A wet Winton track left some drivers filthy – but not James Moffat.
The Nissan pilot found a silver lining on a cold and gloomy day at the rural Victorian circuit to set the fastest time in Friday practice ahead of this weekend’s three V8 Supercars races.
He outpaced the Fords of David Reynolds and Chaz Mostert, while championship leader Jamie Whincup finished a lowly 17th behind Red Bull Racing teammate Craig Lowndes in 16th.
A muddy outfield proved the undoing for a number of drivers, including Holden’s Scott Pye and Lee Holdsworth of Mercedes, whose afternoons were cut short when their spinning cars became bogged and had to be towed back to the pits – triggering two of five red-flags in the stop-start session.
But Moffat, who this week secured a new multi-year deal with Nissan, was not ready to label the round mission complete – admitting his Altima benefited from the day’s numerous stoppages.
“It was obviously a good day for us (but) clearly it’s only practice so we’re not getting too excited,” Moffat said.
“With very, very changeable weather conditions, you had to be on your game because it’s very easy to make a mistake.
“Those red flags might have saved us at the end of the session there.”
Nissan held their first test session of the season at Winton last week – a move which Moffat believed worked in the team’s favour.
“We definitely came into the weekend more confident knowing what the car should do, as this is the only track we’ve come to on several occasions this year,” he said.
“On paper, Winton is probably the track that’s going to least affect us with what we’re struggling at the moment with the engine.
“(I’m) happy with how things have gone and we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
Reynolds said he hoped conditions were more favourable on Saturday, ahead of the final practice session at 9.30am (AEST), qualifying and the round’s opening 60/60 super sprint race.
“I see it as more of a game of musical chairs. When the music stopped, we were the only three sitting down,” said Reynolds.