Jacques Villeneuve has found the Surfers Paradise circuit like returning to a familiar friend.
His co-driver, Paul Dumbrell driving in a Falcon, is only one-tenth of a second slower than the 1.12.34 than Mark Winterbottom at 1.12.44 the Canadian Indy 500 Champion and World Champion is enjoying his stint in Australia’s version of road going NASCAR.
“It was fun, it is important to find the limit before the race, in a place like this it is very easy to make a mistake and you don’t want to do that because you will cost your co-driver points,” said Jacques Villeneuve.
“The track is quite different to when I was here in IndyCar, it is very fun, its quite fun to be driving between the walls and when you get on that fine line for a special lap it is a pretty good feeling,” added Jacques Villeneuve.
Twin 300km races combine local V8 Supercars drivers and “internationals” who must drive at least 35 per cent of each heat. The 2.98 kilometer track has been shortened by about 1.5 kilometers from the old Gold Coast Indy which ran from 1991 to 2009.
For the internationals, it was the IndyCar and Champ Car stars past and present that were leading the way, with three time Gold Coast open-wheel pole sitter Will Power the quickest of the visiting drivers, from two-time Gold Coast winner Sebastien Bourdais and 2008 Gold Coast winner Ryan Briscoe.
Will Power, the Aussie who was runner-up for the IndyCar title, said: "It was a really good day, I got the hang of the car and slowly crept up on it and kept it off the wall, which was the first aim. I learned what I could about the car, I feel pretty comfortable and very relaxed.
"I think we are in for a good weekend. Even though they have shortened the track, it is a still as fun as it ever was. The shorter track is good for us Internationals as we get some more laps, we need as many laps as we can and that's what I got today."
V8 Supercars : Combined Practice Results : Armor All Gold Coast 600
1. #5 M.Winterbottom/L.Youlden 1:12.3486
2. #55 P.Dumbrell/J.Villeneuve 1:12.4420
3. #18 J.Courtney/W.Luff 1:12.5077
4. #2 G.Tander/C.McConville 1:12.6403
5. #33 L.Holdsworth/G.Ritter 1:12.6524
6. #8 J.Richards/A.Jones 1:12.6583
7. #888 C.Lowndes/A.Priaulx 1:12.7878
8. #14 J.Bright/A.Menu 1:12.8618
9. #51 G.Murphy/Y.Muller 1:12.8837
10. #3 T.D'Alberto/T.Monteiro 1:12.8855
11. #9 S.Van Gisbergen/J.McIntyre 1:12.9077
12. #7 T.Kelly/S.Dixon 1:12.9248
13. #39 R.Ingall/J.Perkins 1:13.0394
14. #6 S.Richards/W.Power 1:13.0720
15. #34 M.Caruso/P.Long 1:13.0949
16. #17 S.Johnson/D.Franchitti 1:13.1741
17. #24 F.Coulthard/D.Reynolds 1:13.2110
18. #22 W.Davison/R.Briscoe 1:13.2328
19. #15 R.Kelly/O.Kelly 1:13.2598
20. #1 J.Whincup/S.Owen 1:13.2832
21. #21 K.Reindler/F.Giovanardi 1:13.3591
22. #47 T.Slade/H.Castroneves 1:13.3801
23. #4 A.Davison/D.Brabham 1:13.3860
24. #12 D.Fiore/G.Morbidelli 1:13.5545
25. #19 J.Webb/S.Bourdais 1:13.6182
26. #11 J.Bargwanna/A.Tagliani 1:13.6894
27. #10 A.Thompson/M.Salo 1:14.7000
28. #16 T.Ricciardello/D.Wood 1:15.3150
29. #30 N.Pretty/S.Pruett 1:15.6548
His co-driver, Paul Dumbrell driving in a Falcon, is only one-tenth of a second slower than the 1.12.34 than Mark Winterbottom at 1.12.44 the Canadian Indy 500 Champion and World Champion is enjoying his stint in Australia’s version of road going NASCAR.
“It was fun, it is important to find the limit before the race, in a place like this it is very easy to make a mistake and you don’t want to do that because you will cost your co-driver points,” said Jacques Villeneuve.
“The track is quite different to when I was here in IndyCar, it is very fun, its quite fun to be driving between the walls and when you get on that fine line for a special lap it is a pretty good feeling,” added Jacques Villeneuve.
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| Photo: EDGE Photographics |
Twin 300km races combine local V8 Supercars drivers and “internationals” who must drive at least 35 per cent of each heat. The 2.98 kilometer track has been shortened by about 1.5 kilometers from the old Gold Coast Indy which ran from 1991 to 2009.
For the internationals, it was the IndyCar and Champ Car stars past and present that were leading the way, with three time Gold Coast open-wheel pole sitter Will Power the quickest of the visiting drivers, from two-time Gold Coast winner Sebastien Bourdais and 2008 Gold Coast winner Ryan Briscoe.
Will Power, the Aussie who was runner-up for the IndyCar title, said: "It was a really good day, I got the hang of the car and slowly crept up on it and kept it off the wall, which was the first aim. I learned what I could about the car, I feel pretty comfortable and very relaxed.
"I think we are in for a good weekend. Even though they have shortened the track, it is a still as fun as it ever was. The shorter track is good for us Internationals as we get some more laps, we need as many laps as we can and that's what I got today."
V8 Supercars : Combined Practice Results : Armor All Gold Coast 600
1. #5 M.Winterbottom/L.Youlden 1:12.3486
2. #55 P.Dumbrell/J.Villeneuve 1:12.4420
3. #18 J.Courtney/W.Luff 1:12.5077
4. #2 G.Tander/C.McConville 1:12.6403
5. #33 L.Holdsworth/G.Ritter 1:12.6524
6. #8 J.Richards/A.Jones 1:12.6583
7. #888 C.Lowndes/A.Priaulx 1:12.7878
8. #14 J.Bright/A.Menu 1:12.8618
9. #51 G.Murphy/Y.Muller 1:12.8837
10. #3 T.D'Alberto/T.Monteiro 1:12.8855
11. #9 S.Van Gisbergen/J.McIntyre 1:12.9077
12. #7 T.Kelly/S.Dixon 1:12.9248
13. #39 R.Ingall/J.Perkins 1:13.0394
14. #6 S.Richards/W.Power 1:13.0720
15. #34 M.Caruso/P.Long 1:13.0949
16. #17 S.Johnson/D.Franchitti 1:13.1741
17. #24 F.Coulthard/D.Reynolds 1:13.2110
18. #22 W.Davison/R.Briscoe 1:13.2328
19. #15 R.Kelly/O.Kelly 1:13.2598
20. #1 J.Whincup/S.Owen 1:13.2832
21. #21 K.Reindler/F.Giovanardi 1:13.3591
22. #47 T.Slade/H.Castroneves 1:13.3801
23. #4 A.Davison/D.Brabham 1:13.3860
24. #12 D.Fiore/G.Morbidelli 1:13.5545
25. #19 J.Webb/S.Bourdais 1:13.6182
26. #11 J.Bargwanna/A.Tagliani 1:13.6894
27. #10 A.Thompson/M.Salo 1:14.7000
28. #16 T.Ricciardello/D.Wood 1:15.3150
29. #30 N.Pretty/S.Pruett 1:15.6548
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| Photo: EDGE Photographics |