Defending Hamilton 400 titleholder Jamie Whincup is expecting a "pretty crazy" day tomorrow if the expected rain arrives for race one of the New Zealand round of the V8 Supercars Championship.
Whincup, who has been unbeatable on the 3.4km street circuit over the past two years, winning all four racesin that time, was second fastest in practice today.
The conditions for the four sessions were mostly dry, apart from a brief, light shower in the late afternoon.
However, the forecast for tomorrow is for rain, possibly heavy.
"I think it's going to be pretty crazy out there if it does rain," Whincup said.
"Hopefully we have a race like Adelaide. That was a bit of a cracker, where there were 10 cars all dicing, all similar pace.
"Of course, the walls are a bit closer here at Hamilton, so it's going to be tough."
Last month, Whincup won the Sunday race of the Clipsal 500 after a classic battle in the rain to extend his lead at the top of the points table.
His Team Vodafone Holden team-mate Craig Lowndes finished the Hamilton practice sessions with the fastest time.
Lowndes clocked one minute 22.8070 seconds to be 0.1534sec quicker than Whincup.
With a new soft tyre makings its debut in Hamilton, both drivers eclipsed the previous practice record for the track of 1min 23.0349sec set last year by Garth Tander.
Lowndes noted that there had not been a wet weather race since the New Zealand round moved from Pukekohe to Hamilton three years, "so it's going to be interesting".
"It will be up to the drivers to be sensible and to have common sense at the start of the race and during the race," he said.
"It's a long race."
New Zealander Shane Van Gisbergen, in a Stone Brothers Racing Ford, was third quickest in practice with a lap of 1min 23.0899sec, 0.2829sec behind Lowndes.
Van Gisbergen said he had had a different build-up this year, with team management letting him off many of the off-track commitments this week so he could concentrate on the racing.
"The last few years, it has been full on and you're almost worn out when you get to the race," he said.
"This year, it has worked out really well and I'm ready to go."
Of the other New Zealanders, Fabian Coulthard's best lap put him 22nd, while Greg Murphy was 25th.
Coulthard, who is the highest placed New Zealander on the points table, sitting in fifth spot, remained confident heading into the weekend.
He said he used only one set of tyres and opted not to take his Bundaberg Racing Holden back out when the track dried up near the end of session four.
"We made a big improvement on the car from the first session to the second," he said.
"On paper, it looks pretty average, but I'm quietly confident that the car will be alright."
The Hamilton 400 comprises two 59-laps races, the second on Sunday afternoon.
- NZPA
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