Shae Davies sweeps SST Townsville practice, qualifying

Shae Davies had a perfect Friday ahead of the Boost Mobile Super Trucks weekend in the Townsville 500 as he led practice and qualifying. The latter also saw a wild ride for Dave Casey as he flipped multiple times, though he walked away unscathed.

Davies dominated the practice with a fastest time of 1:35.52, which was over two seconds quicker than second-placed Shaun Richardson‘s 1:37.55. This success carried into qualifying with his best time being 1:35.79, though the advantage over the others greatly slimmed with points leader Paul Morris qualifying second at 1:35.93. Nevertheless, Davies clinched his second straight Fastest Qualifier, granting him a bonus point, and he will hope to translate his momentum into wins in the three races.

Toby Price, who is running his first weekend of the season, was respectively sixth and third in practice and qualifying. Price has raced in the Stadium Super Trucks every year since 2015.

After finishing sixth in practice, Casey had completed just one qualfiying lap before rolling his truck as he entered turn eleven. The accident occurred when he locked his brakes while going into the corner, causing the truck to flip three-and-a-half times before landing on its roof. Paul Weel, who was the victim of a roll at Darwin in June and would qualify fifth, stopped in front of Casey’s truck to check his condition, and a red flag was called for cleanup. Casey was ultimately uninjured in the accident.

Morris, Richardson, and Rob Whyte are the only drivers in the nine-man grid to have SST familiarity at Townsville as they participated in the series’ first and then-only trip in 2016; Morris scored two podiums in three races. Richardson qualified fourth, while Whyte placed third in practice and seventh in qualifying. Greg Gartner also ran the 2016 weekend and was slated to return for 2021 before backing out due to broken vertebrae in a motorbike accident.

On the opposite extreme of experience, Phillip Foster finished ninth in both sessions as he prepares for his series début. A sprint car racer in Queensland (where Townsville is located), Foster has also competed in what is now the Super2 Series and other Repco Supercars Championship support classes. In 2010, he raced for Morris’ team in Super2.

After racing at Darwin, Russell Ingall and Nash Morris did not return for Townsville. Nevertheless, Morris is still at the track with the Super3 Series as part of a combination event with Super2.

Three races will take place over the weekend, with two on Saturday, 10 July, and one on Sunday.

Practice results

Qualifying results