Coulthard returns to the top in final practice

Fabian Coulthard concluded a strong day for the Lockwood Holden by topping the third and final 20 minute practice session.

Having edged James Courtney to the fastest time by just 0.0075s in Practice 1, Coulthard’s 55.74s best proved 0.01s clear of Chaz Mostert in Practice 3.

“It’s a good start, especially after New Zealand we struggled a bit there,” said Coulthard, who finished all three of the day’s sessions in the top five.

“It’s only practice, but to bounce back in that sort of fashion is positive.

“We need to do that in qualifying when it counts, but it’s a very good start.”

Courtney had held sway at the top for much of the third session before Russell Ingall, Mosert and eventually Coulthard all improved in the final four minutes.

After spending most of the day towards the bottom of the time sheets, the move to green tyres saw Jamie Whincup end the final session third.

David Reynolds was the second of the Fords in fourth ahead of an impressive Robert Dahlgren and Mark Winterbottom.

Practice 2 pace-setter Scott McLaughlin managed just 12th in the second Volvo, despite being just 0.28s shy of Coulthard.

McLaughlin’s Practice 2 effort was, however, enough to put the #33 S60 sixth on combined times.

“The car is alright,” he reported.

“It’s a little bit hard to know where you’re at… probably until qualifying we don’t know, but it’s not too bad.”

Ingall was demoted to seventh in the dying minutes ahead of Dale Wood, Courtney and Craig Lowndes.

Like his team-mate, Lowndes had spent the majority of the day down the order, but emerged confident after the final hit-out.

“We started the day a little frustrated but at the end of it all we’re happy,” he said.

“At the end of the day we put on a fresh set of tyres, got a set up that we were hopeful that would work and as a combination it was successful.”

The third session was held in dry and sunny conditions, with a brief shower in the late morning proving the day’s only weather interruption.

The V8 Supercars will return to the track tomorrow for two qualifying sessions and two 100km races.

See below for the full Practice 3 result

Pos		Driver	Team	Car	Time	Gap
1	14	Fabian Coulthard	Lockwood Racing	Holden Commodore VF	0:55.7493
2	6	Chaz Mostert	Ford Pepsi Max Crew	Ford Falcon FG	0:55.7602	0:00.0109
3	1	Jamie Whincup	Red Bull Racing Australia	Holden Commodore VF	0:55.7975	0:00.0482
4	55	David Reynolds	The Bottle-O Racing Team	Ford Falcon FG	0:55.9050	0:00.1557
5	34	Robert Dahlgren	Valvoline Racing GRM	Volvo S60	0:55.9147	0:00.1654
6	5	Mark Winterbottom	Ford Pepsi Max Crew	Ford Falcon FG	0:55.9182	0:00.1689
7	23	Russell Ingall	Repair Management Aust Racing	Holden Commodore VF	0:55.9393	0:00.1900
8	21	Dale Wood	Team Advam/GB	Holden Commodore VF	0:55.9588	0:00.2095
9	22	James Courtney	Holden Racing Team	Holden Commodore VF	0:55.9712	0:00.2219
10	888	Craig Lowndes	Red Bull Racing Australia	Holden Commodore VF	0:55.9859	0:00.2366
11	4	Lee Holdsworth	Erebus Motorsport V8	Mercedes E63 AMG	0:56.0111	0:00.2618
12	33	Scott McLaughlin	Valvoline Racing GRM	Volvo S60	0:56.0317	0:00.2824
13	9	Will Davison	Erebus Motorsport V8	Mercedes E63 AMG	0:56.0871	0:00.3378
14	360	James Moffat	Norton Hornets	Nissan Altima	0:56.0917	0:00.3424
15	47	Tim Slade	Supercheap Auto Racing	Holden Commodore VF	0:56.1039	0:00.3546
16	8	Jason Bright	Team BOC	Holden Commodore VF	0:56.1103	0:00.3610
17	222	Nick Percat	Walkinshaw Racing	Holden Commodore VF	0:56.1272	0:00.3779
18	17	David Wall	Wilson Security Racing	Ford Falcon FG	0:56.1279	0:00.3786
19	16	Scott Pye	Wilson Security Racing	Ford Falcon FG	0:56.2364	0:00.4871
20	97	Shane Van Gisbergen	Team Tekno VIP Petfoods	Holden Commodore VF	0:56.2719	0:00.5226
21	15	Rick Kelly	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Nissan Altima	0:56.2968	0:00.5475
22	2	Garth Tander	Holden Racing Team	Holden Commodore VF	0:56.5192	0:00.7699
23	36	Michael Caruso	Norton Hornets	Nissan Altima	0:56.5307	0:00.7814
24	18	Jack Perkins	Team JELD-WEN	Ford Falcon FG	0:56.5833	0:00.8340
25	7	Todd Kelly	Jack Daniel’s Racing	Nissan Altima	0:56.7047	0:00.9554