Brendan Lines

February 21, 2020

Holden’s Chas Mostert has shutdown a charge from Scott McLaughlin’s Mustang to go fastest in Practice 3 at the Adelaide 500 with a blistering lap in the closing stages showing there is plenty of fight in the roaring Lion.

Chas Mostert on his hot-lap Image: Fox Sports

Earlier this week McLaughlin said he was out to ‘ruin’ Holden’s farewell in Adelaide, just as the Kiwi kept piling on fastest laps from the opening minutes of the session, it looked as though McLaughlin was going in for the kill.

But Mostert kept hunting the Mustangs all session lighting up the circuit with a 1:19.241s, in what was a real shootout for pace between the Andretti -owned Holden and Penske- owned Mustang.

In his debut race for Andretti Walkinshaw United Mostert insists it’s just practice but a welcome result for the team.

“Today might have just suited us and as the track gets grippier it might go away from us,” Mostert said.

“I’m not looking too much into it, just awesome for me to see the emotion in the garage, those guys have been, for the last year or couple of years on the bad end of some results, you know to see the eyes light up and even though it is practice to be at the pointy end and being able to mix with these great drivers and teams out there it’s exciting.”

Despite McLaughlin’s attack on the timesheets he says the DJR Penske Mustang is around where it needs to be.

“We’ll see how we go tomorrow, we probably don’t have it at the moment, but we do need to keep searching for a nineteen-two, I think we’re not too far away, for me a really promising day because we didn’t roll out that well and we’ve tuned it up now over the weekend and it’s really nice now, very excited for tomorrow, ”he said.

Third fastest Will Davison so far has been ‘Mr. Consistency’ placing his Tickford Mustang in the top three for every session so far bringing the fight right to the Commodores.

Davison says competing for qualifying spots over the weekend throughout the practice sessions has intensified the action on track.

“It is good, I think it makes for a bit more entertainment today,

“Practice last night and two sessions today, it nearly felt like two qualifying sessions,” he said.

Qualifying for the Top 10 shootout begins 11:55 am CDST tomorrow.