Shane van Gisbergen returned to the top of the time sheets in the fourth and final practice session of the weekend in Townsville.
The Tekno Holden driver wasted little time in getting up to speed, lapping quicker than Lee Holdsworth’s Friday best on just his second flying lap.
The Kiwi’s 1:13.64s lap held down the top spot before fellow Holden drivers Tim Slade and Jamie Whincup both improved the benchmark during the mid-part of the session.
Van Gisbergen, who had topped the opening two sessions yesterday, then returned serve on his final lap, leaving the fastest time at 1:13.25s.
“The car feels fantastic,” said Van Gisbergen afterwards.
“It’s all down to me now to get the best out of it in qualifying.”
A late effort from James Courtney put the #22 Holden Racing Team Commodore between the Tekno and Red Bull entries.
Tim Slade and Jason Bright made it a Holden sweep of the top five, while Scott McLaughlin Fabain Coulthard, Nick Percat, Garth Tander and Todd Kelly completed the top 10.
Championship front-runners Mark Winterbottom and Craig Lowndes continued their lacklustre Friday form with 16th and 21st respectively.
Friday pace-setters Erebus were also down the order, ending up 12th and 20th.
Back-to-back 10 minute qualifying sessions to set the grids for Races 20 and 21 will get underway from 1140 local time.
Practice 4: V8 Supercars, Townsville
1 | Team Tekno VIP Petfoods | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 01:13.25 | |
2 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 01:13.28 | 00:00.02 |
3 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 01:13.35 | 00:00.10 |
4 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore VF | 01:13.44 | 00:00.19 |
5 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 01:13.48 | 00:00.23 |
6 | Valvoline Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Volvo S60 | 01:13.54 | 00:00.29 |
7 | Lockwood Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VF | 01:13.61 | 00:00.36 |
8 | Walkinshaw Racing | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VF | 01:13.62 | 00:00.37 |
9 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 01:13.64 | 00:00.38 |
10 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 01:13.64 | 00:00.39 |
11 | Norton Hornets | James Moffat | Nissan Altima | 01:13.70 | 00:00.45 |
12 | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Lee Holdsworth | Mercedes E63 AMG | 01:13.73 | 00:00.48 |
13 | Valvoline Racing GRM | Robert Dahlgren | Volvo S60 | 01:13.76 | 00:00.51 |
14 | Norton Hornets | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 01:13.79 | 00:00.54 |
15 | Wilson Security Racing | David Wall | Ford Falcon FG | 01:13.80 | 00:00.55 |
16 | Ford Pepsi Max Crew | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG | 01:13.83 | 00:00.58 |
17 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG | 01:13.84 | 00:00.59 |
18 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 01:13.87 | 00:00.62 |
19 | Wilson Security Racing | Scott Pye | Ford Falcon FG | 01:13.87 | 00:00.62 |
20 | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Will Davison | Mercedes E63 AMG | 01:13.88 | 00:00.63 |
21 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 01:13.92 | 00:00.67 |
22 | Ford Pepsi Max Crew | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG | 01:14.00 | 00:00.75 |
23 | Team JELD-WEN | Jack Perkins | Ford Falcon FG | 01:14.10 | 00:00.85 |
24 | Team Advam/GB | Dale Wood | Holden Commodore VF | 01:14.17 | 00:00.92 |
25 | Repair Management Aust Racing | Russell Ingall | Holden Commodore VF | 01:14.26 | 00:01.01 |