As I was coming down Conrod Straight, I just started to smell a bit of oil. I couldn't see any smoke, there was nothing in the cabin, so I didn't know if there was a car in front of me who was oiling," Lowndes, who is co-driving for Jamie Whincup, said.
"I didn't realise it was us until I got that late call to come in [to the pits]. So yeah, it was a bit of a shame.
"Once the extinguisher gas comes into the cabin, you don't want to be breathing that in.
"It's just a shame because the car was actually feeling okay. We had a little push and across the top of the mountain it was quite well balanced, so hopefully we fix this up and get it going."
