BATHURST, Australia - The pace was incredible on the opening day of the 2019 Bathurst 1000, with Scott McLaughlin breaking his 2017 lap record with a flying run around the 6.2km Mount Panorama circuit.

Fabian Coulthard & Tony D’Alberto - No. 12 Shell V-Power Racing Ford

Practice 1 – 6th (Fastest Lap: 2m05.2210s)
Practice 2 – 3rd (Fastest Lap: 2m05.7148s)
Practice 3 – 7th (Fastest Lap: 2m04.1348s)
 
Scott McLaughlin & Alex Prémat - No. 17 Shell V-Power Racing Ford

Practice 1 – 7th (Fastest Lap: 2m05.3329s)
Practice 2 – 2nd (Fastest Lap: 2m05.6885s)
Practice 3 – 1st (Fastest Lap: 2m03.7728s – New Lap Record)

The pace was massively fast in every session, with the times inside the 2m04s bracket in Practice 1 and co-driver times in the 2m05s in Practice 2.
 
The Shell V-Power Racing Team worked on the Coulthard/D’Alberto and McLaughlin/Prémat Mustangs across the day, with ideal conditions in Practice 3 with low ambient temperatures and a dry track allowing drivers to take advantage of green tyres late in the session.
 
Coulthard and McLaughlin both ran their fastest laps ever around Mount Panorama, with McLaughlin resetting his own lap record with a 2m03.7728.
 
Tomorrow will see two more practice sessions, and qualifying in the afternoon.
 
COULTHARD QUOTE: "I can't be unhappy with today. Any day you get to drive a race car around Mount Panorama is a good day. It's fast out there, that was my fastest ever lap around this place. It’s going to be a fast weekend, that's for sure."

MCLAUGHLIN QUOTE: “You’re hanging on over the top now, it’s unbelievable the grip of the cars and I think everyone is having a full dip. The second last corner, I dropped a wheel there. That was a moment and a half because I kept my foot into it, I’m an idiot, I’ve got to remember it’s Thursday! There’s a little bit here and there, the green side of the car felt alright, so the left-handers were pretty good, but the right-handers it’s still a little bit loose. We’ll tune it up overnight and throw a set of greens on it tomorrow and see. Hopefully it doesn’t rain.”
 
D’ALBERTO QUOTE: "That's the fastest I've ever been around Bathurst! It’s really quick this year, as we can see from Scott breaking the record on the first day. Car 12 is feeling pretty strong. We have a little bit of work to do, but we're looking good."

PRÉMAT QUOTE: “Being back at Mount Panorama is always great, and watching Scott break the lap record was special. The car feels nice, it feels strong and I’m pretty happy. Bathurst is always a good time, a good race and I think we are in a strong position.”